Rostnikov's Vacation

By Stuart M. Kaminsky

In the faltering Soviet Union, the KGB will do anything to hold on to power .

A Jewish man in a squalid government flat finds a killer in his shower. A young punk girl hurtles naked through the window of her apartment. And in the Crimea, at a health retreat for mid-level functionaries, an aging policeman's death is made to look like heart failure.

It's this last murder that catches Porfiry Rostnikov's attention. The inspector's wife is recovering from brain surgery, and his superiors at the Moscow police insist he accompany her to the Crimea. There he meets Georgi Vasilievich, a former colleague suffering from emphysema, a bad heart, and an inability to stop working. He is investigating a high-level conspiracy when he dies, and Rostnikov inherits the case, putting him on the trail of a gang of hardline security men who refuse to give up the Soviet dream -- and who will go to murderous lengths to ensure that perestroika never comes to pass.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784086039

Stuart M. Kaminsky

Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) was the author of fifty novels, including the Lew Fonesca mystery series and the Toby Peters mystery series. A former president of Mystery Writers of America, Kaminsky was a recipient of the Edgar Award and the Prix de Roman D’Aventure of France. He was also nominated for the Shamus and McCavity Awards. His previous tie-in work includes two original Rockford Files novels.

Reviews for Rostnikov's Vacation

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While on a forced vacation in Yalta, Inspector Rostnikov is frustrated by inactivity, until a former acquaintance and high-ranking official dies suddenly. The official cause of death is declared to be a heart attack, but Rostnikov knows better. And in Moscow, while Tkach is playing decoy for gangs that beat their victims almost to death, Emil Karpo ignores orders to trail the insane killer of a German tourist. Good, solid storytelling, plot twists, and more of the characters we have come to know so well.

[ageoflibrarius · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wouldn't use this one as an introduction to the series. Falls a little flat.

[clara53_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ah... Kaminsky's Inpector Rostnikov series... such a delight, always... Despite some gruesome crime scenes, unavoidable in a crime novel, it's a pleasure to read, I hope the author keeps them comin. I am still anticipating the few in the series that I haven't read...Even notwithstanding Kaminsky's bizarre and amusing tendency to sort of invent some of the Russian names, instead of giving his characters the typical Russian names (well, in the case of the protagonist Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov - it's not an unusual name..., while some others are pretty stunning), it's still a great pleasure to read.