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Porfiry Rostnikov #14
Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express
Penzler Pick, December 2001: This is a compulsively readable tour de force that keeps more balls in the air than a pitching machine. On top of that, in this 14th novel featuring the one-legged Moscow cop Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, Stuart Kaminsky once again catapults us straight from our armchairs into the mindset of modern Russia in all its perverse dysfunctions.
Kaminsky must have had fun cooking up the plotlines, which ingeniously plunder the storage bins of mystery history. There's everything from a Jane the Ripper to homages to train-bound thrillers like The Lady Vanishes, North by Northwest, and the more obvious Murder on the Orient Express. At the same time, there's the conscious, skillfully presented element of social realism, an aspect that never intruded into the action of any of those tales. Kaminsky is wonderfully artful at conveying the pervasive cynicism that comes with the territory at all strata of existence in the former Soviet Union, and he does it without ever being repetitious. At an organic level, it seeps into and informs every level of the mystery as it unfolds.
One must marvel at the manipulations of the political and legal systems engaged in by Chief Inspector Rostnikov and his dedicated colleagues as they endeavor to deliver the semblance of a not-always-welcome law and order. To top it off, there are some terrific set-piece scenes, such as when the policeman Zelach reveals his unexpected familiarity with heavy-metal arcana as he and his partner interrogate some punks about a missing pal.
Kaminsky won the Edgar Allan Poe award in 1989 for the Rostnikov mystery A Cold Red Sunrise. Reading Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express, it's not hard to understand why, only difficult to know how he keeps the series' quality so high. --Otto Penzler
277 pages, Hardcover
First published October 24, 2001
66 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Stuart M. Kaminsky
161 books215 followersStuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.
His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.
Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.
Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 2, 2016
I have been putting off reading this book for 10 years. When I got it, it was the last Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov mystery with no new ones in sight. So when I finally opened this book, it was with a bit of excitement and a bit of sadness that this was "it". Sadly Stuart Kaminsky had died in 2009 and therefore no more Rostnikovs. I was just finishing up the book when I went out to my favorite booklist site, Fantastic Fiction, to see if there were other Kaminsky books that I might have missed. Lo and behold! Mr. Kamnsky published two more Rostnikov novels soon before he died! It's not over yet!
Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express is a procedural, like the other Rostnikov novels. I am not a great procedural fan, but this series is different. In them Kaminsky captures the flavor and the people of Russia before, during, and after the demise of the USSR. They are wonderful reading; this one is no exception.
If you have not read earlier Rostnikov titles, I would suggest that you start with the first one, Death of a Dissident (aka Rostnikov's Corpse), and read them in order. It is very interesting to watch the very unique characters develop over the life of the series.
I wish that there were more than two more, but I'm glad that I am going to be able to visit with my favorite Russian detective twice more.
Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express is a procedural, like the other Rostnikov novels. I am not a great procedural fan, but this series is different. In them Kaminsky captures the flavor and the people of Russia before, during, and after the demise of the USSR. They are wonderful reading; this one is no exception.
If you have not read earlier Rostnikov titles, I would suggest that you start with the first one, Death of a Dissident (aka Rostnikov's Corpse), and read them in order. It is very interesting to watch the very unique characters develop over the life of the series.
I wish that there were more than two more, but I'm glad that I am going to be able to visit with my favorite Russian detective twice more.
July 6, 2023
After reading a series of good enjoyable, but rather typical books, it's a pleasure to return to the world of Rostnikov. Of all Kaminsky's creations, my favorites are in this series. The typical office politics, multiple stories, and family connections, this series is a treasure. Exceptional writing and wonderful characters - highly recommended.
June 14, 2024
enjoyed it
August 6, 2014
The move towards an emphasis on character, setting and procedural continues to make the Rostinkov books a delight as I move through the series towards the end. There is no real mystery to be solved. The crimes have resolutions, but in a Russia where the law is flexible, according to the political ambitions of one's superiors, Rostinkov and his investigators must often accept small victories.
