Jan Per Gösta Mårtenson (born 14 February 1933) is a Swedish

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

who is also famous as the author of some fifty Swedish crime novels.

Biography

Mårtenson has served as Head of the Secretariat for the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

many years. Jan Mårtenson was also the Under-Secretary-General of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and later he held the position of

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

at the UN Office at

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

for several years. Later Jan Mårtenson has served as Deputy Secretary-General of the UN and head of the UN's European headquarters in Geneva. In his free time he writes novels. The main character of most of his crime novels is the fictional antique dealer Johan Kristian Homan.

Crime novels (Swedish titles)

* ''Helgeandsmordet'' (1973) - ''Invitation au suicide'', Paris, Librairie des Champs-Élysées, 1978 * ''Drakguldet'' (1974) - ''L’Or du dragon'', Paris, Librairie des Champs-Élysées, 1982 * ''Demonerna'' (1975) * ''Häxhammaren'' (1976) * ''Döden går på museum'' (1977) * ''Döden går på cirkus'' (1978) * ''Vinprovarna'' (1979) - ''Death calls on the witches'' * ''Djävulens hand'' (1980) * ''Döden gör en tavla'' (1981) * ''Middag med döden'' (1982) * ''Vampyren'' (1983) * ''Guldmakaren'' (1984) * ''Häxmästaren'' (1985) * ''Rosor från döden'' (1986) * ''Den röda näckrosen'' (1987) * ''Neros bägare'' (1988) * ''Mord i Venedig'' (1989) * ''Akilles häl'' (1990) * ''Ramses hämnd'' (1991) * ''Midas hand'' (1992) * ''Gamens öga'' (1993) * ''Tsarens guld'' (1994) * ''Karons färja'' (1995) * ''Caesars örn'' (1996) * ''Högt spel'' (1997) * ''Det svarta guldet'' (1998) * ''Häxan'' (1999) * ''Mord på Mauritius'' (2000) * ''Ikaros flykt'' (2001) * ''Mord ombord'' (2002) * ''Dödligt svek'' (2003) * ''Ostindiefararen'' (2004) * ''Döden går på auktion'' (2005) * ''Den kinesiska trädgården'' (2006) * ''Spionen'' (2007) * ''Dödssynden'' (2008) * ''Palatsmordet'' (2009) * ''Mord i Havanna'' (2010) * ''Safari med döden'' (2011) * ''Mord i blått'' (2012) * ''Jubileumsmord'' (2012) * ''Den grekiska hjälmen'' (2013) * ''Juvelskrinet'' (2014) * ''Medicis ring'' (2015) * ''Silverapostlarna'' (2016) * ''Elakt spel'' (2017) * ''Den engelske kusinen'' (2018)

Novels under the signature Mårten Janson

About ''Jonas Berg''

* ''Telegrammet från San José'' (1971) * ''Tre Skilling Banco'' (1971) * ''Nobelpristagaren och döden'' (1972)

Other novels

* ''Släkten är bäst'' (1978) * ''Utsikt från min trappa'' (1982) * ''Mord och mat'' (1994) * ''Mord i Gamla stan'' (2002) * ''Mord på menyn'' (2003)

Other publications

* ''32 om kärlek'' (1970), poems * ''Drottningholm - slottet vid vattnet'' (1985), essay * ''Sverige'' (1986) * ''Slottet i staden'' (1989) * ''Arvfurstens palats'' (1991), essay * ''Kungliga svenska konstnärer'' (1994) * ''Residens - Svenska EU-ambassader'' (1997) * ''Sofia Albertina - en prinsessas palats'' (1997), essay * ''Att kyssa ett träd'' (2000), memoirs * ''Beridna högvakten'' (2005) * ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (2007) * ''Oss håller inga bojor, oss binder inga band!'' (2013) * ''Ridkonsten i Sverige – historien om hästarna, Strömsholm och mästarna'' (2015)

References

1933 births Living people People from Uppsala Writers from Uppland Ambassadors of Sweden to Switzerland Swedish crime fiction writers {{Sweden-writer-stub