A Grain of Truth (Polish State Prosecutor Szacki Investigates)

"A Grain of Truth", by Polish author Zygmunt Miloszewski, is the second in his Teodor Szacki series. Set in Poland, Szaki is a Warsaw-born state prosecutor, who after his personal life takes a hit in Warsaw, moves to a beautiful town, Sandomierz, to "start over". He brings, along with his battered feelings, his well-earned reputation as a crime-solver. And there are some real crimes to be solved in the city of Sandomierz.Sandomierz is located in southeast Poland and is a real city with a rather interesting history. It was the home, before WW2, of a fairly large Jewish population and a visitor can find today remnants of that society. Most of the Jews of Sandomierz and the surrounding area were killed by the German occupiers, and the complicity of the native Polish Catholic has been questioned in the past 70 years. Certainly, the few Jewish survivors who returned after the war were not welcomed home by the Polish Catholics who had, in many cases, appropriated their homes and businesses. That's a different story from the three murders that occur in the city in 2008 that Szaki and his joint legal/police team are charged with solving. But the problems of the past directly affect the crimes of today, as Teodor Szaki discovers.Sandomierz, the real place, is home to a real church with anti-Semitic art work on the walls. One large picture shows medieval Jews engaging in blood lust; killing Christians for their blood in rather horrifying ways. Another large picture shows 365 days of the year and the ghastly deaths of saints on each day. This blood-libel myth, combined with murders of three Polish Catholics, sends Szaki looking in directions not normally indicated in a murder investigation. All three murders were done in ways that would indicate a Jewish killer. In modern day Poland, in a city with it's own dubious history of anti-Semitism, bringing up the sins of the past is troublesome part of the case.Author Miloszewski does an admirable job combining the Poland of today with the one of the past. His characters are splendidly drawn and are all interesting. The plot is somewhat lacking in coherence, which may be more the problem of the translator than of the author. The somewhat-incoherence of the plot is not off-putting; it's just sort of there around the edges. The reader may question a minor plot point that doesn't seem to fit. The book was probably a bit better in the original Polish.But "A Grain of Truth" is well worth reading. I'm going back and reading the first in the series - "Entanglement" - and I hope Miloszewski writes more in the series.

A Grain of Truth is the second installment in the Polish State Prosecutor Szacki Investigates series from Polish writer, Zygmunt Miloszewski.Former Warsaw prosecutor Teodor Szacki makes a fresh start of it in the provincial town of Sandomierz after his marital break up. He's soon investigating a series of grizzly murders in which the blood of the victims was drained, prompting a media feeding frenzy. Is this the crime of an anti-Semite aping the "blood libel" myth in which Polish Jews supposedly kidnapped Catholic children and drained their blood to make matzos or are these serial murders the work of a vengeful Jew? Several clues are left behind leading Szacki to the supposed killer. Perhaps.Miloszewski has written an absorbing and entertaining tale. Prosecutor Teodor Szacki starts out as a bitter, jaded character the reader will end up rooting for. There are many references to historic and contemporary Poland in this novel so some knowledge of the country would be helpful but is not essential. The author does a fine job of weaving the hot-button topic of Polish-Jewish relations into this murder mystery. Despite there being very few Jews in contemporary Poland, anti-Semitism is still quite popular among the right-wing Catholic nationalists. Sandomierz was notorious for a 1710-1713 blood libel pogrom and for the painting still hanging at Sandomierz Cathedral depicting Jews slaughtering Catholic infants for their blood. Blood libel and "host" desecration myths were quite popular throughout Poland for centuries. For readers who may be interested in examining modern Polish Catholic anti-Semitism see "Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present" by Joanna Beata Michlic.I won't reveal the novel's ending however I did find the murderer's identity to be a bit of a stretch. What are the realistic chances of forensic medical examiners making such a careless error in such a high profile case? Delete one star for implausibility.A Polish film adaptation of "A Grain of Truth" is currently in production. The director is Borys Lankosz whose 2009 film, Rewers (Reverse), met with wide acclaim.

I've been consuming a lot of these lately: Murder mysteries and crime thrillers set in modern European towns. Small towns, apart from the sometimes gruesome crimes they unfold, filled with charm. What's interesting (often part of the plot line) is the political relationships between the town and the larger government entities, in some cases the EU itself. In the mysteries set in Scandinavia, Sweden, Iceland and Finland, you see crimes persecuted as a reaction to unwelcome immigrants; in Eastern Europe (Yugoslavia) you hear about ethnic hatreds that festered even before World War II.In all of these, the detective hero must frequently skirt the authorities who have no qualms about pinning the crime on an otherwise innocent townsperson if it helped advance their political careers. In addition to his political aplomb, the detective hero is invariably good in a fist fight, has several women hanging off him, is a gourmet chef, and is mildly depressed. There are long digressions on food and local delicacies."A Grain of Truth," set in modern Poland, is more of the same. Its detective munches, not fish or risotto, but grilled meats and profiteroles, when he is now screwing one of several available women, or gasping at the hideousness of the murder scene. This novel too explores the ethnic hatreds which never seem to die. It is vivid enough to make you want to visit southern Poland, to look at history and ask yourself what went on there.

