Books Reviews

Entanglement – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Oct 20, 2010, 17:08 GMT

Praise for Entanglement: "An exquisite contemporary crime story. Polish literature boasts a real master.?-Jerzy Pilch, author of The Mighty Angel "A tightly plotted mystery novel, dark humor and contemporary Warsaw perfectly rendered.?-Przekrój Magazine The morning after a group psychotherapy session in a Warsaw monastery, Henry Talek is found dead, a roasting spit stuck in one eye. Public prosecutor Teodor Szacki, world-weary, suffering from bureaucratic exhaustion and marital ennui, feels that ...more

Henryk Telak is found dead with a roasting spit stuck in his eye.  It is a somewhat unusual death - and even State Prosecutor Teodor Szacki gets interested.  Szacki had been suffering from boredom, but Telak's death changes that. 

The resultant search for the killer goes much deeper than he had expected, revealing a hitherto unknown murder that took place 20 years earlier.  How are the two linked together? Szacki soon discovers that some things would be better not known for his own safety. 

One of the most entertaining aspects of this book are the colourful characters which pervade it such as the paranoid historian, eccentric psychiatrist and lecherous police officer.  At times there can be a little too much description, slowing down the action and pace of the storyline. 

Overall, it is an interesting story which highlights life in Poland  in the years since the fall of Communism.