A mystery that introduces rookie detective Samson Kolechko in Kyiv as he tackles his first case, set against real life details of the early twentieth century.
It is a gift for crime fiction fans that he writes in this genre ... Kurkov, as filtered through the supple translation of Boris Dralyuk, infuses The Silver Bone with wry humor.
A gripping whodunnit with surrealist flourishes ... Kurkov brings to life an overlooked and much-contested episode in Ukrainian history, capturing the brutality with which Soviet forces first attempted to establish control over the city.
The Silver Bone is a glorious aural portrait of a city in dangerous flux ... The tone is consistently droll ... The novel may be playful, but it poses fundamental questions at a time when bloody conflict has engulfed Europe again.
