The Martin Beck Award is an award given by the

Swedish Crime Writers' Academy The Swedish Crime Writers' Academy (Swedish: ''Svenska Deckarakademin''), is a Swedish organization set up in 1971 to promote the writing of detective fiction and crime fiction.

(''Svenska Deckarakademin'') for the best

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

in translation. It is one of the most prestigious international crime-writing awards. The Award is named after

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

, a fictional Swedish police

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads t ...

who is the main character in a series of ten novels by

Maj Sjöwall Maj Sjöwall (; 25 September 1935 – 29 April 2020) was a Swedish author and translator. She is best known for her books about police detective Martin Beck. She wrote the books in collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö. Biograph ...

(1935–2020) and

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

(1926–1975).

Winners

The country and year of the first publication in brackets.

1970s

* 1971 –

Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons) (pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was bo ...

, ''

The 31st of February The 31st of February was a rock and roll band formed by Jacksonville, Florida natives Scott Boyer, David Brown, and Butch Trucks. All three were alumni of Englewood High School in Jacksonville, though they did not come together musically until ...

'', (UK, 1950) * 1972 –

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as '' The Day of the Jackal'', '' The Odessa File'', ''The Fourth Protocol'', '' The Dogs of War'', '' The Devil's Alt ...

, ''

The Day of the Jackal ''The Day of the Jackal'' (1971) is a political thriller novel by English author Frederick Forsyth about a professional assassin who is contracted by the Organisation armée secrète, OAS, a French dissident paramilitary organisation, to kill C ...

'', (UK, 1971) * 1973 – Richard Neely, ''The Walter Syndrome'', (USA, 1970) * 1974 –

Francis Iles Anthony Berkeley Cox (5 July 1893 – 9 March 1971) was an English crime writer. He wrote under several pen-names, including Francis Iles, Anthony Berkeley and A. Monmouth Platts. Early life and education Anthony Berkeley Cox was born 5 Jul ...

, ''

Malice Aforethought Malice aforethought is the "premeditation" or "predetermination" (with malice) required as an element of some crimes in some jurisdictions and a unique element for first-degree or aggravated murder in a few. Insofar as the term is still in use, ...

'', (UK, 1931) * 1975 –

Cornell Woolrich Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich th ...

, ''Rendezvous in Black'', (USA, 1948) * 1976 –

John Franklin Bardin John Franklin Bardin (November 30, 1916 – July 9, 1981) was an American crime writer, best known for three novels he wrote between 1946 and 1948. Biography Bardin was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father was a well-to-do coal merchant an ...

, ''The Last of Philip Banter'', (USA, 1947) and ''Devil Take The Blue-Tail Fly'', (UK, 1948) * 1977 –

Leslie Thomas Leslie Thomas, OBE (22 March 1931 – 6 May 2014) was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel '' The Virgin Soldiers''. Early life Thomas was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He was orphaned at the age of 12, when his mariner fat ...

, ''Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective'', (UK, 1976) * 1978 –

Anthony Price Alan Anthony Price (16 August 1928 – 30 May 2019) was an author of espionage thrillers. Price was born in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England. He attended The King's School, Canterbury and served in the British Army from 1947 to 1949, ...

, ''Other Paths to Glory'', (UK, 1974) * 1979 –

Brian Garfield Brian Francis Wynne Garfield (January 26, 1939 – December 29, 2018) was an Edgar Award-winning American novelist, historian and screenwriter. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen. Garfield went ...

, ''Recoil'', (USA, 1977)

1980s

* 1980 –

Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...

, ''

Make Death Love Me ''Make Death Love Me'' (1979) is a psychological crime novel by English author Ruth Rendell, regarded by some as one of her bleakest and most powerful stories. The novel was shortlisted for an Edgar and won Sweden's prestigious Martin Beck Awa ...

'', (UK, 1979) * 1981 –

Sébastien Japrisot Sébastien Japrisot (4 July 1931 – 4 March 2003) was a French author, screenwriter and film director. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Renowned for subverting the rules of the crime genre, Japrisot broke down ...

, ''One Deadly Summer'', (''L'Été meurtrier'', France, 1977) * 1982 – Margaret Yorke, ''The Scent of Fear'', (UK, 1980) * 1983 –

Pierre Magnan Pierre Magnan (19 September 1922 – 28 April 2012) was a French crime fiction writer. Early life Pierre Magnan was born on 19 September 1922 in Manosque. At the age of 13 he started working as a typographer and two years later started to wr ...

, ''Death in the Truffle Wood'', (''Le Commissaire dans la truffière'', France, 1978) * 1984 –

Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air F ...

