A Whisper to the Living (Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Series #16) Book

A Whisper to the Living continues the adventures (some would say trials and tribulations) of Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, an honest policeman in a very dishonest post-Soviet Union. Rostnikov is one of the most engaging and relevant characters in crime fiction, a sharp and caring policeman as well as the perfect tour guide to a changing Russia.

Rostnikov and his team are searching for a serial killer who has claimed at least 40 victims. And then there is the problem of protecting a visiting British journalist who is working on a story about a Moscow prostitution ring…and in doing so Rostnikov and his team uncover a chain of murders that lead to a source too high to be held accountable if the police want to keep their jobs

Or their lives.

Publishers Weekly

In MWA Grand Master Kaminsky's so-so 16th Porfiry Rostnikov novel (after 2008's People Who Walk in Darkness), the chief inspector of Russia's Office of Special Investigations pursues a serial killer, the Bitsevsky Maniac, named for the Moscow park in whose vicinity many of his elderly victims have been found bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Rostnikov stakes out the park in the hopes of attracting the killer's attention. Meanwhile, the chief inspector's colleagues, who include Rostnikov's son, Iosef, deal with unrelated crimes, such as tracking down a boxing champion who's suspected of murdering his wife and his sparring partner. These subplots, combined with an early reveal of the maniac's identity, lessen the suspense. In addition, Rostnikov is a lot less complex character than another Russian cop trying to maintain his honesty in a corrupt society, Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko. Sadly, the prolific Kaminsky died October 9, 2009. (Jan.)