Again the six investigators are split into teams. Karpo and Zelach investigate the disappearance of a Nazi sympathizing leader of a metal band, who's father is a media mogul and the family is Jewish. Iosef and Elena seek to find a woman who is stabbing men along the Metro line. Rostinkov and Sasha are sent to uncover an exchange scheduled to take pace on the Trans-Siberian Express.
Rostinov's musings about the sun and life are very much of what makes this installment work for me. The self examination is pushed even further though. For once we get a little insight into The Yak, the ambitious head of the Office of Special Investigation, and a rare look into Karpo's emotions and mental state (and how well balanced is the man who believed so deeply in Communism?).
Again the six investigators are split into teams. Karpo and Zelach investigate the disappearance of a Nazi sympathizing leader of a metal band, who's father is a media mogul and the family is Jewish. Iosef and Elena seek to find a woman who is stabbing men along the Metro line. Rostinkov and Sasha are sent to uncover an exchange scheduled to take pace on the Trans-Siberian Express.
Rostinov's musings about the sun and life are very much of what makes this installment work for me. The self examination is pushed even further though. For once we get a little insight into The Yak, the ambitious head of the Office of Special Investigation, and a rare look into Karpo's emotions and mental state (and how well balanced is the man who believed so deeply in Communism?).
October 14, 2025
Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express
Work began on the Trans-Siberian Railway on March 9, 1891. Then, Tsar Alexander III still ruled the Russian Empire. But when he died at the age of 49 three years later, his feckless son Nicholas II ascended to the Imperial Throne. And at immense expense, Nicholas realized his father’s dream of connecting European Russia with the Pacific in 1904. The result was the longest railroad in the world at 5,700 miles. Around 300,000 people, mostly prisoners, died in the effort.
The construction is underway in 1894 as Stuart Kaminsky opens the 14th of his 16 novels featuring Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov. More than a century later, Rostnikov leads a crack team of investigators in Moscow’s Office of Special Investigations. And the case his boss assigns him in 2000 is directly linked to events on the railway in 1894.
Three “unsolvable” cases for Rostnikov’s team
Kaminsky’s novel, Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express, follows the formula of its predecessors. Rostnikov and the members of his team work independently, pursuing three investigations simultaneously. Paired off, they tackle cases no other police agency will touch. These cases “are politically sensitive, unlikely to be solved, or offer little promise and much potential grief.” Yet, somehow, Rostnikov and his colleagues will solve them all. They always do. And as the action unfolds, we gain perspective on police operations in Russia in 2000, the year when Vladimir Putin moved into the Kremlin as President of Russia.
A police procedural that plumbs the depths of crime in post-Soviet Russia
For Inspectors Emil Karpo and Zelach, the challenge is to find a young skinhead musician who has gone missing. Why? Someone has abducted him, and he’s the son of a politically powerful businessman. The case will immerse them in skinhead culture, then pervasive in Moscow. And it’s complicated: the antisemitic musician is secretly Jewish himself.
Meanwhile, Inspectors Sasha Tkach and Elena Timofeyeva,pursue a mysterious woman who is murdering riders on the Moscow Underground. The victims are all well-dressed, middle-aged men. She wields a sharpened kitchen knife to lethal effect.
And Inspector Rostnikov himself takes on the most dangerous assignment of them all. With tickets on the Trans-Siberian Express, he and his son Iosef Rostnikov are to identify and arrest some unknown person who is carrying an enormous sum of money to pay for a politically sensitive historical artifact somewhere on the railway. The Chief Inspector’s boss, Igor Yakovlev (“the Yak”) will share no details. No doubt the seemingly impossible assignment will add to the Yak’s power if Rostnikov is successful. But how?
Summary of the novel by Claude-AI
In recent months I’ve learned to my chagrin that the artificial intelligence from Anthropic, Claude-AI, version Sonnet 4, does a much better job than I can do summarizing any book I’m reviewing. So I asked the app to do so here. The result follows. As you can see, it includes important details I glossed over in my review above. It’s verbatim, although I’ve added subheads to break up the text and deleted the URLs Claude includes to its sources.
Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express is the fourteenth novel in Stuart M. Kaminsky’s acclaimed Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series, published in 2001. The novel follows Chief Inspector Rostnikov, a one-legged former weightlifting champion, as he navigates multiple complex cases in post-Soviet Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
A century-old mystery
The main plot centers on a century-old mystery involving a secret treaty . the Russian Czar and Japan that was stolen during the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. When a large sum of money is sent from Odessa to Vladivostok to purchase this mysterious Czarist document, Rostnikov’s superior suspects it may be the long-lost treaty, prompting Rostnikov to board the legendary Trans-Siberian Express to intercept the transaction. During his 6,000-mile journey eastward, Rostnikov successfully foils a world-class hit man, captures an elusive courier, and neutralizes a seductive counter-agent.
A multi-plot structure
The novel employs a multi-plot structure characteristic of the series. While Rostnikov travels east, his team in Moscow handles two other cases: investigating a mysterious woman dubbed “the Phantom of the Underground” who has been randomly stabbing well-dressed men in the Moscow Metro, and locating a kidnapped heavy metal rock star known as the Naked Cossack, who happens to be the son of a powerful Jewish businessman. Rostnikov’s son Iosef, now part of the Special Investigations team, and detective Elena Timofeyeva lead the subway murder investigation, while inspectors Emil Karpo and Zelach pursue the kidnapping case through Moscow’s post-punk underground music scene.
Capturing the political intrigue and dysfunction of the post-Soviet era
The narrative weaves together these contemporary mysteries with historical vignettes about the brutal construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890s, when thousands of convicts died building the line. Kaminsky richly depicts the complexities of modern Russia, capturing the political intrigue and dysfunction of the post-Soviet era while maintaining the series’ trademark quirky characters and procedural detail. The novel ultimately sees all three cases resolved successfully, with Rostnikov returning to Moscow with both the sought-after document and some political leverage to protect his dedicated team.
About the author
The late Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) wrote three long-running series of detective novels as well as other novels, numerous short stories, and nonfiction books in his professional field of film studies. The 16 books in the Porfiry Rostnikov series appeared in the years 1981 to 2009. They followed an even longer series of novels about a Hollywood detective named Toby Peters in the 1940s. Kaminsky taught film studies near where he grew up in Chicago at Northwestern University for 16 years, and then taught at Florida State for six years.
Work began on the Trans-Siberian Railway on March 9, 1891. Then, Tsar Alexander III still ruled the Russian Empire. But when he died at the age of 49 three years later, his feckless son Nicholas II ascended to the Imperial Throne. And at immense expense, Nicholas realized his father’s dream of connecting European Russia with the Pacific in 1904. The result was the longest railroad in the world at 5,700 miles. Around 300,000 people, mostly prisoners, died in the effort.
The construction is underway in 1894 as Stuart Kaminsky opens the 14th of his 16 novels featuring Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov. More than a century later, Rostnikov leads a crack team of investigators in Moscow’s Office of Special Investigations. And the case his boss assigns him in 2000 is directly linked to events on the railway in 1894.
Three “unsolvable” cases for Rostnikov’s team
Kaminsky’s novel, Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express, follows the formula of its predecessors. Rostnikov and the members of his team work independently, pursuing three investigations simultaneously. Paired off, they tackle cases no other police agency will touch. These cases “are politically sensitive, unlikely to be solved, or offer little promise and much potential grief.” Yet, somehow, Rostnikov and his colleagues will solve them all. They always do. And as the action unfolds, we gain perspective on police operations in Russia in 2000, the year when Vladimir Putin moved into the Kremlin as President of Russia.
A police procedural that plumbs the depths of crime in post-Soviet Russia
For Inspectors Emil Karpo and Zelach, the challenge is to find a young skinhead musician who has gone missing. Why? Someone has abducted him, and he’s the son of a politically powerful businessman. The case will immerse them in skinhead culture, then pervasive in Moscow. And it’s complicated: the antisemitic musician is secretly Jewish himself.
Meanwhile, Inspectors Sasha Tkach and Elena Timofeyeva,pursue a mysterious woman who is murdering riders on the Moscow Underground. The victims are all well-dressed, middle-aged men. She wields a sharpened kitchen knife to lethal effect.