, '' Berlin Game'', (UK, 1983) * 1985 –

Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense th ...

, '' LaBrava'', (USA, 1983) * 1986 –

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

, ''

A Perfect Spy ''A Perfect Spy'' (1986) is a novel by British author John le Carré about the mental and moral dissolution of a high-level intelligence-officer. Major aspects of the novel are lifted from the real life of the author, including the relationsh ...

'', (UK, 1986) * 1987 – Matti Joensuu, ''Harjunpää and the Tormentors'', (''Harjunpää ja kiusantekijät'', Finland, 1986) * 1988 –

Scott Turow Scott Frederick Turow (born April 12, 1949) is an American author and lawyer. Turow has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 30 million copies. Turow’s novels ...

, '' Presumed Innocent'', (USA, 1987) * 1989 –

Anders Bodelsen Anders Bodelsen (11 February 1937 – 17 October 2021) was a Danish writer primarily associated with the 1960 new-realism wave in Danish literature, along with Christian Kampmann and Henrik Stangerup. Bodelsen preferred the social-realistic sty ...

, ''Mørklægning'', (Denmark, 1988)

1990s

* 1990 – Ross Thomas, ''Chinaman's Chance'', (USA, 1978) * 1991 –

Doris Gercke Doris Gercke (born 7 February 1937 in Greifswald) is a German writer of crime thrillers. She also works under the nom de plume Mary-Jo Morell. Biography Born to a working-class family, Doris Gercke's family could not afford higher education fo ...

, ''Weinschröter, du musst hängen'', (''Weinschröter, du musst hängen'', Germany, 1988) * 1992 –

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (14 June 1939–18 October 2003) was a prolific Spanish writer from Catalonia: journalist, novelist, poet, essayist, anthologue, prologist, humorist, critic and political prisoner as well as a gastronome and a FC ...

, '' The Southern Seas'', (Spain, 1979) * 1993 –

Tim Krabbé Tim Krabbé (born 13 April 1943) is a Dutch journalist, novelist and chess player. Krabbé was born in Amsterdam. His writing has appeared in most major periodicals in the Netherlands. Once a competitive cyclist, he is known to Dutch readers for ...

, ''

The Golden Egg ''The Golden Egg'' (Dutch: ''Het Gouden Ei''), published as ''The Vanishing'' in English-speaking countries, is a psychological thriller novella written by Dutch author Tim Krabbé, first published in 1984. The plot centers on a man whose obsess ...

'', (''Het gouden ei'', Netherlands, 1984) * 1994 –

Maarten 't Hart Maarten 't Hart (born 25 November 1944 in Maassluis) is a Dutch writer. Trained as a biologist in zoology and ethology at the Leiden University, he taught that subject before becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, having made his debut as a ...

, ''

Het Woeden der Gehele Wereld ''Het Woeden der Gehele Wereld'' is a 1993 Dutch novel by Maarten 't Hart. The title translates as "The fury/rage/raging of the whole world" and is derived from the text of the poem ''Au bord de l'eau'' by Sully Prudhomme, set to music by Gabrie ...

'', (Netherlands, 1993) * 1995 – Scott Smith, '' A Simple Plan'', (USA, 1993) * 1996 –

David Guterson David Guterson ( ; born May 4, 1956) is an List of American novelists, American novelist, short story writer, poet, journalist, and essayist. He is best known as the author of the bestselling Internment of Japanese Americans, Japanese American ...

, '' Snow Falling on Cedars'', (USA, 1994) * 1997 –

Barry Unsworth Barry Unsworth FRSL (10 August 19304 June 2012) was an English writer known for his historical fiction. He published 17 novels, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel '' Sacred Hunger''. Biograph ...

, ''

Morality Play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

'', (UK, 1995) * 1998 –

Mary Willis Walker Mary Willis Walker (born May 24, 1942, Fox Point, Wisconsin) is an American crime fiction author. Life Walker graduated from Duke University in English and took up high school teaching. She married in 1967 to Lee Walker who became president of ...

, '' Under the Beetle's Cellar'', (USA, 1995) * 1999 –

Iain Pears Iain George Pears (born 8 August 1955) is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. Personal life Pears was born on 8 August 1955 in Coventry, England. He was educated at Warwick School, an all-boys public school in Warwick. He studie ...

, ''

An Instance of the Fingerpost ''An Instance of the Fingerpost'' is a 1997 historical mystery novel by Iain Pears. Synopsis A murder in 17th-century Oxford is related from the contradictory points of view of four of the characters, all of them unreliable narrators. The s ...

