Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
In Russia, the Office of Special Investigations handles those cases that are too difficult to solve or too political to handle by the regular law enforcement types. The investigators are free to do what is necessary to solve the case, but the Director decides what to do with the findings.
Currently, the Office is working three cases simultaneously. Chief Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov and his son Ioset look into the disappearance of a cosmonaut Apparently Vladovka has damaging secrets that force the head of security at Star City to want the man returned immediately.
Sasha Tkach and Elena Timofeyna investigate the stealing of the negative of a multimillion-dollar movie on the life of Tolstoy that is heading to Cannes. The thief demands two million in American dollars.
Emil Karpo and Akarcy Zelach check into the murder of a researcher at the Center for the Study of Technological parapsychology. Someone used a hammer to smack the victim numerous times till he died.
Through the seemingly different cases and the personal lives of the investigators, readers gain a taste of modern Russian society. This enables the audience to care for what happens to the crew of Office of Special Investigations. The story line is entertaining as all three inquiries are fun to observe and ultimately tie together into one stirring plot. Still, the inside look at Russia makes Stuart M. Kaminsky's police procedural a tale worth reading by more than just sub-genre fans, who already know that this is a top rate series.