Russell James has been named “the Godfather of Noir” by Ian Rankin. Russell writes crime novels - about criminals and victims, not the cozy procedural or whodunnit. He is the editor of Great British Fictional Detectives.
The third outing for Helsinki
based cop Ariel Kafka, investigating what his department is slow to categorise
as an outbreak of serial murder – perhaps because the deaths have been taking
place over several years.
Are they looking for a
fictionally conventional serial murderer, or are the murders linked for another
reason?
Are each of the deaths and
disappearances murder at all?
Clues soon come in.
The perpetrator wants Kafka on
the case; he writes to him; later they speak on the phone and, of course, they
meet. But the motive remains a puzzle – although
the perpetrator’s program is clearly coming to a climax.
Historic abuse, a less than
harmless secret society and religious dogma lies behind it (not a spoiler: we
know this half way through the book) and an almighty tangle it will turn out to
be. My main criticism of this and the
other Kafka books is that, amiable as he is and well told as the tales are, the
denouements are labyrinthine. But this
is still an enjoyable read.
(ably translated by Kristian London)
