CRIME THRILLER REVIEW: The End of the World in Breslau - Marek Krajewski, Danusia Stok

BOOK BLURB:

The city of Breslau, which was the atmospheric heart of the first of Marek Krajewski's novels in English, "Death in Breslau", is as a Georg Grosz backcloth to the second of Criminal Counsellor Eberhard Mock's investigations into a series of seemingly unrelated murders in the late 1920s. While Mock searches for the key to the mystery which afflicts his department in records of crimes committed in the past, his young wife, neglected by his obsessive work, falls among perverse and shocking companions and into contact with a sect that preaches the imminent end of the world. Krajewski's novels are as original as they are disturbing.


REVIEW:

One of the things that you can say about the influx of foreign author crime writers is that they’re not afraid to break out of the box in terms of style or plot and that’s exactly what you get with this offering from Marek Krajowksi. Whilst this is generally a good thing, it does make the writing style of this piece a bit more difficult to grasp and does detract the reader from the overall piece until they do. Its well written, the dark humour shines through but above all else it’s a title that will thrill and surprise you. Add to the mix an unusual cover design and it’s a title that will step out and shout at you from across the bookstore. Quercus certain know talent when they see it and its great that they take the time to bring them to a new audience who can sit back and relax with something new. Other than this, the only this I really should warn you about is that this is the second novel released in this series, whilst I didn’t read the original I did feel that it would have greatly improved my reading experience had I been used to the writing style prior to beginning this piece.