The Man on the Balcony (A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation)

The Martin Beck books are widely acknowledged as some of the most influential detective novels ever written. Written by Swedish husband and wife team Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö between 1965 and 1975, the ten-book series set a gold standard for all subsequent Scandanavian crime fiction. Long before Kurt Wallander or Harry Hole, Beck was the original flawed policeman, working with a motley collection of colleagues to uncover the cruelty and injustice lurking beneath the surface of Sweden's seemingly liberal, democratic society. In The Man on the Balcony, adapted from the third book in the series, someone is killing young girls in the parks of Stockholm. Beck has two witnesses, a mugger who won't say much and a three-year-old boy who can't say much. Can he solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? Translated by Alan Blair and dramatised by Katie Hims.

1 CD. 1 hr.