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Porfiry Rostnikov #3
Red Chameleon
A Hunter
The violent and inexplicable murder of an old man in his bathtub and the theft of a worthless candlestick send Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov on a hunt into the past. But as his search narrows toward one feared and elusive man, the trail winds back to the most unexpected and dangerous place for Rostnikov.
A Spy
A ring of car thieves with a taste for expensive vehicles is at large in Moscow’s streets. Boyish undercover officer Sasha Tkach must pose as a young man of privilege in order to find and entrap them. But the striking female mastermind proves more cunning and deadly than Sasha has bargained for.
A Target
High above the gray city, a sniper is taking aim at police officers. Obsessed m humorless detective Emil Karpo takes the assignment to heart and wages a methodical, one-man crusade—using himself as a decoy.
The violent and inexplicable murder of an old man in his bathtub and the theft of a worthless candlestick send Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov on a hunt into the past. But as his search narrows toward one feared and elusive man, the trail winds back to the most unexpected and dangerous place for Rostnikov.
A Spy
A ring of car thieves with a taste for expensive vehicles is at large in Moscow’s streets. Boyish undercover officer Sasha Tkach must pose as a young man of privilege in order to find and entrap them. But the striking female mastermind proves more cunning and deadly than Sasha has bargained for.
A Target
High above the gray city, a sniper is taking aim at police officers. Obsessed m humorless detective Emil Karpo takes the assignment to heart and wages a methodical, one-man crusade—using himself as a decoy.
199 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
168 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Stuart M. Kaminsky
160 books215 followersStuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
September 25, 2020
This was a quite different sort of old-fashioned detective novel. Set in Moscow in 1985, Chief Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov tries to investigate the murder of a very old man who remigrated from the U.S. back to the Soviet Union. Inspector Rostnikov is distrusted at the Moscow police because he is considered a bit too independent which makes him suspicious in the eyes of his superiors. Even more negative is the fact that Rostnikov tried to emigrate to America, but was refused to get a visa to leave the country. He speaks English and secretly reads Ed McBain detectives. Very intriguing murder mystery and occasionally quite funny observations how Russian life before the fall of the iron curtain really must have been experienced. You had to be on guard. It always could be your last day, easily!
February 18, 2024
Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov is no longer privileged (see Book 2 Black Knight In Red Square). His plan to exit the Soviet Union with his wife is, at best, on hold. He retains his job, but is now given “lesser” cases, such as this one that starts with the murder of an old Jewish man in his apartment in front of his two children. Normally (if there is/was a normal) Rostnikov would be “above” this case, but now he has the time to dig into its puzzling aspects:
Why was the man murdered?
If it was a robbery, why does it seem only a single brass candlestick was taken?
Was one of the two murderers on a picture in the victim’s hallway?
Were the murderers American?
Who really was the victim?
Rostnikov is very intuitive and smart and underutilized. His talents are on full display as he is challenged by the criminals and stymied by the Soviet bureaucracy as well.
Not only is Rostnikov back, but so is “The Vampire.” Each is an iconic detective in their own manner. Kaminsky is a great storyteller with just the right amount of personal details to make his characters stand out. On display in this novel is a thrilling scene (including a power saw used as a weapon) in a “chop shop.” And, a long tale by a criminal which is a recounting of the Jewish predicament from the time of the tsars to the 1980s. 9
There is some continuation from the previous book, so reading that one first would be an excellent plan. I would characterize this volume as more “thriller” than police procedural. The thrills are episodic and include both physical and psychological threats.
This is my first Kaminsky that I have listened to, rather than just read. The reader, John McLain, is very good with the exception that his narrative (American) voice is indistinguishable from that voice that he gives to Rostnikov. The other characters are all well differentiated.
Why was the man murdered?
If it was a robbery, why does it seem only a single brass candlestick was taken?
Was one of the two murderers on a picture in the victim’s hallway?
Were the murderers American?
Who really was the victim?
Rostnikov is very intuitive and smart and underutilized. His talents are on full display as he is challenged by the criminals and stymied by the Soviet bureaucracy as well.
Not only is Rostnikov back, but so is “The Vampire.” Each is an iconic detective in their own manner. Kaminsky is a great storyteller with just the right amount of personal details to make his characters stand out. On display in this novel is a thrilling scene (including a power saw used as a weapon) in a “chop shop.” And, a long tale by a criminal which is a recounting of the Jewish predicament from the time of the tsars to the 1980s. 9
There is some continuation from the previous book, so reading that one first would be an excellent plan. I would characterize this volume as more “thriller” than police procedural. The thrills are episodic and include both physical and psychological threats.
