Per Fredrik Wahlöö (5 August 1926 – 22 June 1975), often identified in English translations as Peter Wahloo – was a Swedish author. He is perhaps best known for collaborative work with his partner Maj Sjöwall on a series of ten novels about the exploits of

Martin Beck Martin Beck is a fictional Swedish police detective and the main character in a series of ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, collectively titled ''The Story of a Crime''. Frequently referred to as the Martin Beck stories, all were ada ...

, a police detective in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, published between 1965 and 1975. The fourth of the Beck novels, ''Den skrattande polisen'', was published in 1968; a translation of this novel, '' The Laughing Policeman'', won an

Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel was established in 1954. Only hardcover novels written by a published American author are eligible. Paperback original novels are eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original. Debut n ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

in 1971. Wahlöö and Sjöwall also wrote novels separately. Wahlöö was born in Tölö parish,

Kungsbacka Municipality Kungsbacka Municipality () is a municipality in Halland County on the Swedish west coast, some 30 km south of Gothenburg. The municipal seat is located in the town Kungsbacka. In 1969 ''Tölö'' was merged into the ''City of Kungsbacka''. ...

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

, Sweden. Following secondary school, he worked as a crime reporter from 1946 onwards. After long trips around the world, he returned to Sweden and started working as a journalist again. He had a thirteen-year relationship with Sjöwall, but they never married, as he already was married. Both writers were

Marxists Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and ...

Biography

Wahlöö's career in journalism started in 1947 at the

Sydsvenskan ''Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snällposten'', generally known simply as ''Sydsvenskan'' (, ), is a daily newspaper published in Scania in Sweden. History and profile ''Sydsvenskan'' was founded in 1870. In 1871 the paper merged with ''Snällposten'' ...

newspaper in Malmö and continued in 1949 at the new ''Evening Post'', where he was a permanent employee until 1953. He moved on to freelance work in the 1950s, writing theatre reviews and film articles for various newspapers, including newspapers in

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

, before moving to

. By May 1964, Per Wahlöö's journalistic career was said to be complete. Subsequently, he was involved with the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

journal ''Tidsignal (Time Signal)'' (1965–1970), where he was part of the editorial board, which included the writer . A leftist tendency and dramatically effective narrative distinguished Wahlöö's early novels about power and justice; examples include ''A Necessary Action'' (1962), which depicts Franco's Spain, and his ''Dictatorship'' series. Starting in the mid-1960s, he and his life companion Maj Sjöwall co-wrote a series of detective novels with criminal investigator

as the protagonist. Several of these novels have been filmed. A Swedish TV film series began running in 1997, with Peter Haber playing Martin Beck. The series was bought by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 2015, and it was shown in the United Kingdom with English subtitles. Per Wahlöö died in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

in 1975, after an unsuccessful operation on the pancreas, as required by cancer. He is interned in the memorial garden at the central cemetery of St. Paul's Church in Malmö.

Bibliography

The novels written by Per Wahlöö only are listed below. (See

for the collaboration with Maj Sjöwall) *''The Chief'' (1959) *''The Wind and Rain'' (1961) *''A Necessary Action'' (1962) *''The Assignment'' (1963) *''No Roses Grow on Odenplan'' (1964) *''Murder on the Thirty-First Floor'' (1966) *''The Steel Spring'' (1968) *''A Necessary Action'' (1969) *''The Generals'' (1974)

Legacy

He has been described as part of "the couple who invented Nordic noir", and he is credited as one of the main inspirations for the Norwegian writer

Jo Nesbø Jon "Jo" Nesbø (; born 29 March 1960) is a Norwegian novelist and musician. His books had sold over 50 million copies worldwide by 2021, making him the most successful Norwegian author to date. Siegel, Lee (5 May 2014).Pure Evil: Jo Nesbø and th ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wahloo, Per 1926 births 1975 deaths People from Kungsbacka Municipality Writers from Halland County Swedish-language writers Swedish crime fiction writers Edgar Award winners Marxist journalists Deaths from cancer in Sweden Nordic detective fiction writers Nordic Noir writers Swedish male novelists 20th-century Swedish journalists