Researcher
Phineas Fox is not keen that a TV company wants him to research
the life of notorious violinist Roman Volf. The man was a
bad lot who played a part in Tsar Alexander’s assassination
in 1881 and was hanged for it, but the sum offered for the
job is too much of a temptation so he accepts. The more Phin
looks into Volf’s life, the more it looks as though
he was innocent, and soon his work takes him to a remote part
of Ireland’s west coast. There he plays a part in solving
not only Volf’s mystery, but in several others as well.
I had read and reviewed one of this author’s supernatural
stories recently (The
Bell Tower) and expected more of the same; this book is
nothing like that. Instead this is the first in a new series
of mysteries that is likely to appeal to readers of authors
like Kate Ellis and Elly Griffiths. Told from several viewpoints,
this intricate novel brings together the linked stories of
not only Roman Volf, but the mysterious Maxim Volf, a scarred
recluse, a lonely widow and a young girl with a secret. Maybe
swallowing not one but two cases of amnesia is a bit of a
stretch, but I found it fitted in with the almost spooky ambience
of old secrets. The characters all spring to life apart from
Phin, who remains elusive and seems to have no color of his
own. Maybe in later books the reader will get to know him,
but for the moment he remains a cipher used to bring all the
elements together. That aside, this book is one to savor for
the well-crafted treat that it is – perfect for long
winter evenings and, hopefully, the first of many.
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