This is my first Kaminsky that I have listened to, rather than just read. The reader, John McLain, is very good with the exception that his narrative (American) voice is indistinguishable from that voice that he gives to Rostnikov. The other characters are all well differentiated.
April 27, 2021
Chief Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov is out of favor. He had tried to blackmail a senior KGB official in hopes of obtaining exit visas for himself and his Jewish wife. Given widespread antisemitism, they hoped to emigrate to the United States. At the time, his boss, Assistant Procurator Anna Timofeyeva, had valued his work and managed to shield him from the worst consequences. But she suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire. The new Deputy Procurator General of Moscow, Khabolov, has followed orders and assigned the serious cases to Rostnikov’s subordinates instead of him. And now first one major case then another opens up. Rostnikov is forbidden to work them. But the “unimportant” murder of an old Jewish man who was shot in his bathtub might lead to something big. Thus begins Red Chamelion, the third Russian police procedural in Stuart Kaminsky’s captivating series featuring Inspector Rostnikov.
Turmoil in the Soviet Union
So goes the career of Inspector Rostnikov, “the best cop to come out of the Soviet Union” in the words of the San Francisco Examiner. It’s 1985, and the USSR is in turmoil. Chairman Leonid Brezhnev had died three years earlier, and his successor, KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov, had lasted little more than a year. Now Andropov’s successor, Konstantin Chernenko, is dead too. And the man who will take his place, Mikhail Gorbachev, is little-known and unpredictable. In the midst of the uncertainty, “a sniper has been shooting at people from the rooftops in Central Moscow”—and “a well-organized team of automobile thieves” has been snatching the luxurious Chaikas and Zil limousines belonging to the only men who could possibly afford them: senior Party apparatchiks. It’s a terrible time for Inspector Rostnikov to be sidelined.
Three cases collide in this Russian police procedural
Suddenly, Assistant Procurator Khabolov calls Rostnikov into his office in a panic. Now his beloved white Chaika automobile has been stolen. This, of course, elevates the case to the highest priority. And while the Chief Inspector is working to recover the car, he’s free to investigate the sniper as well. The shooter, who may be either a man or a woman, has murdered a policeman, which is unacceptable. But Rostnikov is to keep the priorities straight: the Chaika comes first. And, as far as Khabolov is concerned, he might as well forget about that murdered old Jewish man. Somehow, though, we know that Rostnikov will find a way to resolve all three cases. And how he does so—simultaneously—with the able assistance of his team, is wonderful to behold.
Life in the Soviet Union
Nearly seven decades after the Russian Revolution (1917-21), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was showing its age. The promise of an equitable society had long since been abandoned in all but name. For everyone but a tiny elite, the USSR’s 274 million people lived day by day with a harsh reality wrought by misguided priorities. Long lines for food that never met the demand. Dilapidated housing nobody ever maintained. Factories that met arbitrary quotas by churning out torrents of goods nobody would ever buy. Empty shelves on stores offering household appliances that never materialized. Antiquated hospitals and incompetent doctors. And everywhere, police, shopkeepers, and petty officials demanding bribes to supplement their meager wages. As the old joke went, “They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work.”
What it was like then
In Red Chameleon, Rostnikov rejoices when he finds “a bakery where the line to find out the price was reasonably short. He got the price then went to the line to pay the cashier. Ten minutes later he had gone through the third line, the one to pick up the bread and was on his way home.”
Later, Emil Karpo, one of Rostnikov’s assistants is injured on the job and winds up in a hospital. Knowing how the system works, the Inspector has called in a family friend, a foreign-trained doctor, to help Karpo. The doctor asks a few questions, looks him over carefully, and then advises, “‘You should get out of here as fast as you can. Tell them you feel fine before they operate on you and maim you for life, or worse, infect you in an unsterile environment. They are controlling you with drugs. Who knows what drugs.'”
If you’re skeptical of anything in this portrayal, I can assure you it’s all accurate. I witnessed all that and more on two visits to the Soviet Union, in 1965 and 1989.
The author’s inspiration
In the Inspector Rostnikov novels, Kaminsky makes abundantly clear that his model and inspiration are the 87th Precinct police procedurals of Ed McBain (1926-2005). The Inspector is addicted to these books, which he has bought “on the black market . . . and kept hidden in his apartment behind the Russian classics and the collected speeches of Lenin.” Rostnikov marvels at “Ed McBain’s world of police who caught criminals and knew nothing of politics, of police who were supported by their system.” But the Inspector didn’t read McBain alone. “It had become a ritual need of her husband’s to read at least a few pages of Ed McBain or Lawrence Block, Bill Pronzini, or Joseph Wambaugh.” Small wonder, then, that Kaminsky chose to craft his novels about Inspector Rostnikov as Russian police procedurals.
About the author
The late Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) wrote four series of mystery novels in a career spanning three decades (1977 to 2009). His output include more than sixty novels as well as story collections and nonfiction works. One of the sixteen books in the Inspector Rostnikov series won him the Edgar Award in 1989, and he received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 2006. Kaminsky had served as president of that organization in 1998.
Turmoil in the Soviet Union
So goes the career of Inspector Rostnikov, “the best cop to come out of the Soviet Union” in the words of the San Francisco Examiner. It’s 1985, and the USSR is in turmoil. Chairman Leonid Brezhnev had died three years earlier, and his successor, KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov, had lasted little more than a year. Now Andropov’s successor, Konstantin Chernenko, is dead too. And the man who will take his place, Mikhail Gorbachev, is little-known and unpredictable. In the midst of the uncertainty, “a sniper has been shooting at people from the rooftops in Central Moscow”—and “a well-organized team of automobile thieves” has been snatching the luxurious Chaikas and Zil limousines belonging to the only men who could possibly afford them: senior Party apparatchiks. It’s a terrible time for Inspector Rostnikov to be sidelined.
Three cases collide in this Russian police procedural
Suddenly, Assistant Procurator Khabolov calls Rostnikov into his office in a panic. Now his beloved white Chaika automobile has been stolen. This, of course, elevates the case to the highest priority. And while the Chief Inspector is working to recover the car, he’s free to investigate the sniper as well. The shooter, who may be either a man or a woman, has murdered a policeman, which is unacceptable. But Rostnikov is to keep the priorities straight: the Chaika comes first. And, as far as Khabolov is concerned, he might as well forget about that murdered old Jewish man. Somehow, though, we know that Rostnikov will find a way to resolve all three cases. And how he does so—simultaneously—with the able assistance of his team, is wonderful to behold.
Life in the Soviet Union
Nearly seven decades after the Russian Revolution (1917-21), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was showing its age. The promise of an equitable society had long since been abandoned in all but name. For everyone but a tiny elite, the USSR’s 274 million people lived day by day with a harsh reality wrought by misguided priorities. Long lines for food that never met the demand. Dilapidated housing nobody ever maintained. Factories that met arbitrary quotas by churning out torrents of goods nobody would ever buy. Empty shelves on stores offering household appliances that never materialized. Antiquated hospitals and incompetent doctors. And everywhere, police, shopkeepers, and petty officials demanding bribes to supplement their meager wages. As the old joke went, “They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work.”
What it was like then
In Red Chameleon, Rostnikov rejoices when he finds “a bakery where the line to find out the price was reasonably short. He got the price then went to the line to pay the cashier. Ten minutes later he had gone through the third line, the one to pick up the bread and was on his way home.”
Later, Emil Karpo, one of Rostnikov’s assistants is injured on the job and winds up in a hospital. Knowing how the system works, the Inspector has called in a family friend, a foreign-trained doctor, to help Karpo. The doctor asks a few questions, looks him over carefully, and then advises, “‘You should get out of here as fast as you can. Tell them you feel fine before they operate on you and maim you for life, or worse, infect you in an unsterile environment. They are controlling you with drugs. Who knows what drugs.'”
If you’re skeptical of anything in this portrayal, I can assure you it’s all accurate. I witnessed all that and more on two visits to the Soviet Union, in 1965 and 1989.
The author’s inspiration
In the Inspector Rostnikov novels, Kaminsky makes abundantly clear that his model and inspiration are the 87th Precinct police procedurals of Ed McBain (1926-2005). The Inspector is addicted to these books, which he has bought “on the black market . . . and kept hidden in his apartment behind the Russian classics and the collected speeches of Lenin.” Rostnikov marvels at “Ed McBain’s world of police who caught criminals and knew nothing of politics, of police who were supported by their system.” But the Inspector didn’t read McBain alone. “It had become a ritual need of her husband’s to read at least a few pages of Ed McBain or Lawrence Block, Bill Pronzini, or Joseph Wambaugh.” Small wonder, then, that Kaminsky chose to craft his novels about Inspector Rostnikov as Russian police procedurals.
About the author
The late Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) wrote four series of mystery novels in a career spanning three decades (1977 to 2009). His output include more than sixty novels as well as story collections and nonfiction works. One of the sixteen books in the Inspector Rostnikov series won him the Edgar Award in 1989, and he received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 2006. Kaminsky had served as president of that organization in 1998.
June 19, 2020
'Red Chameleon', 3rd in the Rostnikov series by Stuart Kaminsky, is an interesting look at the 'overhead' Russian law enforcers had to contend with in the Iron Curtain era through the eyes of a rather unique detective. Porfiry Rostnikov is a guy who's working his way down the career ladder in Moscow due to an unsuccessful effort by he and his Jewish wife to leave Russia. He's stocky (his nickname is The Washtub), extremely strong due to weightlifting, and limited otherwise physically due to a war injury to his leg. His assignments, and those given to his team aren't very good ones, but they all provide maximum effort to solve them.
In Red Chameleon, 3 separate crimes are investigated, with Rostnikov handling the strangest of the lot: the murder of an elderly man taking a bath by a couple of guys, one old, one young, and the theft of an old candlestick from his apartment. The man's daughter witnessed the murder and seemed to recognize the older killer from a photograph of her father as a young man. Rostnikov, with not much to go on, begins his work but soon runs into conflicting signals emanating from his boss. In the meantime, a sniper is wreaking havoc in central Moscow and luxury cars are being stolen all over the city. Rostnikov's teammates address those crimes while he goes through his own investigation of the strange murder of the old man.
Red Chameleon was a throwback novel in many ways. It's set in the early 80's in Soviet Russia, the KGB is still a powerful force, most of the investigations are performed using rudimentary forensics (if any), and although there are a few doses of violence most of the interactions are politely handled. The conclusion, which is the solution of the old man's murder, is uniquely accomplished and there's a twist at the end that explains a lot. Kaminsky's writing is fine, his characters are being developed nicely, and I enjoy the dry Russian humor that pervades the daily life of the inhabitants of Moscow. This is a really interesting series that I'm glad I discovered.
In Red Chameleon, 3 separate crimes are investigated, with Rostnikov handling the strangest of the lot: the murder of an elderly man taking a bath by a couple of guys, one old, one young, and the theft of an old candlestick from his apartment. The man's daughter witnessed the murder and seemed to recognize the older killer from a photograph of her father as a young man. Rostnikov, with not much to go on, begins his work but soon runs into conflicting signals emanating from his boss. In the meantime, a sniper is wreaking havoc in central Moscow and luxury cars are being stolen all over the city. Rostnikov's teammates address those crimes while he goes through his own investigation of the strange murder of the old man.
Red Chameleon was a throwback novel in many ways. It's set in the early 80's in Soviet Russia, the KGB is still a powerful force, most of the investigations are performed using rudimentary forensics (if any), and although there are a few doses of violence most of the interactions are politely handled. The conclusion, which is the solution of the old man's murder, is uniquely accomplished and there's a twist at the end that explains a lot. Kaminsky's writing is fine, his characters are being developed nicely, and I enjoy the dry Russian humor that pervades the daily life of the inhabitants of Moscow. This is a really interesting series that I'm glad I discovered.
September 19, 2020
I love Stuart Kaminski’s very real, good hearted, pragmatic, smart, ironic and lovable characters. Detective Rostnikov and his very weird yet sympathetic band of misfit policemen are certain to surprise and entertain. Plus learning about the Russian political history before and later during glasnost is really interesting (NERD ALERT). Begin with the earliest in series.
May 8, 2019
This is the third Inspector Rostnikov novel. Published in 1985 I found it interesting that the novel mentions the transitions in Soviet leadership through the span of the prior novels, Death of A Dissident (1981) and A Black Knight in Red Square (1983) From Brezhnev to Andropov and then the death of Chernenko. From the climax of the second novel to the start of this third novel finds Chief Inspector Rostnikov demoted to simply Inspector Rostnikov, and it is due to this demotion that Procurator Khabolov, who succeeded Procurator Timofeyeva, assigned Rostnikov, along with his new leg-man the uninspired Comrade Zelach, to investigate an insignificant murder of an old Jew.
“In Moscow, the investigation of a crime is a question of jurisdiction, and the investigation of important crimes is an important question of jurisdiction. Minor crimes, and no one is quite sure what a minor crime is, are handled at the inquiry stage by MVD, the national police with headquarters in Moscow. Moscow itself is divided into twenty police districts, each responsible for crime within its area. However, if a case is considered important enough, a police inspector from central headquarters will be assigned. The doznaniye, or inquiry, is based on the frequently stated assumption that “every person who commits a crime is punished justly, and not a single innocent person subjected to criminal proceedings is convicted.” This is repeated so frequently by judges, procurators, and police that almost everyone in Moscow is sure it cannot be true.”
An old man is murdered in his bath and the only clues that Inspector Rostnikov has to go on is a very old photograph of four young men, and an old brass candlestick was taken from the scene. A very old photo of now very old men… who are they? Where are they? Are they even still alive? Well, at least one of them isn't alive anymore. But who takes a simple old candlestick? It’s a question, a puzzle that draws the detective in Rostnikov to solve.
Along the way he, like Prometheus, tries to bring that spark to Comrade Zelach and ignite the detective in him.
“Zelach,” he said as they rode up the escalator, “do you think of me as a violent man?”
“No, chief inspector,” said Zelach indifferently. “There’s a stand on the corner. I have not eaten. Would it be all right if I bought some blinchiki?”
“It would be all right, Comrade Zelach,” Rostnikov said sarcastically, but the sarcasm was lost on Zelach. “Do you want to know where we are going?”
Zelach shrugged as they pressed through the morning crowd.
“In that case, we will let that be your surprise for the day.”
Meanwhile, we find our old friend Inspector Emil Karpo investigating a sniper at large in the city, and Inspector Sasha Tkach investigating a series of luxury car thefts. The pursuits of these investigations enable us a readers to again venture through the streets of Moscow and encounter the unique characters that populate the city… hell, this is as enjoyable as dogging Spenser around Boston!
“In Moscow, the investigation of a crime is a question of jurisdiction, and the investigation of important crimes is an important question of jurisdiction. Minor crimes, and no one is quite sure what a minor crime is, are handled at the inquiry stage by MVD, the national police with headquarters in Moscow. Moscow itself is divided into twenty police districts, each responsible for crime within its area. However, if a case is considered important enough, a police inspector from central headquarters will be assigned. The doznaniye, or inquiry, is based on the frequently stated assumption that “every person who commits a crime is punished justly, and not a single innocent person subjected to criminal proceedings is convicted.” This is repeated so frequently by judges, procurators, and police that almost everyone in Moscow is sure it cannot be true.”
An old man is murdered in his bath and the only clues that Inspector Rostnikov has to go on is a very old photograph of four young men, and an old brass candlestick was taken from the scene. A very old photo of now very old men… who are they? Where are they? Are they even still alive? Well, at least one of them isn't alive anymore. But who takes a simple old candlestick? It’s a question, a puzzle that draws the detective in Rostnikov to solve.
Along the way he, like Prometheus, tries to bring that spark to Comrade Zelach and ignite the detective in him.
“Zelach,” he said as they rode up the escalator, “do you think of me as a violent man?”
“No, chief inspector,” said Zelach indifferently. “There’s a stand on the corner. I have not eaten. Would it be all right if I bought some blinchiki?”
“It would be all right, Comrade Zelach,” Rostnikov said sarcastically, but the sarcasm was lost on Zelach. “Do you want to know where we are going?”
Zelach shrugged as they pressed through the morning crowd.
“In that case, we will let that be your surprise for the day.”
Meanwhile, we find our old friend Inspector Emil Karpo investigating a sniper at large in the city, and Inspector Sasha Tkach investigating a series of luxury car thefts. The pursuits of these investigations enable us a readers to again venture through the streets of Moscow and encounter the unique characters that populate the city… hell, this is as enjoyable as dogging Spenser around Boston!
June 12, 2020
I loved this book! This book was written in the early 80’s. Before the Gorbachev era. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Cold War between Russia and the U.S. was good and strong.
Russia, in the 80’s seems like a very scary place to live. It’s probably just as bad under Putin. But despite all the fear of the police and the KGB, crime is thriving in Moscow, a city of 7 million people.
In fact, Inspector Rostnikov and his team are trying to solve three crimes in this story.
In the last story of this series, Inspector Rostnikov attempted to blackmail a KGB official to allow him and his wife to emigrate, but he was unsuccessful, so now he has been quietly demoted.
His superior gives him a murder to solve that appears insignificant. Of course nothing about Rostnikov is insignificant, and his investigation leads him to those in high power.
But with a character that doesn’t hold back for long , Rostnikov faces challenges to his career and his life.
Russia, in the 80’s seems like a very scary place to live. It’s probably just as bad under Putin. But despite all the fear of the police and the KGB, crime is thriving in Moscow, a city of 7 million people.
In fact, Inspector Rostnikov and his team are trying to solve three crimes in this story.
In the last story of this series, Inspector Rostnikov attempted to blackmail a KGB official to allow him and his wife to emigrate, but he was unsuccessful, so now he has been quietly demoted.
His superior gives him a murder to solve that appears insignificant. Of course nothing about Rostnikov is insignificant, and his investigation leads him to those in high power.
But with a character that doesn’t hold back for long , Rostnikov faces challenges to his career and his life.
April 22, 2018
This story was well done; I enjoyed reading about mid-80's Moscow with its political and urban living descriptions. The characters, settings, and motives came to life with Kaminsky's style and wit. This part made me chuckle, "The younger of the two men, who had grabbed his now-senseless wrist, said some nonsense in English that sounded like 'kipyur hans hoff.'" I figured out the mystery just before it was narrated; which was kind of satisfying. I look forward to more of his mysteries.
June 8, 2025
This is a reread. This book was free for me to listen to in Audible and I was pretty sure I had read it back in the 90s. I believe I had, but didn't remember most of it. The narrator kept driving me crazy by mispronouncing Rostnikov (he would say "Roastnikov," but this is corrected in later books--I couldn't help myself and checked.) and there were times I fell asleep listening. In the end I woke up on a character's tale of the past and was a little puzzled. The book ended and I dug out my copy and read the last few chapters of the book to figure things out.
You have to really be into Russian/Soviet history (in my opinion) to enjoy this series. I am and do enjoy it. Rostnikov is a likeable "everyman" just trying to get by and do his job. The story might seem a bit slow and plodding compared to current works in our fast-paced and low attention-span era. I think the story is supposed to be slow and plodding as it represents a bygone era and muddled life of Soviet Russia. You have to be in a certain mood to read these books.
Having read the first five books of the series, and having reread the first three, I confess that this is my least favorite. My favorite would be the first one I happened across and read, which was A Cold Red Sunrise (or it could have been A Fine Red Rain--I always get these two confused--whichever one won the Edgar Award and had the ingenious murder weapon (I can't reveal what it was without spoiling things for you)).
I do own all 16(?) books in this series and hope to read each and every one. I hate that Kaminsky has passed away and that ends this series. But I guess the total number is a fair amount compared to some series.
The Martin Cruz Smith, Arkady Renko (Gorky Park) series is probably better known than this one. The two detectives are similar in many ways. Both Renko and Rostnikov are solid detectives who strive to follow facts and solve cases despite the system working to waylay each investigator in many ways along the crime solving path.
Porfiry Rostnikov is also similar to the fictional American detective Fred Carver from the author John Lutz. The Carver detective series is set in Florida. Like Rostnikov, Carver also has a leg injury. Carver though, unlike Rostnikov, is no longer on the force. He works independently, though uses contacts from the police force to help him. Carver is also the plodding type detective, steadily pushing his way through till the end. The Carver series also has an interesting, if not ingenious, murder weapon featured in the book titled Kiss (which is the third or fourth in the series). The first book of the Carver series is called Tropical Heat. The steamy Florida heat is so thick that it is almost another character in the series.
Back to the Rostnikov series--if you like solid, plodding, "dog with a bone," type detectives, then you'll like Porfiry Rostnikov. And if you want to get a glimpse into Soviet era Russia . . .
You have to really be into Russian/Soviet history (in my opinion) to enjoy this series. I am and do enjoy it. Rostnikov is a likeable "everyman" just trying to get by and do his job. The story might seem a bit slow and plodding compared to current works in our fast-paced and low attention-span era. I think the story is supposed to be slow and plodding as it represents a bygone era and muddled life of Soviet Russia. You have to be in a certain mood to read these books.
Having read the first five books of the series, and having reread the first three, I confess that this is my least favorite. My favorite would be the first one I happened across and read, which was A Cold Red Sunrise (or it could have been A Fine Red Rain--I always get these two confused--whichever one won the Edgar Award and had the ingenious murder weapon (I can't reveal what it was without spoiling things for you)).
