Gorky Park was the first Inspector Renko novel, evoking the perils and corruption in Russia during the Cold War, and in subsequent novels we have been brought up to date through the country’s various administrations. Like Stalin’s Ghost and Three Stations before it,Tatiana lets us take another glimpse inside Putin’s Russia through the intrepid Renko’s eyes.
Captivated by the titular late journalist’s audio recordings, Renko starts an unsanctioned investigation into her death, seeking to draw parallels between it and the murder of a gangster. He is sure she was murdered rather than suicidal, but it seems the only link is a coded notebook owned by a translator found dead in the sand dunes of Kaliningrad. Meanwhile, the vacuum left by the death of the gangster is causing a power struggle to brew back in Moscow. Unlike other well-known detectives, Renko doesn’t suffer from a drinking problem, an ex-wife he doesn’t get on with or even anger issues. Instead, his only impediment seems to be Russia itself, a country that has held him back from promotion, shot him in the head and through a botched medical procedure caused his wife to die. This hasn’t stopped him trying to make a difference, and he is currently looking after a wayward young chess prodigy who may just be the key to understanding the cryptic journals.
Shorter and more streamlined than his previous novels, it’s not as expansive as Gorky Park, but this might in fact make it a great entry point for new readers. The pace rattles along, and there is a grim sense of humour lurking beneath the cold and gloomy façade. Renko is still an engaging character, possessed with hope and love for the future of his country even as he riles against and hates what it can be. He’s also good at his job, and isn’t swayed by threats or oppressive bureaucracy. Based in part on the real-life murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Tatiana is a more than just a procedural crime novel, but a tense, thoughtful and well written look at corruption and politics in a world that can seem so different and yet so similar to our own.