The Laughing Policeman

The Laughing Policeman is a mystery novel by the Swedish writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, originally published in Sweden in 1968 as Den skrattande polisen and translated into English in 1970. It is the fourth of ten novels featuring police detective Martin Beck. In 1971, The Laughing Policeman won an Edgar Award for Best Novel. The 1973 American film The Laughing Policeman is a loose adaptation of the novel. Jonathan Franzen has written an introduction for a Penguin Random House edition of the book. He describes radically critical image of Sweden as 'comic'. Franzen's 2012 collection of essays Farther Away also contains a reprint of a 2008 piece, "On The Laughing Policeman".