I do own all 16(?) books in this series and hope to read each and every one. I hate that Kaminsky has passed away and that ends this series. But I guess the total number is a fair amount compared to some series.
The Martin Cruz Smith, Arkady Renko (Gorky Park) series is probably better known than this one. The two detectives are similar in many ways. Both Renko and Rostnikov are solid detectives who strive to follow facts and solve cases despite the system working to waylay each investigator in many ways along the crime solving path.
Porfiry Rostnikov is also similar to the fictional American detective Fred Carver from the author John Lutz. The Carver detective series is set in Florida. Like Rostnikov, Carver also has a leg injury. Carver though, unlike Rostnikov, is no longer on the force. He works independently, though uses contacts from the police force to help him. Carver is also the plodding type detective, steadily pushing his way through till the end. The Carver series also has an interesting, if not ingenious, murder weapon featured in the book titled Kiss (which is the third or fourth in the series). The first book of the Carver series is called Tropical Heat. The steamy Florida heat is so thick that it is almost another character in the series.
Back to the Rostnikov series--if you like solid, plodding, "dog with a bone," type detectives, then you'll like Porfiry Rostnikov. And if you want to get a glimpse into Soviet era Russia . . .
July 21, 2025
Of the three sleuths Kaminsky has written series about, I do believe Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov is my favorite (though I do enjoy the other two.) He takes me to such an alien world of the Cold War Soviet Union. The political machinations & blatant antisemitism (his wife is Jewish,) make his job that much more difficult, if not dangerous. Such as police matters that put his investigation of the murder of an old Jew on the back burner in order to find the car theft ring that stole his boss’ fancy auto. He treads a tightrope in his investigations with the Fifth Chief Directorate of the KGB who control people who are politically suspect. He’s crossed them before endangering his freedom if not his life (or even his family’s.) Yet, he feels he must do his duty as a cop the best he can. Even everyday life is stressful. Limping on his WW II bum leg he stops at a bakery for some bread. He stands in one line to find out the prices. He stands in a second to pay for his order. And then in a third to pick it up. To survive all this he is addicted to weight lifting and his philosophy that he “…would worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. In Moscow that was the only way it could be.”
March 24, 2022
Kaminsky does not disappoint. Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov is one of my absolute favorite characters in the detective novel genre. Not only does he have to deal with criminals and a sclerotic bureaucracy, he has to always be aware that the KGB has him in their sites and under surveillance. Yet Rostnikov and his team solve three different threads of crime all with Rostnikov maintaining his principles to the maximum extent possible. An immersive, well paced read with an ending that should not be a total surprise, but which, as in other novels in the series, sets limits to how far the Inspector can go in his pursuit of justice.
May 24, 2019
A sage detective
Having thoroughly enjoyed the Abe Lieberman stories, as well as the ones in Sarasota, I have started to read and enjoy this series about the stubborn Russian detective and look forward to reading the remaining books in the series in the next few years. A sad and honorable detective trying to help people in a lousy corrupt system. Porfiry is a decent man and a honorable policeman.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the Abe Lieberman stories, as well as the ones in Sarasota, I have started to read and enjoy this series about the stubborn Russian detective and look forward to reading the remaining books in the series in the next few years. A sad and honorable detective trying to help people in a lousy corrupt system. Porfiry is a decent man and a honorable policeman.
October 16, 2020
As usual Porfiry needs to manage the maze of the politburo as he hunts for the killer of an old Jew. Emil is trying to locate a random shooter and Sasha must pretend to be a playboy son of an important father. His job is to find who is stealing government automobiles. Constantly Porfiry worries about his wife and son. Another good read!
May 1, 2022
Author Stuart Kaminsky once again demonstrates his knack for creating interesting, memorable characters in this third entry in the Inspector Rostnikov series. The detective and his crew must solve the murder of an elderly Jew who returned to Moscow from America, catch a serial sniper shooting policemen and crack a car theft ring targeting Moscow's senior political bureaucrats.
August 27, 2022
O Sr. Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov lida com um processo com ligações antigas.
Mais uma vez, nos cruzamos com o preferido do autor e da personagem principal, o escritor policial Americano, Ed McBain e vemos as semelhanças entre o nosso inspector e Maigret de Simenon, que o autor claramente também é fã.
Mais uma vez, nos cruzamos com o preferido do autor e da personagem principal, o escritor policial Americano, Ed McBain e vemos as semelhanças entre o nosso inspector e Maigret de Simenon, que o autor claramente também é fã.
July 24, 2025
This is a new series for me. It stacks up well against most of the other mystery series I read. The detective reminds me of Commissario Brunetti from the Donna Leon series which is set in Venice. I am not sure why exactly, but he seems more philosophical and introspective than most fictional detectives. Fortunately this author wrote many books so I have a lot to choose from for my next read.
November 30, 2018
A return to the form of book 1! I really enjoyed this, the plot was far more interesting, the development of the characters deepens, all going well, looking forward to the next in the series.
At some point Kaminksy is going to send his cop to East Germany, I just bet!
At some point Kaminksy is going to send his cop to East Germany, I just bet!
February 11, 2020
This series is starting to really grow on me. The characters are very different from any other series and slowly being fleshed out across the novels, becoming increasingly interesting and lovable as they do.
March 5, 2021
Porfiry gets the bad guys (and a gal) in true wise fashion. He also lifts a couple of bad guys up in the air to their surprise, even though he is in his 50s and drags his left leg due to an injury incurred in the WWII battle for Rostov.
July 11, 2021
Inspector Rostnikov appears to overstep his authority and fears he may wind up in Lubyanka in this fun tale of Russia at its most frustrating bureaucracy and stubborn stagnation. All the delightfully droll characters are here.
September 2, 2024
Appreciate American values!
Insight as to life in the old Soviet republic. Makes one appreciate our American freedoms & society! I wonder if the present Russian system is more progressive. I’m inclined towards it is but not much more.
Insight as to life in the old Soviet republic. Makes one appreciate our American freedoms & society! I wonder if the present Russian system is more progressive. I’m inclined towards it is but not much more.
April 6, 2019
I am quite enjoying this series of books. They are quite a fast read. The details of life in Moscow are very interesting. I would recommend this series of books to others.
July 21, 2020
Fun read, as usual. And it didn’t follow the standard detective novel script. Kept me guessing. This series has fast become one of my favorites.
January 14, 2023
Review here:
January 26, 2023
Gritty and heartbreaking sometimes. Powerful stuff from Kaminsky!
April 9, 2024
Brilliant! You become totally immersed in the setting and the story.
October 24, 2025
Rostnikov has been demoted but still solves what others can’t while watching out for his family and friends.
January 28, 2016
Superb. I'm riveted as I read about Russian police officers who are relentless in pursuing justice in spite of the myriad of obstacles they face every inch of the way, including torture, exile or death if they disobey orders or cannot find an way to finagle their way out of a predicament. And then there's day-to-day life in Moscow:
Chap 3 - Getting up the stairs in his apartment building was long and difficult with an almost useless left leg, but Rostnikov looked at the daily climb as part of his training program. It was amazing how, if he wanted to do so, he could convert the difficulties of normal Moscow life into disadvantages. A lack of elevators in the city meant climbing stairs. In long lines at stores, Rostinikov could read his American novels. Without a car, Rostinikov had to take a subway and walk miles each week. Others argued that the hard life of a Muscovite made its inhabitants strong, tough, and hard, while Americans, English, and the French were soft from too much convenience. Why, then, Rostinikov thought, do we not live as long as they do? His thoughts had grown morbid, and his mind was wandering. He did not see the young man coming down the stairway who turned a corner on the third floor and almost collided with him.
Chap 4 - "Well," said the man in the pebbly voice from a throat planed dry by too much vodka.
Chap 3 - Getting up the stairs in his apartment building was long and difficult with an almost useless left leg, but Rostnikov looked at the daily climb as part of his training program. It was amazing how, if he wanted to do so, he could convert the difficulties of normal Moscow life into disadvantages. A lack of elevators in the city meant climbing stairs. In long lines at stores, Rostinikov could read his American novels. Without a car, Rostinikov had to take a subway and walk miles each week. Others argued that the hard life of a Muscovite made its inhabitants strong, tough, and hard, while Americans, English, and the French were soft from too much convenience. Why, then, Rostinikov thought, do we not live as long as they do? His thoughts had grown morbid, and his mind was wandering. He did not see the young man coming down the stairway who turned a corner on the third floor and almost collided with him.
Chap 4 - "Well," said the man in the pebbly voice from a throat planed dry by too much vodka.
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