What do you think?
Rate this book
St. Cyr & Kohler #4
Salamander
In a packed movie theater, an usher notices two women enter and leave just before the show begins. Moments later, the theater goes up in flames, and 183 people perish in the stampede to escape. By the time investigators Jean-Louis St-Cyr and Hermann Kohler arrive from Paris, the charred bodies are frozen solid. It is two days before Christmas, 1942, and the people of Lyon are terrified.
As the detectives try to unravel what happened in that packed movie house, the arsonists plan their next attack. Saving Lyon from fire will force St-Cyr and Kohler to confront the worst of human nature, in a city lorded over by one of the most infamous Nazis of the Second World War.
As the detectives try to unravel what happened in that packed movie house, the arsonists plan their next attack. Saving Lyon from fire will force St-Cyr and Kohler to confront the worst of human nature, in a city lorded over by one of the most infamous Nazis of the Second World War.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
16 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
J. Robert Janes
32 books20 followersJ. 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 6, 2019
An Arsonist sets a fire in Vichy Lyon that has ties back to Pre-War Germany. St.Cyr and Kohler are brought in despite neither side in German Occupied France trust these two, but the Munich Kohler and Paris St.Cyr are now in complete trust of one another.
October 19, 2015
So far this has all the faults, but the good things, too, of previous books in the series. It opens with Jean-Louis St-Cyr of the Sûreté and partner Hermann Kohler of the Gestapo confronted with the gruesome aftermath of an arson attack on a cinema where 183 bodies lie charred and frozen solid in the icy ruin of the theatre. The setting is Lyon, just a few days before Christmas 1942, and takes place immediately after their previous case in Provence.
The relationship between the two detectives on opposite sides of the Occupation remains the most appealing aspect of the book. Hardly friends, they have, however, built up a solid working partnership over the course of cases covered in the series so far, and have come to a somewhat grudging but nonetheless real mutual respect and, I would say, liking. Neither man has much respect for his superiors or respective overlords in government. St-Cyr has the worry of being seen as a Collaborator by the Resistance, and Kohler, who is no Nazi, worries about his two sons serving at Stalingrad. Both have rather messy personal lives, though neither has any difficulty finding comfort despite being middle-aged and not exactly attractive (shallowly, I confess to imagining them not as depicted by the author). However, there's a war on, with a distinct absence of available men, and they seem actually to like women and respect those who choose, or are forced by circumstances, to make a living from the oldest profession.
Despite serious reservations about the writing style of these books, I keep reading them for St-Cyr and Kohler, and their detailed, evocative descriptions of the Occupation and how it affects France. Lyon, of course, was at this time under control of the infamous Klaus Barbie, known to history as "The Butcher of Lyon". Their investigations take the two detectives into brothels and bars, fine homes and ordinary dwellings, dealing with those suffering from the Occupation as well as those doing quite well from the new regime, politically, socially and financially. This period background and atmosphere are handled beautifully, with subtlety and skill, which makes all the more jarring the frequent POV switches, clunky dialogue with comic interjections such as Gott im himmel and Mon dieu (though these do help figure out whose head you are meant to be in so maybe I shouldn't complain), and for e.g. Kohler's irritating habit of calling St-Cyr "the Frog" in his thoughts. Their sexism and chauvinism of course must be excused on the grounds of historical accuracy. Will update.
As I read further, I have to comment on how much more sexual this book is, both in terms of aspects of the crime plot that involves what St-Cyr and Kohler term 'depraved practices', and the detectives' interior monologues. All a bit much, really, to be honest, because, so far anyway, it is all women having things done to them, with no power or control.
Well, I finished the book. I have to say this is my least favourite of the St-Cyr & Kohler novels I've read so far. I found it very confusing, with too many characters not distinct enough to make me care about any of them. It wasn't until the end when everything is helpfully explained through exposition that I had much idea what was going on, even now it is muddled in my mind. Gratuitous, prurient sex is given more time than either character or plot development. I get that Janes wants to show the darker side of human nature and how it mirrors wartime descent into darkness, the depravity of men like Klaus Barbie and the hangers on who colluded and collaborated to enable what went on under the Occupation. St-Cyr and Kohler, on the other hand, are Good Men trying their best under near impossible circumstances to protect the innocent and bring justice to those who deserve it. They are very much men, and of their time, which I like, mostly. I hung on for moments such as when St-Cyr or Kohler is in a life-threatening situation and his partner cries out, mentally, in anguish for his Louis! or Hermann! I love stories that explore relationships between men, and male bonding. I have already begun the next one.
Readers who enjoy this series should definitely check out Allan Massie's Bordeaux trilogy featuring Superintendent Jean Lannes and his colleagues in the Bordeaux Police Department during the Occupation, so similar ground to Janes' series. Massie's writing, however, is considerably better and his books more literary and meaty.
