Just Finished Reading: A Vengeful Longing by R N Morris (FP: 2008)

 

St Petersburg, Russia. Summer 1868. Police Investigator Porfiry Petrovich is not happy, not happy at all. The stink from the canal was getting worse, he was convinced of it. Despite his written protests still nothing had been done. But at least the latest case would get him and his new assistant out of the city – at least for a little while. Everyone agreed that it was an open and shut case but one had to go through the proper procedures and his new assistant needed to be trained for this sort of thing. A doctor had murdered his young wife who had been accused of adultery. Open and shut. Simple. Chocolates had been procured, poisoned and given as a gift. Open and shut. Simple. So simple that the assistant wondered, out loud, why they were bothering to even talk to the confectioner or even to the doctor who, rather inexplicably, denied everything. As the arguments flew across the office they were interrupted by the announcement of another murder across the city – this time of an old army officer. It was an open and shut case and the perpetrator had already been arrested. The odd thing was that he was denying killing the man in a duel despite being found holding the weapon and talked of receiving a note telling him of the man’s transgression against his daughter. Stranger still was the coincidence – that the officer and doctor knew each other. But it was still an open and shut case. Apart from a few niggling things that bothered the Inspector and the growing number of coincidences and links between the two events. When the report of a third murder arrived on his desk Inspector Petrovich knew it was going to be a long, hot smelly summer….

This is the second of a series of historical mysteries set in late 19^th century St Petersburg. I read the first back in 2011. I’ll definitely not wait so long to read the next installment. This is a masterfully well-crafted crime novel Not only is the character of the Inspector SO well done (his name might be familiar to some!) but the whole tone of the novel is extremely well done. Everything about this novel feels real and immediate. It’s as if we are there, standing right next to the characters as they go about their lives and as the Inspector and his new assistant go about their business. Having insights into the detective’s methods (as he teaches them to his minion) is a great way of looking at things as Petrovich uses his brain to figure things out without the props of much in the way of forensics. I also liked, very much, the little insights into Russian society where you can see tiny hints of political upheaval to come. I might be reading too much into things but that’s how it came across. After all the 1905 (attempted) revolution is only just over 35 years away…. If you want to completely lose yourself in a novel, in an investigation and in a time and place outside of your everyday experience this is most definitely the book/series for you. Highly recommended and more to come from both the Inspector and the author.     

Oh, this was the last of my Historical Crime Novel sequence. Up soon, after a few Fantasy (and other) novels will be a sequence of Man Vs Machine novels....