The fourth Jana Matinova Investigation
When the wife of one of Slovakia's most prominent businessmen is killed in a very public assassination, it looks like the bullets were meant for her husband. But could she have been the primary target? Commander Jana Matinova must push through her own government's secretiveness and intransigence to discover what connects the murder of Klara Boganova to an anonymous man run down in Paris, a dead Turk with an ice pick in his eye, and an international network of bank accounts linking back to the Second World War. Praise for Requiem from a Gypsy
"Rich in compelling plot twists and sobering history lessons. It also showcases Genelin's skills as a writer."
-The Washington Post
"[Genelin] depicts vividly the effects of old-style corruption on the burgeoning democratic society in present-day Slovakia, and can weave together a fast-moving whodunit populated with flamboyant characters who flit through the European capitals . . . Every character, major or minor in the plot, just about jumps off the page. Mr. Genelin seems incapable of writing a dull page."
-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Genelin once again makes present-day Slovakia a compelling backdrop for murder in his superb fourth novel featuring Police Commander Jana Matinova (after 2010's The Magician's Accomplice) . . . Genelin's no-nonsense lead will appeal to fans of strong female detectives such as Kinsey Millhone, V.I. Warshawski, and Jane Tennison."-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Genelin's writing flows effortlessly as he propels Matinova from one crisis to the next."
-Post and Courier
"Jana, one of the more intriguing characters in fictional thrillerdom, makes fallibility seem like a virtue."
-Kirkus Reviews
"This is one of the better international mystery series currently available. Make sure to suggest it to readers who also enjoy the European police novels of Helene Tursten and Donna Leon."
-Booklist
"An engaging read, full of deftly drawn characters who must somehow see through a mazy reality that conceals the contrast of light and dark in shadows, behind screens, and in the rooted passions of the human heart."
-ForeWord Reviews Michael Genelin is a graduate of UCLA and UCLA Law School. He has served as a consultant for the US State Department and USAID in Central Europe, Africa, Asia, and Haiti, and he is the author of the Jana Matinova series. Chapter 1
The old man in the Dodgers cap walked down one
of the center aisles of the Saturday outdoor market
on Boulevard Richard Lenoir. It was early enough in the
morning to avoid the crowd that would be there in the next
hour. As always when in Paris, he visited the huge market
to reexperience the sights, sounds, and smells of the city
he'd first enjoyed so many years ago. It took him, for the
moments he was there, out of the modern Paris that was
losing so much of its character. Too much clogging motor
traffic, too many fast-food chains, supermarkets, and girls
in gym shoes and baggy, stained khakis-and, of course,
there was the array of beggars. Outside the market, he saw
the very essence of what he thought of as French coming
under attack.
Here, the old Paris was still present: the merchants in
their separate stalls under the canvas, the vegetable-stand
staffers shouting their specials, the fishmongers extolling
fresh cod and bream, the pastry and bread stands wafting
their scent over the neighboring rows, competing with
the bouquets of the olive stands, which boasted dozens of
differently colored, sized, and seasoned olives. These, in
turn, complemented and contrasted with the smell of the
chickens turning on spits and sausages being stewed, fried,
or roasted in the stands farther down the aisle.
The booths went on for blocks, and Pascal, as he was
known in Paris, made sure to traverse the whole market,
picking up tidbits from here and there to keep h