'', (UK, 1997)

2000s

* 2000 –

Thomas H. Cook Thomas H. Cook (born September 19, 1947) is an American author, whose 1996 novel ''The Chatham School Affair'' received an Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America. Biography Thomas H. Cook was born in Fort Payne, Alabama, and holds a bac ...

, ''The Chatham School Affair'', (USA, 1996) * 2001 – Peter Robinson, ''

In a Dry Season '' In a Dry Season '' is the tenth novel by Canadian detective fiction writer Peter Robinson in the Inspector Banks series of novels. The novel was first printed in 1999, but has been reprinted a number of times since. The novel is widely acc ...

'', (USA, 1999) * 2002 –

Karin Fossum Karin Fossum (born 6 November 1954) is a Norwegian author of crime fiction, often referred to as the "Norwegian queen of crime". Early life Karin Mathisen was born on 6 November 1954 in Sandefjord, in Vestfold county, Norway. She currently li ...

, ''

Black Seconds ''Black Seconds'' ( no, Svarte sekunder, 2002) is a novel by Norwegian writer Karin Fossum, the sixth in the Inspector Konrad Sejer series. The novel won Sweden's Martin Beck Award in 2002. The storyline The story starts with Helga Joner's d ...

'', (''Svarte sekunder'', Norway, 2002) * 2003 –

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bl ...

, '' Dead Famous'', (UK, 2001) * 2004 –

Alexander McCall Smith Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the Univers ...

, '' The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'', (UK, 1998) * 2005 –

Arnaldur Indriðason Arnaldur Indriðason (pronounced ; born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction; his most popular series features the protagonist Detective Erlendur. Biography Arnaldur was born in Reykjavík on 28 January 1961, the son ...

, '' Voices'', (''Röddin'', Iceland, 2002) * 2006 –

Philippe Claudel Philippe Claudel (born 2 February 1962) is a French writer and film director. Claudel was born in Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, Meurthe-et-Moselle. In addition to his writing, Claudel is a Professor of Literature at the University of Nancy. He direct ...

, ''Grey Souls'', (''

Les Âmes grises ''Les Âmes grises'' is a novel by the French author Philippe Claudel. It is a first person narrative which revolves around the murder of a young girl in a small provincial French town near the Western Front in 1917. The book was published in Fran ...

'', France, 2003) * 2007 –

, ''Red Leaves'', (USA, 2005) * 2008 – Andrea Maria Schenkel, ''

Tannöd ''Tannöd'' is a novel by German author Andrea Maria Schenkel. It was first published in Germany in January 2006 and was adapted for film in 2009. Contents The novel narrates the story of a multiple murder at an isolated Bavarian farm called Ta ...

'', (Germany, 2006) * 2009 – Andrew Taylor, ''Bleeding Heart Square'', (UK, 2008)

2010s

* 2010 – Deon Meyer, ''Devil's Peak'', (''Infanta'', , 2004) * 2011 –

Denise Mina Denise Mina (born 21 August 1966) is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the ''Garnethill'' trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of ...

, ''The End of the Wasp Season'', (, 2010) * 2012 – Peter Robinson, ''Before the Poison'', (, 2011) * 2013 – Dror Mishani, ''The Missing File'', (''Tik ne'edar'', , 2011) * 2014 –

Jørn Lier Horst Jørn Lier Horst (born 27 February 1970) is a Norwegian author of crime fiction and a former Senior Investigating Officer at Vestfold police district. His books have been published in over 40 countries and have sold more than ten million copies. ...

, ''The Hunting Dogs'', (''Jakthundene'', , 2012) * 2015 –

Nic Pizzolatto Nicholas Austin Pizzolatto (born October 18, 1975) is an American writer, producer and director. He is best known for creating the HBO crime drama series ''True Detective''. Early life Pizzolatto was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is of It ...

, ''Galveston'', (, 2010) * 2016 – Ray Celestin, ''The Axeman's Jazz'', (, 2014) * 2017 – Ane Riel, ''Harpiks'', (, 2015) * 2018 – Thomas Mullen, '' Darktown'', (, 2016) * 2019 –

Jane Harper Jane Harper (born 1980) is a British–Australian author known for her crime novels '' The Dry'', ''Force of Nature'' and ''The Lost Man'', all set in rural Australia. Early life Born in Manchester in the UK, Harper moved to Australia with he ...

, ''The Lost Man'', (, 2018)

2020s

* 2020 – Deon Meyer, ''The Last Hunt'', (''Prooi'', , 2019) * 2021 – Guillaume Musso, ''La jeune fille et la nuit'', (, 2018)

References

External links

*{{in lang, sv}
Martin Beck Award official website
Mystery and detective fiction awards Swedish awards Translation awards