On 2005-05-03 Dave Schwinghammer, Little Falls, Minnesota USA wrote: 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.. And summed up by saying One of my favorite characters!. Currently Death of a Russian Priest has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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Ballantine Books claimed Inspector Rostnikov continues to manipulate the powers that be in the Kremlin in order to solve the murder of a priest and the disappearance of a Syrian oil minister´s daughter. By the author of A Cold Red Sunrise.
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