The directory «Plots»

Sjöwall Maj
(b. 1935) and
Wahlöö Per
(1946—1975)

Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö were a common-law husband and wife team of detective writers from Sweden. Together they conceived and wrote a series of ten novels (police procedurals) about the exploits of detectives from the special homicide commission of the national police in which the character of Martin Beck was the main protagonist. Both authors also wrote novels separately. For the Martin Beck series, they plotted and researched each book together then wrote alternate chapters.

Per Fredrik Wahlöö was born in Tölö parish, Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland. After his studies, from 1946 onwards he worked as a crime reporter. After long trips around the world he returned to Sweden and started working as a journalist again.

He had a 13 year relationship with his colleague Maj Sjöwall but never married. Both were Marxists. He has been married to Inger Wahlöö, née Andersson. He died of cancer at Malmö in 1975, aged 48.

Maj Sjöwall is a Swedish author and translator. She is best known for the collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö on a series of ten novels about the exploits of Martin Beck, a police detective in Stockholm. In 1971, the fourth of these books, The Laughing Policeman (1968) won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel and was adapted into the film The Laughing Policeman starring Walter Matthau. They also wrote novels separately. Sjöwall had a 13 year relationship with Wahlöö which lasted until his death in 1975. She is a Marxist, as was Wahlöö.

Sweden, 2010, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö