Murderously Incorrect's Alex Rada is an off-beat private investigator in the best traditions of the genre: a Ukrainian still fighting the cold war who frequents the seamier parts of New York. Katherine Raines, working on the campaign team of a prominent politician, moves in rather different circles, but their lives collide when she comes to Rada for help finding out what has happened to a missing friend.

Though it certainly has enough action, Murderously Incorrect is not just a thriller: it has a richly detailed setting, sparkling dialogue, and complex, convincing, and engaging characters. My only complaint is that, at 200 pages, it is too short: I was just getting into the swing of things at the end. But the subtitle is "An Alex Rada Mystery", so I hope to see more.

October 1998

External links:

- buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Related reviews:

- Henry F. Mazel - Red Chrysanthemum: A Novel of Occupied Japan
- more detective fiction