The 9th book in the Martin Beck series has Martin investigating the disappearance of a middle-aged divorcee in a remote Swedish town. As the plot unfolds, a separate police shooting incident in Stockholm entangles the Cop Killer of the title and some of Martin's team are diverted to the ensuing manhunt.

Sjowall and Wahloo are scathing here about the Swedish police force. Their writing seems to become more political as the series progresses.

This novel has a lot of references back to the earlier books, notably Roseanna. This tested my memory a bit and reduced my enjoyment of the book. The story is good though, and the ending rather neat. ( )

En kvinna försvinner i den skånska orten Anderslöv, och eftersom hennes granne Folke Bengtsson tidigare dömts för mordet på en amerikansk turist, Roseanna McGraw, kallas Martin Beck till platsen. Efter en tid hittas kvinnans kropp i en dypöl, och Folke Bengtsson häktas misstänkt för mordet. Kort därefter blir en polispatrull inblandad i en skottväxling med två unga inbrottstjuvar; en av tjuvarna dödas och poliserna skadas allvarligt. När en av poliserna senare avlider, inleds en intensiv polisjakt på den överlevande tjuven. Denne har flytt till Stockholm.

Mientras Beck investiga el asesinato de una mujer junto a su compañero Lennart Kollberg, el pasado vuelve a cruzarse en su camino para ponerle de nuevo frente a dos viejos conocidos: Folke Bengtsson, a quien ya había detenido tiempo atrás y que acaba de convertirse en el principal sospechoso del asesinato, y Ake Gunnarson, periodista incómodo donde los haya.

Beck travels to southern Sweden when a woman disappears and murder is suspected. There he meets an unconventional but effective policeman and his dog. Through the usual series of unbelievable coincidences, several cases end up being connected, and the resolution is quite satisfying. The politics are of course quite important here, and the authors succeed in making 1970s Sweden seem like hell on earth, despite the presence of a lot of good people and beautiful countryside. Only one more book to go in the series, and it makes me a bit sad. I do feel I've learned a bit about Sweden here, and Tom Weiner's narration is beyond superb as he makes all the Swedish place names sound so memorable and manages to give distinct voices to so many characters. Perhaps I need to start looking for audiobooks based on whether he is reading them! ( )

Kriminální román líčí rozsáhlé pátrání po pachateli vraždy mladé ženy, ze které je obviněn nevinný člověk, a vyšetřovatel musí překonat četné překážky ze strany svých nadřízených, aby mohl usvědčit skutečného pachatele.

Román je ve své podstatě ostrou společensko-kritickou studií, ve které je zločin i jeho pachatel uváděn do souvislosti s panujícím společenským systémem a dobovou politickou situací ve Švédsku.