Editing Police procedural (section)

===1965: Sjöwall and Wahlöö===
[[Maj Sjöwall]] and [[Per Wahlöö]] planned and wrote the [[Martin Beck]] police procedural series of ten books between the 1960s and 1970s, set in [[Sweden]]. The series is particularly renowned for its extensive character development throughout the series.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction|last = Geherin|first = David|pages = 162}}</ref> Beck himself is gradually promoted from [[detective]] in a newly nationalised Swedish police force to [[Chief of staff|Chief]] [[Inspector]] of the National Murder Squad, and the realistic depiction, as well as criticism of the Swedish [[welfare state]] at the time whilst the tedium of the police procedural continues in the background, is something still widely used today, with authors such as [[Jo Nesbø]] and [[Stieg Larsson]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Gumshoes: A Dictionary of Fictional Detectives|last = Brunsdale|first = Mitzi|pages = 62}}</ref> The books gave rise to the [[Scandinavian noir|Swedish noir]] scene, and ''[[The Laughing Policeman (novel)|The Laughing Policeman]]'' earned a "Best Novel" Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1971. The books were translated from Swedish into 35 different languages, and have sold roughly ten million copies. Sjöwall and Wahlöö used [[Black comedy|black humour]] extensively in the series,<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.crimefictionlover.com/2014/09/cis-a-guide-to-the-martin-beck-series/|title = CIS: A GUIDE TO THE MARTIN BECK SERIES|last = Megraw|first = Jeremy|date = 21 September 2014}}</ref> and it is widely recognised as one of the finest police procedural series.