Porfiry Petrovich is back. Yes, that Porfiry Petrovich: the one from Dostoyevsky’s CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Author R.N. Morris had a huge hit with his debut novel, THE GENTLE AXE, featuring Petrovich solving a gruesome crime. Now, in the follow-up, A VENGEFUL LONGING, we get more of Petrovich and his new assistant, Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky, as they stalk the brutal streets of St. Petersburg in the year 1868.
A woman and her mentally challenged son are poisoned by a box of chocolates. Suspicion naturally falls on her husband, who was no longer in love with her. As the magistrates investigate, a new case arrives with a colonel being killed seemingly in cold blood by a man who felt his daughter had been wronged. He is found holding the murder weapon. As this second case begins to develop, a third case opens: that of a minor loan shark stabbed to death in the park.
Of course, all three cases are connected, but not at all in a way the reader — or indeed Petrovich — expects. This second novel is even more successful than the entertaining, but outlandish first effort. Oh, the plot is still a bit wacky, but Morris seems more confident here, more willing to show us the laissez-faire side of Petrovich, counterbalancing that with the firebrand revolutionary Virginsky. Emotions run a bit too high all around (people are “furious” or “enraged” for very little reason), but the youthful vigor of Virginsky and the implacable solidity of Petrovich combine into a pleasing detective whole.
This is period fiction of the best kind: accurate in its details; staying within its appropriate time; even managing to teach us a bit about the society’s norms. And on top of that, you get a rousing good mystery that keeps you thinking until the end. More, please, from Mr. Morris. —Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE GENTLE AXE by R.N. Morris
