Death of a Russian Priest

Stuart Kaminsky is a prolific writer to say the least. Not only does he write the Rostnikov series, he also does Toby Peters, Abe Lieberman, Lew Fonesca, and a couple of original Jim Rockford mysteries. He has won the Edgar Award for his fourth Rostnikov novel, A COLD, RED SUNSHINE. Kaminsky dedicates this rendition of the Rostnikov series to Evan Hunter (Ed McBain) whose 87th Precinct novels he seems to emulate. Like the 87th precinct procedurals, each book is built around several cases. This one is an exception in that Karpo and Rostnikov are working together on the murder of a Russian orthodox priest, Vasili Merhum, and Tkach and Elena Timofeyeva are looking for an Arab girl who has gone missing. Neither plot is all that compelling, but that's usually not the point in this original series. Kaminsky spends much more time on character development than on plot. In this one, Sasha Tkach is teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown; his wife is expecting a new baby he can't afford and he must learn to work with a new partner, plus put up with his meddling mother who has come to live with them while his wife is confined to bed. There also appears to be more than a little sexual tension between Sasha and Elena. Karpo, the fanatical communist, must learn to live without an ideology to slavishly follow, and he is drawn to the Russian Orthodox church. Rostinikov is being hounded by the remnants of the Russian KGB. Rostnikov is one of my all-time favorite characters; the "Washtub" as he is affectionately called, works off stress by solving plumbing problems or by weightlifting while listening to Dinah Washington. Absolutely nothing seems to rattle the man, not even the ax-wielding psychopath who killed Vasili Merhum. It's been almost four years since the last in the series, MURDER ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS. In the bio I read, Kaminsky says he spends much more time researching his Rostnikov novels than the others, so maybe that's the reason. I think Putin has given him lots of ammunition; it's time to put those other guys on the shelf and take another trip to Moscow.

A friend recommended Stuart Kaminsky's Porfiry Rostnikov series, and after reading one book, I am smitten. This series pushes all my buttons: a serious mystery, a Russian theme, great characters, and an exciting plot woven around current events. The book begins right after the fall of communism. Lines are long, tempers are short, and Russian's are having a difficult time adjusting to the new regime. Living conditions are Spartan and most people share an apartment with a friend or relative. The Russian Orthodox Church is experiencing a resurgence. The KGB is not what it once was, and many that were once at the top now find themselves on the bottom. And the police, who were once feared and respected, are merely tolerated. Inspector Rostnikov and his staff are faced with two separate murders. In the small village of Arkush, an outspoken priest is brutally murdered. In Moscow, a young Jewish student is murdered, and his Syrian girlfriend (daughter of an important oil minister) has mysteriously disappeared. Rostnikov and his partner, Karpo head for Arkush. At the same time, their associates, Tkach and Timofeyeva investigate the Moscow murder. Throughout their investigations, they are constantly tailed by the KGB, which can be comical at times. But where Kaminsky really shines is his characters. All suffer pain and pathos, and all carry a heavy heart. Rostnikov suffers from a severe leg injury obtained in World War II. His beautiful wife, Sarah, is recuperating from a brain tumor. Their son Iosef, a former soldier who fought in Afghanistan, has just written a play that disturbs his parents because of its angst. Karpo, who was practiced communism with a religious zeal, now finds himself rudderless. And so it goes. But despite the hardships and pitfalls of living in Russia, they try to find some solace and comfort in simple things: a beautiful smile, a short line, a half a chicken, family, and friendship. My only regret with the Rostnikov series is that I started with book eight in the series, instead of book one. But the good news is that I still have a good number of Rostnikov books to enjoy. I already look forward to the next one.

This is one of the series in the intermediate years between communism and post-communism. The emotional conflicts of the characters and how they are expressed are very real. Excellent!

Stuart M. Kaminsky is the prolific author of three distinctive mystery series (Chandler-esque vintage Hollywood private eye Toby Peters: _Murder on the Yellow Brick Road_, Chicago cop Abe Lieberman, and here, the McBain-esque Moscovite Office of Special Operations.)In the Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series, Kaminsky has deftly transplanted the Ed McBain police procedural to Russia: individual detectives, each having his/her own serial back stories, investigating different cases. And through the time span of the series, the reader also watches as the Soviet Union disintegrates.This time, there is the mysterious disappearance of a Syrian Oil Minister's daughter and the murders of a Russian Orthodox Priest and Nun. `With faith in his mission, Father Merhum [the eponymous dead Russian Orthodox Priest] had stood up to commissars, the leaders of his own church, the KGB, and state leaders from Stalin to Gorbachev. And now, days after the end of the seventy-year failure of Soviet socialism, he stood ready to take up the demands for reform with Yeltsin himself." ... "He would supply the names. He would read them in Red Square atop the empty tomb that had held the profane icon of Lenin." Hunh? Lenin isn't in Lenin's Tomb anymore?!? Where is he? I guess the old "stumper" of "Who is buried in Lenin's Tomb?" isn't so obvious anymore, nyet?Here's a savvy and snappy comment on the State of Russian Dys-union at the time: "Tatyana smiled. `You are a year too late, pretty policeman,' she said. `You can't do such things anymore. People will run and tell on you and you will have to say five Hail Yeltsins in penance."

Tony Hillerman says, "Never miss a Kaminsky book, and be especially sure not to miss `Death of a Russian Priest.'" With a recommendation like that, who needs to wait! Stuart Kaminsky, himself an Edgar Award winner, proves once again that his Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov series in not one to miss. Set in Russia amid the rumblings and eventual fall of the Iron Curtain, the series captures convincingly the Russian atmosphere, politically, socially, criminally, and with such conviction, especially for an American writer who has not devoted his life to Russian studies. In "Death of a Russian Priest," Inspector Rostnikov, accompanied by one of the few individuals he can fully trust, journeys to Arkush to investigate the murder of a local priest, an outspoken cleric and one whose death has shocked the local community. Of course, as with all the Rostnikov books, nothing is as it seems and it takes the cunning, the skill, and the intellect of his team to bring all this together. He and Karpo, known as "the Vampire," are busy solving this murder while meanwhile back in Moscow, Sasha Tkach, Rostinok's handsome and randy and very married assistant, is involved in another investigation. Tkach has a new partner, Elena Timofeyeva (which opens up other complications!), and they are trying to find a missing girl and a cold-blooded killer. Kaminsky manages to tie these assignments together and quite satsifactorily by the book's conclusion. He, once again, has managed to provide humanity in an area where little is often found! Kaminsky's Russian tales are absorbing, and it is nail-biting waiting for the next [email protected]