The Widow Killer: A Novel - Softcover

Kohout, Pavel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312252897 ISBN 13: 9780312252892

Publisher: Picador, 2000

Synopsis

In the downward spiral of the Third Reich's final days, a sadistic serial killer is stalking the streets of Prague. The unlikely pair of Jan Morava, a rookie Czech police detective, and Erwin Buback, a Gestapo agent questioning his own loyalty to the Nazi's, set out to stop the murderer. Weaving a delicate tale of human struggle underneath the surface of a thrilling murder story, Kohout has created a memorable work of fiction

About this title

Review

The bloody ironies of World War II have inspired several fine mysteries, including J. Robert Janes's books about a German and French pair of detectives (Mannequin, Salamander) and Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy. Now the noted Czech author and revolutionary Pavel Kohout adds his unique voice to this very select group.

Her placid beauty (he could describe it no other way) was even more vivid in the near-darkness; her eternally sleepy voice moved him, though she was merely explaining that she had not been waiting long; no, she had just come outside, because it occurred to her they'd have trouble finding the house. He opened the rear right door for her and then got in on the other side. What sort of rare perfume was she wearing, he almost asked, before he realized that it was the smell of soap.

That's Kohout (through translator Neil Bermel, who also did Kohout's previous novel, I Am Snowing) describing an encounter between a young and relatively idealistic Czech detective and a woman who might provide a clue to who in 1945 Occupied Prague is murdering and mutilating the widows of war heroes.

Like Janes, Kohout makes his two cops an intriguing set: the young Czech, Morava, is partnered with a Gestapo officer, Buback, who turns out to have Czech origins and a secret agenda. While ostensibly keeping an eye on the Prague police for his superiors, Buback is also helping his Czech comrades prepare for the day when Germany will be defeated. That's a lot of history and social significance for a mystery novel, but Kohout has the heart and muscle to hold it all together. --Dick Adler

From the Publisher

"Kohout has created a gripping morality play deftly disguised as a ripping good yarn filled with intrigue, history, and fatal romance." --The Los Angeles Times

"Chilling, suspenseful, and insightful...Kohout's novel combines the best aspects of a thriller with an unusual, highly entertaining moral intelligence." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"What starts out like a murder mystery, a taut and suspenseful thriller, turns into a powerful and gripping allegory by a writer steeped in the tragic lessons of Czechoslovak history." --Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312252897
• ISBN 13: 9780312252892
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400