Kyiv, 1919, Samson Kolchek’s father’s last act is to save him from a Cossack sabre so that it severs his ear rather than his head - he is left to himself, until two Red Army soldiers are billeted to his flat and he is drawn into a world of intrigue and mystery…

This is a quick read and quite pacy - the story pulled me along but whilst it was easy to just keep turning the pages, I never found myself enthralled and desperate to find out what would happen next (which is what I want from a mystery or thriller novel). I cannot for the life of me figure out why this was longlisted for the International Booker 2024 - presumably the judges lost a bet or something. It’s hardly terrible, but it’s not even a particularly great historical mystery/thriller, especially since the mystery doesn’t put in an appearance until the latter half of the story.

The setting - Kyiv under control of the Red Army - with all the associated communist dictates affecting city life and the atmosphere of flux and uncertainty that hangs over the city are fairly interesting, but not enough to redeem a bit of a lacklustre plot. By far the biggest disappointment is the element of magical realism - if you’re going to have the whole severed ear plot point, then why not make more use of it it?!?! An absolute oversight.

Anyway, I won’t be going out of my way to read the rest of the trilogy (once translated), but I might pick them up on a whim if I happen across them at the library. Maybe.

A pacy but rather lacklustre historical mystery which fails to make decent use of the magical realism element.