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The death of a dissident's daughter in the remote Siberian cold leads to an investigation. The subsequent death of the ineffectual investigator results in Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov packing his cold-weather clothes and heading north. The fifth work in this series finds Rostnikov's career stuck fast, owing largely to official displeasure at his unorthodox brilliance. His wife is ill, and his son, partly due to bureaucratic revenge on Porfiry, is soldiering somewhere in Afghanistan. The climate and isolation of the murder scene lead to an agreeably short list of suspects for the inspector and his assistant, the robotic, physically daunting Karpo; unexpected interference, however, is encountered from on high. The author has fine-tuned Porfiry and Karpo into a delightful sleuthing team and a fascinating study in odd contrasts. Kaminsky's warm affection for his characters makes for a winning series. PLR.

Kirkus
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Murder in Siberia--with Moscow's middle-aged Inspector Rostnikov (Red Chameleon, etc.) dispatched by the powers-that-be to investigate a politically sensitive killing in far-off, desolate Tumsk. The dead man is one Commissar Rutkin, who was in Tumsk to determine the truth about the death (accidental drowning? murder?) of little Karla, beloved daughter of exiled dissident Lev Samsonov. Was Rutkin killed because of what he had discovered about Karla's demise? Or because he had happened upon some other secret in this ""town of exiles""? Rostnikov, already under a cloud in Moscow, must sleuth with kid gloves-especially since his every move is being monitored by a watchdog from the Procurator's Office. (The Inspector's sidekick, grim Karpo, has also been ordered to inform on his boss.) The suspects include a ""retired"" general, an ex-priest, a hermit-shaman, and the famous dissident himself. . .who's rumored to be ripe for deportation to the West. And meanwhile, back in Moscow, Rostnikov's beloved Jewish wife Sarah undergoes an operation for a brain-tumor--in the more successful of the novel's two subplots. (The other--a frustrating larceny case for undercover cop Tkach, Rostnikov's young protegÉ--seems superfluous.) A quiet, small-scale yet satisfying addition to this impressive series--with ale CarrÉ-ish final twist, chilly Siberian atmosphere, and the wry, somber portrait of much-beleaguered Inspector Rostnikov. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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The fifth novel in the Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov series offers another example of Kaminsky's ( A Fine Red Rain ) ability to spin a gripping, well-paced narrative peopled with vivid characters. Here the maverick Rostnikov, demoted after numerous battles with the KGB, is assigned to the case of Commissar Illya Rutkin, who was killed in Siberia while investigating the death of dissident Lev Samsonov's daughter, Karla. Inspector Emil Karpo, who accompanies the 54-year-old weightlifting policeman to the small town of Tumsk, has been asked by the KGB to report on his superior. Comrade Sokolov goes along, too, ostensibly to learn procedures, though Rostnikov knows his methods are under scrutiny. A realist and keen observer of humanity, Rostnikov deals shrewdly with the suspects in Rutkin's slaying: Lev Samsonov and his wife, Ludmilla; custodians Liana and Sergei Mirasnikov; Dimitri Galich, a former priest; and militarist General Krasnikov. As Rostnikov unravels the baffling crime, the clues point to loyalty and love as the motives for murder. The denouement is stunning and again proves Rostnikov is in a class by himself. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved