The Fire Engine That Disappeared
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The Fire Engine That Disappeared (Brandbilen som försvann, 1969) is the fifth in the 'Martin Beck' detective series by Sjöwall and Wahlöö.
[edit] Plot
Larsson and a street cop are on a stake-out when the house they are watching turns into a blaze of flames. While Larsson tries to rescue the survivors, the other cop runs to a phone booth to call in the fire brigade.
As Melander finds out through pain-staking research, one of the inhabitants had committed suicide by closing off all holes in his room, and then filling it with gas. But even when the case is closed, there are a few doubts nagging at the backs of the heads of Beck and Larsson. What caused the gas to explode? Where did the fire engine go that was originally called in?
Then Hjelm calls to say that he found an explosive device in a mattress: the presumed suicide was a murder.
[edit] Character development
Beck's daughter Ingrid announces that she will leave home and encourages her father in secret to do the same. Benny Skacke is introduced as the ambitious detective to replace Stenström. Regular police officer Zachrisson is introduced.
[edit] Trivia
Martin Beck reads Raymond Chandler's The Lady in the Lake to relax.
| Preceded by The Laughing Policeman |
"Martin Beck" timeline, part 5 of 10 | Succeeded by Murder at the Savoy |
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Sjöwall and Wahlöö novels, featuring Martin Beck
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| Novels: Roseanna | The Man Who Went Up in Smoke | The Man on the Balcony | The Laughing Policeman | The Fire Engine That Disappeared | Murder at the Savoy | The Abominable Man | The Locked Room | Cop Killer | The Terrorists |
| Authors: Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö |
