Requiem

Vasily Korsokovach Investigates #6

by Christopher H. Jansmann

Taking time off as a cop is always problematic — even more so when you are the Deputy Chief of Police. Despite his best attempts to keep the real world at bay long enough to celebrate the budding life he is building with his significant other, Vasily Korsokovach is forced to cut his Las Vegas vacation short after a body is discovered in the choir loft at St. Elspeth’s Cathedral. Dressed in clothes straight out of the late 1970s, the victim was clearly not an invited guest to the special requiem mass being held for a recently departed Sister; stranger still is the personal connection that surfaces, yoking Vasily to a past he long thought was behind him — a past that threatens to derail the near year of happiness he’s enjoyed with the man he knows to be his soulmate, Alejandro Ortega-Cortez. Separating the personal from the professional becomes further complicated when an unusual provision in the will from Alejandro’s late father surfaces. While it’s never easy navigating complicated family issues — something Vasily knows all too well from his own personal experience — Alejandro’s appear particularly cruel, leading Vas to worry that unfinished business in his boyfriend’s past might well keep the duo from getting to their happily ever after. Knowing how insanely lucky he is to have the diver-turned-career counselor in his life, Vas aches to take their relationship to the next level but the scales need to balanced — for both of them — before it can happen. Torn between helping the man he loves and getting to the bottom of the case, Vasily chooses to do both as only he can. Chasing clues from Southern California to Tucson, Arizona, the detective soon discovers that the choice of victim was anything but random — and that death often comes at the hands of a patient murderer intent on timing their revenge for just the right moment. For what is a requiem if not a remembrance of lives — and loves — that have passed…?

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 28, 2023

About the author

Born and raised in Maine, Christopher H. Jansmann spent nearly three decades as a professional IT nerd before recalling a childhood ambition to become an author. He quickly set about correcting that oversight and published his first novel, Blindsided, in 2020, launching what would become his signature style of blending memorable characters with vibrant locations. Chris is the author of the Coastal Maine-set Sean Colbeth Investigates series and the interconnected Southern California-based Vasily Korsokovach Investigates novels.

Despite his love for the Northeast, Chris escaped the cold for sunny Arizona where he currently resides with his beautiful wife and a Shar-Pei mix that insists on being walked regularly.

Reviews

[NeedToRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit, I started listening to this volume randomly, without knowing anything about the previous ones, and I regret it a bit, but in my defence, Audible is flooded with Virtual voice titles right now, and I don't have time to dig. But I still finished this one, and it kept me a nice company in the kitchen. It had some really good moments and Vasily is indeed an intriguing and pretty entertaining main character with an interesting past. Maybe a bit too easily appealing to every character he meets. Some other parts of the story I found more lacking, like, the part where the criminal was caught felt a bit low-stakes. And some dialogue could have been better executed. The setting is well-developed. It feels like the characters are living in the real world that is described in detail. The AI narration was somewhat bearable, most of the time. But I feel like this work is good enough to deserve an actual human to narrate it, so I hope it gets there one day.

[Carey Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one on the pages

I have really come to love the characters in these books. The murders are not repeated cases. I will sit back and see where it goes from here.

[PaperMoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great murder procedural but the side-plot involving Alejandro's family of origin issues really hits this read out of the ballpark for me - 4.75 stars.