Roseanna by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo

Someone lent me a copy of Roseanna, a book I would never have stumbled upon by myself, and I'm glad she did. First published in the 60s, it was reprinted in the 90s. Roseanna tells the story of the death of an American tourist (Roseanna McGraw, a librarian from Nebraska) on a tour boat in Sweden and the months-long efforts of the police (in Sweden and Nebraska) to track down her killer. It's fascinating to watch them work the old- fashioned way--before DNA testing, computerized data bases, GPS systems and cell phones. In fact, when they're tailing their main suspect, the cops have to keep running to a phone booth to check in. And yet, by hard work and dogged determination, they do eventually solve the crime.

There's an introduction to the reprinted version of the book by Henning Mankell that describes a little about what was going on in Sweden in the 60s, which makes for an interesting backdrop to the story.