Behind God’s Back
Harri Nykänen; Kristian London
(Translator)
Bitter Lemon Press, Nov 18 2014, $14.95
ISBN: 9781908524423
In Helsinki, someone murders Jewish office
supplies stores owner Samuel Jacobson in front of his home in Tammisalo. Helsinki Violent Crimes Unit Chief Detective
Huovinen assigns Detective Ariel Kafka to investigate the homicide because his
subordinate and the victim are Jewish.
Ariel knew Samuel as the cop dated the victim’s daughter Lea when they
were eighteen, but conceals that from his superior officer.
As he and Detective Simolin go to the crime
scene, Ariel knows Lea lives in Israel.
Neighbors inform the culprit was a cop.
They next question the widow Ethel who mentions her son Roni is in
Lapland. The cops also learn from her
that her workaholic husband stayed home for three days in spite of not being
ill; and that he obtained a loan from Baltic Invest Estonian bank through the
law firm of Kafka & Oxbaum; owned by Ariel’s brother Eli and their second
cousin Max. As the inquiry
internationally widens to include Israel’s Mossad and the Russian Mafia, a
second similar murder occurs; thus the Finnish
Security Police become involved.
The second Case for Ariel Kafka of Helsinki’s
Violent Crimes Unit (see Nights of Awe) is a
fabulous Finnish police procedural. The
lead protagonist may not be a practicing Jew, but feels strongly about keeping
his race and Israel safe. The
multifaceted investigation follows subgenre standard procedurals but also
contains red herrings and twists.
However, it is the close look into Finland’s small Jewish community, still distrustful of
authorities even by those generations born decades after the Holocaust, that
make for a complex terrific whodunit.
Harriet Klausner
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