Beekeeper

St. Cyr & Kohler #11

by J. Robert Janes

In a freezing Paris in 1942, St Cyr and Kohler are investigating a missing shipment of honey. A beekeeper in Belleville has been murdered; his widow has connections she would rather not go into; and the ramifications of the case stretch all the way to Switzerland and Stalingrad.

Genres: Mystery, France, Historical Fiction

305 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

J. Robert Janes is a mystery author best known for writing historical thrillers. Born in Toronto, he holds degrees in mining and geology, and worked as an engineer, university professor, and textbook author before he began writing fiction. In 1992, Janes published Mayhem, the first in the long-running St-Cyr and Kohler series for which he is best known. These police procedurals set in Nazi-occupied France have been praised for the author’s attention to historical detail, as well as their swift-moving plots.

Reviews

[Cerisaye]

I am undecided whether it is a good idea to read the St-Cyr and Kohler books in quick succession. Since their cases follow on immediately in the novel's timeline it makes sense to plough on through the remainder if the series (and the end is now in sight) as published so far. On the other hand, the state of perplexed confusion that inevitably results from reading Janes might better be spread out over a longer period if the books are to be fully appreciated. No matter, I have just finished two in a row and admit to feeling a little jaded...weary might be a better word. As much as I love St-Cyr and Kohler, the books are damnably hard work!

This one involves beekeeping, in fascinating detail, family secrets, lies and deceit, the best and the worst aspects of human behaviour. The setting is Paris in late January and early February 1943, when word of the German surrender at Stalingrad has been made public and few can believe any longer in Final Victory. Those of the Occupiers enjoying a cushy life in the City of Light, especially those engaged in making money out of the war to secure their own future regardless whether Germany wins, might soon find themselves on the front line, sooner if their wrongdoing should be exposed. Naturally, St-Cyr and Kohler will do their utmost to bring the guilty to justice. A dead beekeeper seems an unlikely victim in wartime Paris. How is his murder linked to an operation (using Russian forced labourers) to melt down valuables into their core silver and gold and get the result securely sent to neutral Switzerland?

Complex and murky, as any reader who has made it so far in the series will know to expect. Janes' true skill as a writer lies in his ability to place his characters in difficult circumstances designed to show the intricacies of the Occupation. How people behave when normal constraints no longer apply. When ordinary life means navigating through food shortages, constant surveillance and heavy handed policing, with neighbours informing on each other, opportunities to settle scores. The Germans are comparatively few in number to hold a country, some 30,000, and are reliant on local collaborators and sympathisers. St-Cyr and Kohler are caught in the middle, knowing too much about their superiors, under threat from both the Resistance and Collaborators. And their womenfolk an easy target through which to get to them.

[Carol]

This entry in the series had some likable characters, but the final whodunit part was about the last third of the book, and even after all of it, it's difficult to remember who actually dunnit after closing the book.