And Inspector Rostnikov himself takes on the most dangerous assignment of them all. With tickets on the Trans-Siberian Express, he and his son Iosef Rostnikov are to identify and arrest some unknown person who is carrying an enormous sum of money to pay for a politically sensitive historical artifact somewhere on the railway. The Chief Inspector’s boss, Igor Yakovlev (“the Yak”) will share no details. No doubt the seemingly impossible assignment will add to the Yak’s power if Rostnikov is successful. But how?
Summary of the novel by Claude-AI
In recent months I’ve learned to my chagrin that the artificial intelligence from Anthropic, Claude-AI, version Sonnet 4, does a much better job than I can do summarizing any book I’m reviewing. So I asked the app to do so here. The result follows. As you can see, it includes important details I glossed over in my review above. It’s verbatim, although I’ve added subheads to break up the text and deleted the URLs Claude includes to its sources.
Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express is the fourteenth novel in Stuart M. Kaminsky’s acclaimed Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series, published in 2001. The novel follows Chief Inspector Rostnikov, a one-legged former weightlifting champion, as he navigates multiple complex cases in post-Soviet Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
A century-old mystery
The main plot centers on a century-old mystery involving a secret treaty . the Russian Czar and Japan that was stolen during the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. When a large sum of money is sent from Odessa to Vladivostok to purchase this mysterious Czarist document, Rostnikov’s superior suspects it may be the long-lost treaty, prompting Rostnikov to board the legendary Trans-Siberian Express to intercept the transaction. During his 6,000-mile journey eastward, Rostnikov successfully foils a world-class hit man, captures an elusive courier, and neutralizes a seductive counter-agent.
A multi-plot structure
The novel employs a multi-plot structure characteristic of the series. While Rostnikov travels east, his team in Moscow handles two other cases: investigating a mysterious woman dubbed “the Phantom of the Underground” who has been randomly stabbing well-dressed men in the Moscow Metro, and locating a kidnapped heavy metal rock star known as the Naked Cossack, who happens to be the son of a powerful Jewish businessman. Rostnikov’s son Iosef, now part of the Special Investigations team, and detective Elena Timofeyeva lead the subway murder investigation, while inspectors Emil Karpo and Zelach pursue the kidnapping case through Moscow’s post-punk underground music scene.
Capturing the political intrigue and dysfunction of the post-Soviet era
The narrative weaves together these contemporary mysteries with historical vignettes about the brutal construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890s, when thousands of convicts died building the line. Kaminsky richly depicts the complexities of modern Russia, capturing the political intrigue and dysfunction of the post-Soviet era while maintaining the series’ trademark quirky characters and procedural detail. The novel ultimately sees all three cases resolved successfully, with Rostnikov returning to Moscow with both the sought-after document and some political leverage to protect his dedicated team.
About the author
The late Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) wrote three long-running series of detective novels as well as other novels, numerous short stories, and nonfiction books in his professional field of film studies. The 16 books in the Porfiry Rostnikov series appeared in the years 1981 to 2009. They followed an even longer series of novels about a Hollywood detective named Toby Peters in the 1940s. Kaminsky taught film studies near where he grew up in Chicago at Northwestern University for 16 years, and then taught at Florida State for six years.
June 20, 2024
There's certainly a lot going on in Chief Inspector Rostnikov's world. His team is investigating the murders and other attacks on Moscow's subway system by a knife-wielding woman as well as the kidnapping of a local punk-metal-rock band leader who happens to be the scion of a wealthy Jewish businessman. And topping it all off, the inspector himself is sent on a mission to interrupt the cash-for-a-mystery-object handoff between criminals that's to take place on the famed Trans-Siberian train. So, we fans of this great series are treated to not one, but 3 procedurals in one nifty novel.
Stuart Kaminsky's Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series is so enjoyable, with wonderful characters, great writing, quirky stories, and with a rich feeling of time/place. Rostnikov himself, although ostensibly the 'star', is as low-key as they come. He's now missing a leg due to an injury suffered in WWII, is an ex-weightlifting champion with a wife recovering from cancer, 2 grandchildren living in his small apartment, a son who is a member of his investigative team and on the verge of marrying a fellow investigator, and a possessor of the driest of dry fatalistic Russian humor. My favorite member of his team, detective Karpo, is one-of-a-kind, a tall, ghoulish looking dude who always dresses in black, scares the crap out of everyone he encounters, and has a moral code that he never wavers from. Rostnikov's team is rounded out with his son, Iosef and his soon-to-be wife Elena, two young members of the force with a lot to learn, and Zelach, a young doofus still living at home with his mother. The team may sound like a Russian version of the old Barney Miller series, but it possesses some serious investigative chops, works together well, and is ably directed by Rostnikov, all within the confines of a corrupt Russian system.
In short, in the Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express the subway murderess is subdued, the kidnapped punk released, and the criminal exchange thwarted. However, since this occurs in Russia the closing out of these situations isn't necessarily what the rest of the world would consider justice being served.
Stuart Kaminsky's Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series is so enjoyable, with wonderful characters, great writing, quirky stories, and with a rich feeling of time/place. Rostnikov himself, although ostensibly the 'star', is as low-key as they come. He's now missing a leg due to an injury suffered in WWII, is an ex-weightlifting champion with a wife recovering from cancer, 2 grandchildren living in his small apartment, a son who is a member of his investigative team and on the verge of marrying a fellow investigator, and a possessor of the driest of dry fatalistic Russian humor. My favorite member of his team, detective Karpo, is one-of-a-kind, a tall, ghoulish looking dude who always dresses in black, scares the crap out of everyone he encounters, and has a moral code that he never wavers from. Rostnikov's team is rounded out with his son, Iosef and his soon-to-be wife Elena, two young members of the force with a lot to learn, and Zelach, a young doofus still living at home with his mother. The team may sound like a Russian version of the old Barney Miller series, but it possesses some serious investigative chops, works together well, and is ably directed by Rostnikov, all within the confines of a corrupt Russian system.
In short, in the Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express the subway murderess is subdued, the kidnapped punk released, and the criminal exchange thwarted. However, since this occurs in Russia the closing out of these situations isn't necessarily what the rest of the world would consider justice being served.
May 10, 2020
Perhaps not having read earlier books in this series was a detriment to enjoying this mystery.
Too many characters introduced in the beginning with very unusual but similar names made it hard to keep the plot lines straight.
We have one plot about a kidnapping and one about an estranged mother returning, and yet another about an espionage aboard the Trans-Siberian Express with payoffs and spies and murder. There is also a mentally ill daughter killing father figures in the subways.
In rereading it I found it much more enjoyable, except for the heavy metal crowd. They were still boring and unlikable.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
Too many characters introduced in the beginning with very unusual but similar names made it hard to keep the plot lines straight.
We have one plot about a kidnapping and one about an estranged mother returning, and yet another about an espionage aboard the Trans-Siberian Express with payoffs and spies and murder. There is also a mentally ill daughter killing father figures in the subways.
In rereading it I found it much more enjoyable, except for the heavy metal crowd. They were still boring and unlikable.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
February 13, 2021
Three separate cases are investigated by Rostnikov and colleagues at the turn of the century in a well-written, if very standard, Russian police-procedural. The cops are individualised and true to character although Rostnikov’s war-service is still a serious chronological issue. He travels on the Express to recover an item, as colleagues try to locate a female killer targeting well-dressed businessmen on the Metro and a kidnapped skinhead musician. It's stock-standard but intriguing with several strands of interesting private lives.
October 5, 2022
Always, the best. The very best.
Kaminski has a great gift...of introducing his characters...and Russia, to his readers. Inspector Rostnikov is a gem by himself. But all of the characters have anima & humanity. At least those that revolve around Rostnikov. Sadly, I think that this is the last Inspector Rostnikov book. I will leave him with his wife Sarah, his children & associates...reading his 87th Precinct books, lifting weights & doing his charity plumbing. Das vedanya, tvarich l
Kaminski has a great gift...of introducing his characters...and Russia, to his readers. Inspector Rostnikov is a gem by himself. But all of the characters have anima & humanity. At least those that revolve around Rostnikov. Sadly, I think that this is the last Inspector Rostnikov book. I will leave him with his wife Sarah, his children & associates...reading his 87th Precinct books, lifting weights & doing his charity plumbing. Das vedanya, tvarich l
December 13, 2022
Chief Inspector Rostnikov is given the assignment to intercept a courier on the Trans-Siberian Express. He is given no details and is told to accept the delivery without opening it and give it to his boss in Moscow. While he is gone, other members of the team are tracking a subway killer and looking to find a disappeared punk singer (who may have been kidnapped).