The relationship between the two detectives on opposite sides of the Occupation remains the most appealing aspect of the book. Hardly friends, they have, however, built up a solid working partnership over the course of cases covered in the series so far, and have come to a somewhat grudging but nonetheless real mutual respect and, I would say, liking. Neither man has much respect for his superiors or respective overlords in government. St-Cyr has the worry of being seen as a Collaborator by the Resistance, and Kohler, who is no Nazi, worries about his two sons serving at Stalingrad. Both have rather messy personal lives, though neither has any difficulty finding comfort despite being middle-aged and not exactly attractive (shallowly, I confess to imagining them not as depicted by the author). However, there's a war on, with a distinct absence of available men, and they seem actually to like women and respect those who choose, or are forced by circumstances, to make a living from the oldest profession.
Despite serious reservations about the writing style of these books, I keep reading them for St-Cyr and Kohler, and their detailed, evocative descriptions of the Occupation and how it affects France. Lyon, of course, was at this time under control of the infamous Klaus Barbie, known to history as "The Butcher of Lyon". Their investigations take the two detectives into brothels and bars, fine homes and ordinary dwellings, dealing with those suffering from the Occupation as well as those doing quite well from the new regime, politically, socially and financially. This period background and atmosphere are handled beautifully, with subtlety and skill, which makes all the more jarring the frequent POV switches, clunky dialogue with comic interjections such as Gott im himmel and Mon dieu (though these do help figure out whose head you are meant to be in so maybe I shouldn't complain), and for e.g. Kohler's irritating habit of calling St-Cyr "the Frog" in his thoughts. Their sexism and chauvinism of course must be excused on the grounds of historical accuracy. Will update.
As I read further, I have to comment on how much more sexual this book is, both in terms of aspects of the crime plot that involves what St-Cyr and Kohler term 'depraved practices', and the detectives' interior monologues. All a bit much, really, to be honest, because, so far anyway, it is all women having things done to them, with no power or control.
Well, I finished the book. I have to say this is my least favourite of the St-Cyr & Kohler novels I've read so far. I found it very confusing, with too many characters not distinct enough to make me care about any of them. It wasn't until the end when everything is helpfully explained through exposition that I had much idea what was going on, even now it is muddled in my mind. Gratuitous, prurient sex is given more time than either character or plot development. I get that Janes wants to show the darker side of human nature and how it mirrors wartime descent into darkness, the depravity of men like Klaus Barbie and the hangers on who colluded and collaborated to enable what went on under the Occupation. St-Cyr and Kohler, on the other hand, are Good Men trying their best under near impossible circumstances to protect the innocent and bring justice to those who deserve it. They are very much men, and of their time, which I like, mostly. I hung on for moments such as when St-Cyr or Kohler is in a life-threatening situation and his partner cries out, mentally, in anguish for his Louis! or Hermann! I love stories that explore relationships between men, and male bonding. I have already begun the next one.
Readers who enjoy this series should definitely check out Allan Massie's Bordeaux trilogy featuring Superintendent Jean Lannes and his colleagues in the Bordeaux Police Department during the Occupation, so similar ground to Janes' series. Massie's writing, however, is considerably better and his books more literary and meaty.
January 16, 2010
A French detective and a German officer reluctantly team up to sleuth during the occupation of France. I thought I'd found an appealing new series. Er, no. This aimed for Simenon and ended up more Inspector Clouseau. Jarring switches of point of view, and too many Mein Gott!s and Mon Dieu!s substitute for credible dialogue.
Read
March 8, 2026Maisie Dobbs book #2
March 8, 2021
I like to read detective series, but this one is a bit of a struggle for me. It's more violent than my usual reading. I'm more Poirot or Miss Silver than St. Cyr and Kohler. Having said that, it's set during WWII and there are all kinds of real life descriptions of how people lived at that time amidst the war. The stories are all interesting and action-packed, even if a bit too intense for me. I've already downloaded the next one though, so I guess I'm still on board for at least one more novel.
September 10, 2010
This is the best of the Jean Louis St-Cyr/Herman Kohler series that I have read. It has it all, brothels, mystery, resistance fighters, scandalous priests and two detectives begrudgingly partners and friends while being enemies. This is the one I would suggest to a friend if they wanted to taste just one from the series.
July 13, 2009
Love these historical St-Cyr-Kohler mysteries. Excellent works. I'm currently trying to work through the entire series, but this is the first I have reread. Worth it. I'm pondering sources of influence (Dashiell Hammett) and potential adaptations.
March 4, 2010
4th in the series. More coherent than the others.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews