THE KATERINA ICON

by Robert Mitchell

COULD THE TRIPTYCH LEAD THEM TO ICONS WHICH ONCE BELONGED TO CATHERINE THE GREAT, CZARINA OF RUSSIA? Giving his treasured possession to the two Australians who rescued him from an icy death, the ancient Cossack swears that the icon, an icon given to him by his grandfather, contains a code which will point to the secret hiding place of priceless icons looted from the imperial palace by Bolsheviks during the early years of the Russian Revolution. They must decide whether there really is a secret concealed within the old man’s icon, or whether the story was merely the old Cossack’s fantasy. They must decide whether they should take the risk and return to Russia and perhaps recover the riches which might await them. And if they should find these icons, would the most favourite icon of Catherine the Great, The Katerina Triptych, be amongst them, and, if so, would it be real, and would it be worth the lives which the search will take? Another thriller from the prize-winning author of The Crying Stones.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 25, 2015

About the author

Robert Mitchell spent his early years in Melbourne, Australia where he graduated from Melbourne University with degrees in Law and Arts. Moving to Suva, Fiji, in 1969, he spent the next twelve years practising law, with a mid-term break of two years when he and his wife, May, acquired a one-third interest in a marine salvage company. Robert acted as company manager, diver, and assistant salvage master in a number of marine salvages in the South Pacific. The experience he gained during those two years has been used to great advantage in several of his novels. In 1981 he returned to Australia and continued practising law. In 1988 his novel The Lucinda Legacy was a prize-winner in the Australia-wide Bicentennial Novel Competition. In 2000, he and his family moved to Brisbane, where he retired. In 2003, he and May ventured to China, where they taught English to high school and college students for two years. They travelled extensively throughout China during this time, their experiences reflected in his two latest novels. Robert now spends his time writing - for the pleasure it gives to others.

Reviews

[Stephen Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amateur versus professional crooks.

A couple of Australian tourists in Russia rescue an old man from drowning, and in gratitude he tells them of an ancestor of his who, during the civil war that followed the Russian Revolution, attacked a train and stole some icons that had been stolen by the Bolsheviks from the Russian royal family. One of the Australians is of Russian ancestry, and the old man tells him that if he can find the hidden icons, he can keep them, and gives him one of his own family icons, which is said to hold the key to the secret location of the icons.

The tourists, an accountant and a dentist, return to Australia and when the believe they may have found a clue to the location of the icons, decide, after many arguments, to return to Russia and look for them. Their arguments continue throughout the book. First one is keen on the project, and the other is lukewarm, and then the one who was lukewarm becomes keen and the other is sceptical.

Their enterprise is of dubious legality and morality, and thus they need to keep it secret, but they take it in turns to boast about it and to warn against doing so. First one says too much, and the other warns him not to, and then they exchange roles. As a result of this, several others, including professional criminals, become aware of the treasure hunt, and the two amateurs find themselves in serious trouble and great danger again and again, usually because one has done something foolish that the other has warned them against.

The battle between the amateurs and the professionals goes right through the book, and I thought the theme was a little overplayed. The protagonists never seemed to learn from their mistakes, and went on making the same mistakes over and over again, and getting into similar trouble over and over again. One would take precautions that the other would get angry about, or one would neglect precautions that the other would get angry about.

[Michael Mardel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Katerina icon by Mitchell. Also hailing from Melbourne, I was biased towards this story. Mitchell has a great ability to bring to life what it was like in frozen Russia, which is fascinating in itself. There was plenty of pathos, a few murders, a near drowning (or two) and two men on an adventure. There are no girls on the horizon (except an ex or two) and the usual wanting to be rich and retire - one a dentist and the other an accountant. We are led around Moscow as the boys try to find an agent or a buyer for their icons. Are they genuine? Will the police catch up with them? Or the baddies? Good wholesome fun.