MATTHEW BUCKINGHAM
             
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Eight Nights in Savoy
 

 
2010
Black and white fiber print, 8.5 x 13 inches
 
In 1970, the Swedish crime-writing duo, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, published their sixth novel chronicling the exploits of the fictional Stockholm police inspector Martin Beck. Titled Murder at the Savoy in English, the book chronicles Beck's sojourn to Malmö, in southern Sweden, to investigate the killing of a corrupt industrialist and trade magnate. Beck lodges at the crime scene, the Hotel Savoy for eight days while he and his team work to solve the mystery. On the fortieth anniversary of the novel's publication, I booked a room at the Savoy that matched, as closely as possible, the description of Martin Beck's room and made one photograph for each night in the narrative. Each is titled with a line from the novel.