The Terrorists (Martin Beck, #10)

Finished just a few weeks before Per Wahloo's death, The Terrorists is the last Martin Beck mystery, a marvelous summing up of the series. The series finale finds Beck attempting to save an American diplomat from the bloody hands of a terrorist group.

The book is, in effect, a marvelous summing up of the series. The story centers on the visit of an American senator to Stockholm. Martin Beck tries to protect him from an international gang of terrorists, while they decide that Beck too should be removed from the scene. Interwoven with this basic story are two fascinating subplots. One, a classic mini-mystery, is the story of a millionaire pornographer bludgeoned to death in his own bathtub. The other is the story of a young girl, a Swedish hippie caught up unexpectedly in the maze of police bureaucracy. As in other Martin Beck books, the plot comes together in a totally unexpected climax.