Once again, Kaminsky does a good job in setting the atmosphere of contemporary Russia (which does not seem all that different from the old Soviet Union). Some of the players might have changed, but the game remains the same.
Once again, Kaminsky does a good job in setting the atmosphere of contemporary Russia (which does not seem all that different from the old Soviet Union). Some of the players might have changed, but the game remains the same.
April 29, 2025
The fear of atmosphere
This is Kaminski fourteenth book and the fourth one I have read, so I have gotten ahead of myself. Not to worry. The title caught me as it will catch you too. There are three detective lanes in this story and each gives further dimension to the character of Rostrikof.
, which is what all Kaminski s books are all about. Getting to know him is the real reading adventure. Long live K
This is Kaminski fourteenth book and the fourth one I have read, so I have gotten ahead of myself. Not to worry. The title caught me as it will catch you too. There are three detective lanes in this story and each gives further dimension to the character of Rostrikof.
, which is what all Kaminski s books are all about. Getting to know him is the real reading adventure. Long live K
April 11, 2018
I read this whole series as it was published and am now re-reading selected volumes. Kaminsky's characters and depictions of Soviet Russia morphing to Putin's Russia are incredibly lifelike and sympathetic. I'm not a big mystery or police procedural reader, but this series is the best I've ever read.
May 14, 2018
Perhaps the best, so far, in this wonderful series. Much more sense of the vastness of Russia's environment. And character and plots weave together in a most satisfying way. Highly recommended. ;-))
October 30, 2018
Why haven't I read this book until now? The book is excellent. The characters are so realistic. The setting is perfect. I could imagine this story happening as I read. Once again, this is an excellent book.
June 11, 2020
This is the second I’ve read in this series and I don’t know how authentic it is to the early post-communist Russia but I enjoy the mysteries. Especially the characters and their lives that are so alien to mine
June 26, 2021
Rostnikov and Sasha ride the Trans-Siberian Express - lots of history about the building of the line, too. The pair complete their mission, as do Rostnikov's other detectives. Living in Russia has many challenges and a few moments of peace.
August 28, 2021
Siberia and the past
A wonderful adventure on the train for Porfiry petrovoch with several sub=stories and a happy ending. All of my favorite characters and only 2 stories left in the series
A wonderful adventure on the train for Porfiry petrovoch with several sub=stories and a happy ending. All of my favorite characters and only 2 stories left in the series
June 9, 2019
there are no bad :Porfiry Rostnikov outings!!
March 5, 2020
I always enjoy books by Stuart kaminsky. Interesting and original.
July 15, 2020
Good read. Just what I wanted.
April 29, 2023
Satisfying
I love trains. Thus my attraction to this novel. Added benefits were the historical pieces about the building of the railroad. I’m ready to go back to #1 in this series.
I love trains. Thus my attraction to this novel. Added benefits were the historical pieces about the building of the railroad. I’m ready to go back to #1 in this series.
October 18, 2024
Entertaining and well plotted. Not as suspenseful as I would have liked.
December 21, 2022
Ainda me faltam ler três, mas despeço-me para já do Inspector Rostnikov.
Acabou em grande com um grande clássico Russo e o comboio mais famoso do mundo.
Acabou em grande com um grande clássico Russo e o comboio mais famoso do mundo.
June 28, 2025
Enjoyable, however poorly titled and the ending was somewhat flat. An interesting setting though.
March 7, 2016
Porfiry Rostnikov goodness with the added dimension of being on a train. A train always improves a mystery somehow.
The usual cast of detectives is present, all of them drawn very reasonably this time; less gimmickry than is sometimes used.
Three mysteries are occurring: a murky double cross fence murder on a train with multiple shady characters involved, murders by a slasher on a subway, and the kidnapping of a skinhead.
My main negative about this novel is that the murderer in the subway slasher plot is really hard to believe. She actually is angry at her father, so slashes men who look like him, and plainly lays out all her motivations as though she is reading a background character sketch of herself. No one this crazy has any serious concept of why she is doing anything. It is all rather pat.
That was not a spoiler, because the murderess is revealed early in the book. As is often with Kaminsky, the mystery in this case is how are they going to catch her?
Kidnap of the skinhead, the motivation for the whole thing was a little weak, too. But I am being nitpicky. Kaminsky's Russia is a fun place to visit as the detectives work out their quirks and foibles as they solve their cases.
The usual cast of detectives is present, all of them drawn very reasonably this time; less gimmickry than is sometimes used.
Three mysteries are occurring: a murky double cross fence murder on a train with multiple shady characters involved, murders by a slasher on a subway, and the kidnapping of a skinhead.
My main negative about this novel is that the murderer in the subway slasher plot is really hard to believe. She actually is angry at her father, so slashes men who look like him, and plainly lays out all her motivations as though she is reading a background character sketch of herself. No one this crazy has any serious concept of why she is doing anything. It is all rather pat.
That was not a spoiler, because the murderess is revealed early in the book. As is often with Kaminsky, the mystery in this case is how are they going to catch her?
Kidnap of the skinhead, the motivation for the whole thing was a little weak, too. But I am being nitpicky. Kaminsky's Russia is a fun place to visit as the detectives work out their quirks and foibles as they solve their cases.
April 8, 2009
Kaminsky is an astral writer. Each book is short, heavily references the previous, and concludes pat-ly, without a great deal of reader strain. That is not to say that his work is shallow or drivel-ly or too formulaic. His characters are generally formed well, although some are like furniture. His dialog is masterful. His prose flows easily and, as with fine writers, springs into poetry at points. His cultural sense is developed and compassionate, although sometimes uncritical--or at times exhibiting a naiveté reminiscent of rock-n-roll music portrayed especially in older TV shows and commercials. His knowledge of criminology is plentiful and upon reflection perhaps scary?
I will read as many Kaminskys as I can get my hands and eyes on.
I will read as many Kaminskys as I can get my hands and eyes on.
February 23, 2023
I enjoyed this book. I have been reading books about Russia, or set in Russia and this gave me more insight as to how the average person lived under Communism and after the fall. The story threads are good, but once the Inspector is on the train, there is a little cloudiness as the various people converge. The author is able to draw fairly realistic characters for the most part, although some of the sub characters could have been made stronger. I would like to have know a lot more about the woman serial killer and her motivation. However, everything was neatly wrapped up without loose ends and the plot was brought to a satisfying conclusion. I'll definitely read another of his books.
July 30, 2016
c2001: The first thing to note is that the title is a bit of a misnomer. There is a murder on the train but only half way through the book. There are earlier murders but not on the train. Did it make a difference that I had not read all the preceding books? - not a jot. So well written with multiple layers of characters, politics and plot. I always have a liking for those books that take the time to flesh out even the most minor of characters - it just seems to add to the experience of the book. Some authors can't do this without becoming clunky but Mr Kaminsky has certainly mastered the art of doing this well. Will be looking for other books in the series - oh yes. Especially as it seems that a cold case may be the subject of the next one. Definitely recommended to the normal crew.
November 13, 2022
This is one of a series of stories of a police investigation unit in Moscow. The unit has jurisdiction throughout Russia and one investigation takes a two investigators on the Trans-Siberian Express, a train which travels across Russia. This portion of the story takes place in the present and the past. There are 2 other ongoing investigations which occupy the other team members. The members of the team face criminals and the struggle that is life. The characters are personable and wonderfully flawed but, each struggles to do the right thing at work and in their personal lives. It is a terrific read.
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May 21, 2016Nope. This was gloomy and wretched to begin with, but just as soon as I was starting to think I could get through it because it was the Russian kind of gloom, there was a scene with belligerent naked people, post-threesome. No interest.
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