A review by lisa_mc
The Gentle Axe by R. N. Morris

4.0

Just on plot alone this is a twisty, juicy mystery. Finding two dead bodies found in a park -- a dwarf with his head bashed in stuffed into a suitcase and a large man hanging from a tree with an axe in his belt -- police in St. Petersburg, Russia, initially think it's a murder-suicide. But a closer examination reveals that they were both murdered, and it's up to Porfiry Petrovich -- yes, THAT Porfiry Petrovich, from "Crime and Punishment" -- to figure out what's really going on, combing clues from brothels, slums and a half-completed translation of a philosophy book. The story is a nice homage to Dostoevsky, tackling philosophical questions without sparing the details of reality. From the damp chill of St. Petersburg in the winter to the colorful assortment of characters and the ins and outs of 19th-century civil service politics, Morris creates an enveloping atmosphere, one that I enjoyed so much I went out and bought the sequel ("A Vengeful Longing") the day after I finished this.