James Nicoll Reviews

1946’s Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist is the first of Astrid Lindgren’s Kalle Blomkvist juvenile mystery novels. In 2017, Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist was translated by Susan Beard and appeared under the title Master Detective.

Kalle Blomkvist¹ is a detective without compare… at least, he is the finest thirteen-year-old detective in the small town of Lillköping. True, Lillköping has yet to present Kalle with a mystery worthy of his talents. Until that day comes, he and his two best friends, Anders and Eva-Lotta, fill their days cheerfully battering their frenemies (Sixten, Benka, and Jonte) on the slightest of pretexts.

One day a stranger comes to Lillköping.

Uncle Einar is called uncle even though he is really is Eva-Lotta’s mother’s cousin Einar Lindeberg. For reasons Einar does not care to clarify, Einar has decided to take a holiday in Lillköping. Einar appears to have ample funds. The duration of his stay is unclear.

Kalle concludes that Einar is up to no good the moment Einar takes liberties with Eva-Lotta, with whom both Kalle and Anders are hopelessly smitten². A man who would pinch a girl’s cheek—Eva-Lotta’s cheek — on first meeting is capable of any crime. All Kalle needs to do now is narrow down the list of possibilities to figure out the crime that Einar actually committed.

Einar insists on accompanying the trio whenever he can. While off-putting, this does facilitate clue-gathering. Despite this, Kalle makes very little progress determining of which heinous affront against the laws of God and man Einar is guilty.

Two more strangers arrive. Kalle overhears them ask a hotelier for an ​“Einar Brane.” When the answer is no, they ask after an Einar Lindeberg, whom the hotelier has also never met. Kalle realizes that the two men could be the break he needs. Rather than point them at Uncle Einar, he adds the strangers to the list of people on whom Kalle is keeping an eye.

The thirteen-year-old is entirely correct to suspect Einar and the two strangers of a crime. Kalle’s miscalculation is to underestimate how far the criminals would go in pursuit of ill-gotten gains. If, say, a trio of nosey teens got in their way, the criminals would not hesitate to do away with them all.

~oOo~

Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist was first published in English under the stupid title of Bill Bergson, Master Detective. This is also the title Wikipedia has foolishly decided to use for its article on this novel. Presumably, this is because publishers feared Anglophone readers would die of a raging brain fever if they saw an unfamiliar Swedish name.

This review is not being classified as one of my Tears reviews for two reasons. First, the only time I read a Kalle Blomkvist novel was when I was a student at North Wilmot Public School, so somewhere between 1971 to 1973, which means I did not read this as a teen. Second, this is not the Kalle Blomkvist mystery I read. That was Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist lever farligt, under the ludicrous title Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously.

Although I could not remember the author, the protagonist’s name, the title, or even the nation in which the novel is set³, a detail from Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist lever farligt that stuck with me was Eva-Lotta’s post-traumatic stress disorder following her discovery of a corpse^4. It struck me because, generally speaking, characters in mysteries are not bothered by the horrific events into which they insert themselves.

While there are no corpses in this novel⁵, Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist does have its own disturbing elements. For example, it’s clear that Anders can expect vigorous beatings whenever his father is mildly annoyed or bored. For another, Einar’s interest in Eva-Lotta is flagged as incredibly creepy. Eva-Lotta is able to effortlessly fend Einar off, which suggests she has experience with handsy adults. There’s also the fact the criminals are perfectly willing to murder the kids if necessary.

But it’s not all amoral criminals and teens in mortal peril. Portions of the novel are quite funny. Lindgren does not take pompous, egotistical Kalle anywhere as seriously as Kalle takes himself. For that matter, local Constable Bjork is clearly amused by Kalle, although that doesn’t stop Bjork from giving Kalle’s claims due consideration… given sufficient evidence.

Not a bad way to spend an evening. I wonder if I can find the other two books in the series or if they are out of print again?

Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist is available, for various values of available, here (Amazon US), here (Amazon Canada), and here (Amazon UK) but I found Master Detective at no other book seller.

1: Some readers may feel that the name ​“Kalle Blomkvist” is somehow familiar, despite having never read or even heard of this novel. This is because ​“Kalle Blomkvist” is the nickname of protagonist Mikael Blomkvist in Stieg Larsson’s Män som hatar kvinnor, published in English as The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo.

2: Eva-Lotta does not appear to reciprocate the affections of her smitten pals.

3: Because the playful feud conducted throughout the book is called ​“The War of the Roses,” I assumed that meant the kids were English.

4: Homicide-related PTSD aside, Eva-Lotta may not possess Pippi Longstocking’s superhuman abilities, but she can more than hold her own with the boys.

5: No on-stage murders. However, Einar’s pursuers got Einar’s location from Einar’s girlfriend. The text hints that she did not survive the interrogation.