Teodor Szacki has moved from cosmopolitan Warsaw to the more sedate and attractive city of Sandomierz, and now he's not sure that he's done the right thing. It's a bit of a one-horse town with very few attractions (or prospects) for a public prosecutor/investigator; the theft of bicycles and mobile phones are what make the headline news. But then a body of a naked woman is discovered outside a former Jewish Synagogue. She has been killed, or rather, butchered in a manner that suggests the ritual slaughter of animals according to Jewish law. Such an event resonates with old fears, race prejudice and anti-Semitic feelings in a town with a long history of such things and Szacki is suddenly, intriguingly, on uncertain ground. Another murder suggests that a serial killer is loose, and he's imitating the legendary Jewish ritual murders depicted in an infamous painting in the cathedral. Things are getting dark and grim.Szacki makes a superb companion throughout the investigation; his cynicism and ability to stand apart in the search for truth helps us in the complex putting-together of the pieces of a difficult jigsaw.This is a superbly written thriller, murder investigation, with undertones of dark and dry humour and twists and turns that keep one gripped throughout. The ugly side of Poland is exposed quite openly; religious ignorance, a distasteful press and the whole issue of anti-Semitism that poisons Polish life. Miloszewski masterfully exposes the small-town, prejudice amongst the less educated, the rise of fascism, and the fear, amongst the top echelon, of the emergence of not-so-long-deceased ghosts. The confused history of Poland that goes beyond the evils of the Nazi Occupation, the complexities of the Communist regime, and the more recent, grubby re-emergence of entrepreneurism and Capitalism, is deftly woven into a fascinating investigation of, not only this macabre series of murders but of modern Poland itself.

This splendid novel is the sequel to 'Entanglement,and whilst thatbook was good,this is better.It again features Polish State Prosecutor,Teodor Szacki,whose marriagehas broken down,and he has moved ,on his own,from Warsaw,to the historic,beautiful town of Sandomierz,where everyone seems to know the 'goings-on'of everyone else. He is called upon to investigate the horrific murder ofa local female,whose body has been drained of blood.The apparent similarityto a ritual Jewish slaughter influences the search for the murderer,and triggersa wave of anti-semitism,that is stirred up by myths from Polish history.The novel has all the ingredients one looks for in crime fiction.The intuitive,determined,and highly libinious Szacki is fully engaging,the plot is full ofsuspense and surprise.Further,the excellent translation means that the humourand wit is not lost,and the topicality gives the reader a fascinating glimpse of Poland.First-rate.

Despite having read "Entanglement" ,I overlooked this second volume when it first came out but have just read it at considerable speed as it sustained my interest from the very opening. Having moved from Warsaw to more rural eastern Poland where crime hardly ever happens(!) we like the prosecutor become involved in a series of crimes which appear to have their roots in Poland's tragic,violent and often embittered past.With prejudices and hatreds carried through to the present(2009). I enjoyed this novel and the"hero's" ironic comments and perceptions of modern Poland's politics and religion as well as the urbane central figure's attempts to come to terms with the quirks and intimacies of small town eastern Poland. A good read and hopefully "Rage" (Book 3) will live up to the same standards.

An intriguing story as well as a good murder-mystery. The plot is quite complex and examines the way Poland deals with its history and how myths and legends can be perceived as just as real and relevant today (by those that choose to believe them). Prosecutor Teodor Szacki is an intriguing character - an unlikely Lothario - but his love hate relationship with Sandomierz makes me want to visit the place (about 220km from Warsaw). The story is dragged out a bit towards the end but that made it quite fun because every time I thought it was an "aha" moment it turned into an "oh" and finally, of course - but I'm not going to spoil it...........A very enjoyable book and - better than Entanglement - I enjoyed the historical and theological passages - I hope that Zygmunt Miloszewski releases another book soon.

Another great crime book and following on from Entanglement.The setting of Sandomierz is incredibly well described (I've been there and can clearly picture the main square etc from the descriptions in here). The crime at the heart of the book is topical (for Poland and wider Europe) and once again the main character is an engaging companion in our reading.I'm completely jealous of my wife who is able to read these in Polish and so already has the next in the series.