Marilyn's Mystery Reads

This column, Past Masters and Mistresses, is very difficult to write for obvious reasons.  When someone appears here, it’s a final farewell.  There will be no more books by that author.

Martin Cruz Smith died on July 11, leaving behind a rich legacy of unforgettable characters and a penetrating and clear-eyed look into Russian history.

I discovered Mr. Smith in 1972 when I came across Canto for a Gypsy in my local library.  I loved it,  but  sadly for me, Canto was the second and last book in that brief series, and I don’t think I read any more of his books until Gorky Park was published in 1982.  Then I was not the only reader to follow him voraciously, waiting eagerly for Arkady Renko’s next adventure.  Time magazine called this novel “the first thriller of the ’80s,” and it won the Gold Dagger award from the British Crime Writers’ Association.  Nine other Renko novels followed, and the last, Hotel Ukraine, was published just three days before Mr. Smith’s death.

Renko was an incorruptible hero in a very corrupt Russian society.  Years after the book was published, when Mr. Smith applied for a visa to visit the Soviet Union it was denied.  Obviously those in charge had read the novel.  In later years, however, he was able to travel to Russia multiple times to do additional research.

One can actually follow the history of the Soviet Union/Russia through Mr. Smith’s novels.  He described the collapse of the Soviet Union (Red Square), the toll of the Chechen War (Stalin’s Ghost), and finally concluded with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Hotel Ukraine).

Martin Cruz Smith has left readers a wonderful legacy of novels to be read and reread, combining the importance of history with outstanding prose.  He will be missed.