Book Review: Poacher's Road

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

Poacher's Road     Amazon US TPB Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada TPB
John Brady
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Inspektor Felix Kimmel # 1
McArthur & Co., $24.95 trade paperback, 374 pages

Felix Kimmel is following, rather unwillingly, in his father’s footsteps, having joined the Austrian Gendarmerie. He’s currently stationed in the sleepy village of Stefansdorf, a half-hour outside of Graz, a place where nothing ever happens. Until the day two bodies turn up in the woods, at the end of a Wildererweg, a “poacher’s path.” This day, Felix’s life is turned upside down.

The dead men are thought to be from somewhere in Eastern Europe—tschuschen is the highly derogatory term used. The Kripo (Central Detective Bureau) from Graz, in the form of Speckbauer and his partner Franzi, take over the investigation, but they insist that Felix assist them. For Felix is a local boy, born and bred, and he knows the people and the area.

But the day after the discovery, the family who called in the Gendarmes in the first place die in a house fire. Murder, arson—Felix is drawn deeper and deeper into the investigation. Whoever killed the two men, and the Himmelfarbs, might believe Felix knows something, and Felix just might be next on his list.

John Brady is best know for his Matt Minogue series, set in Brady’s native Ireland. Poacher’s Road marks a departure for him, not just in setting but in protagonist. Where Minogue is an experienced copper, Kimmel is at the very beginning of his career, having graduated from the academy only months before the book opens.

But what both series have in common is the fine writing. That doesn’t change. Brady exchanges the lyricism of Irish English for the more guttural language of Austrian German, but his gift for the rhythm of language doesn’t falter. I look forward to reading more about Kimmel.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM