Sandman

St. Cyr & Kohler #8

by J. Robert Janes

Made strange bedfellows by the Nazi occupation of France, French detective St-Cyr and Gestapo detective Kohler investigate the disappearance of an orphan heiress and the murder of four schoolgirls by a serial killer called The Sandman

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Historical Mystery, France

261 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

J. Robert Janes is a mystery author best known for writing historical thrillers. Born in Toronto, he holds degrees in mining and geology, and worked as an engineer, university professor, and textbook author before he began writing fiction. In 1992, Janes published Mayhem, the first in the long-running St-Cyr and Kohler series for which he is best known. These police procedurals set in Nazi-occupied France have been praised for the author’s attention to historical detail, as well as their swift-moving plots.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some hit and miss. Good characters but sometimes the structure is annoying.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at a used book store, looking for something new with Bernie Gunther in retirement after the passing of author Phillip Kerr. I have liked other crime/mystery/espionage novels set in wartime and foreign locations. The Paris under occupation during WW2 setting is intriguing though pairing up a German police officer now in the Gestapo with a French Inspector raised some questions. Author J. Robert James doesn't shrink from the implications of such a partnership for either man. Enjoyed the pair's interactions and the depiction of occupied Paris. I will be looking for others in the series and try them.

[Hazel Paton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is enthralling. So few books record the difficulties faced by police in the Occupation, and Janes has carefully researched his work.
The book is spoiled by its tedious writing style, as if the writer’s first language is French, yet he has written in English. However, the French expressions seem contrived and false, eg, “Nom de Jesus Christ,” instead of “Mon Dieu!” as a constant expletive. An omnipotent narrator is accompanied by an irritating series of asides, lest the reader cannot be trusted to come to the correct conclusion. Nothing that some editing would not fix, though.
Don’t be put off reading the book, however, as it gives a valuable insight into detectives working under impossible restrictions. What better incentive to “get it right” than the constant threat of exile in Siberia or being sent to the Russian front!

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading the whole St Cyr and Kohler series, but I didn't like this one as much as some of the others. It's creepy (which goes without saying in this series), but it is filled with unlikable characters (except for Jean Louis and Herman.) The girls would probably have been likable, but they get almost no "screen time" in the book, so mo way to tell.

[Sezer Benoit-Savci · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked setting, paris during the nazi occupation, but the book didn’t really immerse me into the setting. It needed more imagery. Also I struggled to begin with the shifting perspectives between detectives witness and so forth. Otherwise interesting story, fun summer read. However wouldn’t recommend

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF. Not my thing.

[Cerisaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are familiar with the St-Cyr and Kohler series you pretty much know what to expect from the books and this one delivers in that regard. I was happy to see the detectives return to Paris because I Janes has such a good handle on the tense atmosphere of the occupied city, with its privations and shortages, suspicion about collaborators and informers, brothels, easy availability of all varieties of sexual practices, the desperation that fuels prostitution and makes easy pickings for those in a position to profit. It creates a dark, dangerous and distinctly sleazy atmosphere not easy to read about, for e.g. the storyline involving an abortionist euphemistically known as an 'angel maker', that sometimes Janes seems to wallow in, in a way that overshadows the fundamental decency of St-Cyr and Kohler, whose flaws are human and understandable under their peculiar circumstances.

As with the other books in the series the crime plot is complicated and often confusing, with its multiple perspectives and jumping in and out of characters' viewpoints, police, witnesses, suspects, assorted hangers on, victims, etc. There are ongoing difficulties St-Cyr faces from the Resistance believing him to be a collaborator, while partner Kohler tries to dodge the attention of his Gestapo superiors. Neither is allowed to spend much time with his female companion(s), despite having been allowed back to Paris following several cases in the provinces.

Mostly I allow the details to wash over, and soak up the brilliantly evoked period atmosphere and scenes with St-Cyr and Kohler together, on opposite sides of the war but closer with every case they work together.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one out because it takes place in occupied Paris in 1943 and the detectives are Jean-Louis St-Cyr a Paris detective and his partner, Hermann Kohler, veteran of WWI who’s disillusioned with the Nazis. They are hindered in their search for the Sandman (who has been killing young girls with a knitting needle and raping them) by the forces of the Occupier. Luckily, though, they are very good and the various authorities (The German Gestapo, The French Gestapo, the SS,) and always behind them. One of the best things about the book is the way the author makes you feel the weather—it’s January of what was a particularly cold winter in Europe. Most people had no heat, little food, and not enough layers of clothing to keep them warm. But all things considered this isn’t a great mystery. It’s not terribly hard to figure out “who done it” though the book goes through 6 or 7 suspects, all with unsavory stories. It’s a fast moving case—the action takes only a few days during which the detectives don’t get any rest and little food and a child is out there somewhere trying to avoid capture because she knows who the Sandman is. Still, though, the novel drags. Don’t see how it was one of the New York Times notable books (which is why I tired it). Though it may be that I didn't read it quickly enough.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandman is a serial killer mystery set in 1943 Vichy Paris. St-Cyr of the Parisian Police department is teamed with Kohler a former Munich cop and who is now Gestapo. Together the two detectives must find a killer called 'Sandman' who is on a killing school girls across occupied Paris. Janes does a great job in describing the war time complexities of Parisian attitudes, from the thriving black market to dealing with the German war machine beauracracy. Together the two dectectives must put aside prejudices and pride to find the killer before he strikes again. Sandman is a gritty and fascinating story that any mystery or historical novel fan will enjoy.

[Allison Forseter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a murder mystery set in Nazi occupied France and while I did enjoy it, by the end I wasn't as interested in how it turned out. Bonus: all the french in the book made my semesters of studying the language really pay off (finally!)

[Ken Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series by Janes. Two detectives in Occupied France during WWII. One Gestapo, the other Surete. They must find a way to collaborate to investigate crimes during impossible times. Great twists, great insight.

[Christopher Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read but it hasn’t aged well though the story was compelling I would like to try others in the series. It was well paced not giving away to much making sure to offer just enough to make you want to move on to the next page.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a bad novel although the plot was a little too ornately gothic - missing children, evil nuns, prostitutes, abortionists, SS.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gritty, decent.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got hooked on the whole series...good mystery, good atmosphere (a BIG plus for me) and excellent characters...

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just not my cup of tea. It began in an interesting way. I was mesmerized by the curious characters and the political scene in France during the German occupation. Versed mainly in the "good guys, bad guys" sort of thought process, the permutations of the various subsets of SS, and police, and Gestapo, and resistance, etc. was fascinating. Chaos was supreme.

But, the book became too dense. Is it him? Is it her? Is it them? Is she alive, Is she dead? is it..., is it.... -- until finally, I could care less. The storyline was so chaotic and the writing repetitive and annoying. I skimmed until the end and was so relieved to finish the book.

I won't be seeking another one of Janes's tales.