Moskva by Jack Grimwood, Book Review

Having just completed a marathon reading session which took me back to 1980s Soviet Russia I can categorically say: It was a helluva good read. A bit too violent in parts perhaps for this gentle soul, but what do you expect when your plot has flash-backs to the Battle of Stalingrad and the capture of Berlin in 1945, as well as the involvement of the KGB and sinister Cold War law enforcement types.

Navigating the stormy waters of Communist Russia (no lame clichés like this in this very well-written thriller) is Major Tom Fox, banished to the British Embassy in Moscow due to shady under-cover activities in Northern Ireland. His exile was to involve a modest research project, but when the step daughter of the ambassador is kidnapped, Tom Fox is charged with finding the troubled teenager.

More action man than desk jockey, he soon is not only on the trail of the kidnapper, but also discovers that a serial killer is on the loose. Are the dead bodies he finds connected to the girl and will he be able to bring her back alive? To be actively sleuthing in a city where foreigners are not encouraged to undertake private projects involving things which officially don’t exist in Communism, such as crime, is foolhardy and dangerous – on so many counts.

This might be a debut thriller, but the confident style and well-structured plot make it obvious that Jack Grimwood (aka Jon Courtney Grimwood) is not new to the art of writing. I hope for the sake of his liver that he doesn’t imbibe as much as his hero. Published in October 2016 in paperback by Penguin Books (£7.99)

(Indiana Brown)