Red Chameleon

When I discovered Inspector Rostnikov's mysteries by S.Kaminsky, I came across his last one, and since then I went back and now I am going through all of them. This one is as marvelous as all the several others that I've read so far. I'll admit: a big part of it is a nostalgic feeling of remembering growing up in the Soviet Union - all the weird intrinsic details of that period, all that we had to put up with to have a "normal" life, etc. The author is very good at capturing the sense of that. I love this series - even in spite of the fact that Mr.Kaminsky doesn't seem to have a good Russian editor and while being admirably precise about some Russian phrases and names, he makes bad slip-offs on others... And yet, I am totally taken by show more his protagonist Inspector Rostnikov, his mysteries are never predictable (if there is such a thing as a predictable mystery, of course...). show less

Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov of the Moscow police must walk a delicate political line while trying to solve murders. He has been demoted and is being watched as a potential subversive, but that doesn't stop him from investigating the murder of an elderly Jewish man, even when he is ordered to step down.

I enjoyed meeting the characters in this novel and learning about their lives. Kaminsky gives them flesh and blood and describes the delicate balance of loyalty to the State and being true to oneself with compassion and insight. This is a police procedural more than a mystery. Think Colombo, where you know who did it, but you don't know how the police will catch them. I look forward to reading more of his books.

I think these books are as much about Russia as they are about the crimes that get solved. It seems like the more crimes Inspector Rostnikov solves, the worse off he is. Watching him solve the crime was interesting, but the stories behind the crime is perhaps more so. The politics are as complicated as the cases, and he must tread lightly in solving the crimes.

In this book there are a few thing happening. One is that someone is shooting police and military people from a rooftop. But that crime is a lower priority than the one involving the theft of his bosses car, which is not only important, but must be kept secret because it's an embarrassment that it could happen. And when they decide the murder of a Jew should simply be dropped, the show more Inspector works on it secretly, knowing that if he solves it, he will need to explain how the murderer was accidentally caught by sheer chance. Then, when it's all over, he needs to choose between two versions of what happened, and must choose the one that is politically the best answer.

Interesting glimpses into day to day life in the USSR. show less

An old Jewish man is shot dead in his bathtub while reading Izvestia, but the killer does not leave before stealing his victim's old candlestick. Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov is back, and on the hunt. Without warning the case is ordered closed, and a warning to not pursue the investigation is issued by Rostnikov's superiors, citing the need to address more important cases of car theft, and sniper killings.

We're back in Soviet Moscow for the third installment of a well-written mystery series, complete with characters we've come to know, and love, even the vampire-like Emil Karpo. Recommended.