EBOOK

Requiem for a Gypsy

Michael Genelin
(0)
Pages
368
Year
2011
Language
English

About

The fourth Jana Matinova Investigation

When the wife of one of Slovakia's most prominent businessmen is killed in a very public assassination, it looks like the bullets were meant for her husband. But could she have been the primary target? Commander Jana Matinova must push through her own government's secretiveness and intransigence to discover what connects the murder of Klara Boganova to an anonymous man run down in Paris, a dead Turk with an ice pick in his eye, and an international network of bank accounts linking back to the Second World War. Praise for Requiem from a Gypsy

"Rich in compelling plot twists and sobering history lessons. It also showcases Genelin's skills as a writer."

-The Washington Post

"[Genelin] depicts vividly the effects of old-style corruption on the burgeoning democratic society in present-day Slovakia, and can weave together a fast-moving whodunit populated with flamboyant characters who flit through the European capitals . . . Every character, major or minor in the plot, just about jumps off the page. Mr. Genelin seems incapable of writing a dull page."

-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Genelin once again makes present-day Slovakia a compelling backdrop for murder in his superb fourth novel featuring Police Commander Jana Matinova (after 2010's The Magician's Accomplice) . . . Genelin's no-nonsense lead will appeal to fans of strong female detectives such as Kinsey Millhone, V.I. Warshawski, and Jane Tennison."-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Genelin's writing flows effortlessly as he propels Matinova from one crisis to the next."

-Post and Courier

"Jana, one of the more intriguing characters in fictional thrillerdom, makes fallibility seem like a virtue."

-Kirkus Reviews



"This is one of the better international mystery series currently available. Make sure to suggest it to readers who also enjoy the European police novels of Helene Tursten and Donna Leon."

-Booklist

"An engaging read, full of deftly drawn characters who must somehow see through a mazy reality that conceals the contrast of light and dark in shadows, behind screens, and in the rooted passions of the human heart."

-ForeWord Reviews Michael Genelin is a graduate of UCLA and UCLA Law School. He has served as a consultant for the US State Department and USAID in Central Europe, Africa, Asia, and Haiti, and he is the author of the Jana Matinova series. Chapter 1

The old man in the Dodgers cap walked down one

of the center aisles of the Saturday outdoor market

on Boulevard Richard Lenoir. It was early enough in the

morning to avoid the crowd that would be there in the next

hour. As always when in Paris, he visited the huge market

to reexperience the sights, sounds, and smells of the city

he'd first enjoyed so many years ago. It took him, for the

moments he was there, out of the modern Paris that was

losing so much of its character. Too much clogging motor

traffic, too many fast-food chains, supermarkets, and girls

in gym shoes and baggy, stained khakis-and, of course,

there was the array of beggars. Outside the market, he saw

the very essence of what he thought of as French coming

under attack.

Here, the old Paris was still present: the merchants in

their separate stalls under the canvas, the vegetable-stand

staffers shouting their specials, the fishmongers extolling

fresh cod and bream, the pastry and bread stands wafting

their scent over the neighboring rows, competing with

the bouquets of the olive stands, which boasted dozens of

differently colored, sized, and seasoned olives. These, in

turn, complemented and contrasted with the smell of the

chickens turning on spits and sausages being stewed, fried,

or roasted in the stands farther down the aisle.

The booths went on for blocks, and Pascal, as he was

known in Paris, made sure to traverse the whole market,

picking up tidbits from here and there to keep h

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