Death of a Dissident

A dissident is murdered the night before his trial, and the KGB is anxious for the killing to be unrelated to his political views. In this scenario we meet police inspector Porfiry Rostnikov, a war veteran, and unconventional detective, involved in a mystery that immerses the reader in Soviet Russia of the 1980's. Very good characters, a believable plot, and a ring of authenticity make this an above average contribution to the mystery genre. Recommended.

I enjoyed this book, although I think I would have liked it better if it was not an audiobook. I found it a little hard to follow some of the characters due to the unusual names, and I think I may have missed a little of what happened because of this, and also due to not paying attention part of the time as I listened while doing other things. But I think the KGB was involved behind the scenes in ways nobody suspected, including me. There was a lot of politics and resulting intrigue that was probably common in Russia during those times.

Reading this book gave me a better understanding of what it must have been like back then. Things were not easy in those days. People did what they had to do to get by, and the police often overlooked show more the petty crimes in order to solve the bigger ones. show less

A great book. I am going to read the whole series. Takes me back to when I was growing up in the Soviet Union. Smart writing, some dark humor, loved it.