G.D. Abson - Motherland

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent read

I thought Motherland was excellent.  It is well written, has a good story and gives a very convincing picture of present-day Russia.

The main protagonist is Natalya Ivanova, a senior investigator in the equivalent of the St. Petersburg CID.  She is called to investigate the disappearance of the daughter of a Swedish businessman who is very rich and therefore gets police attention to the case.  A complex story of corruption, murder and mafia involvement emerges, which I found to be a gripping tale.  The writing and background are so good that even when the odd familiar trope of the detective thriller crops up, it still rings true in the context.

Although this becomes a very gripping and exciting story, the plot unfolds very slowly to begin with.  I though this was actually a strength of the book because what really makes Motherland stand out is the picture of life in modern Russia, with endemic corruption, mafia bosses and state enforcers acting with near-impunity and so on, while ordinary people try to get through as best they can.  This includes Natalya, whose character and everyday compromises seemed very real to me, as did all the characters in the book.   It's exceptionally well painted and – to this non-expert, at least – thoroughly convincing.  I marked a number of passages, like this neat summation: "That's what happened when old KGB men were put in charge of a country.  News studios pretended propaganda was the truth.  Elections pretended to be fair.  Everyone pretended to be someone else, and nobody knew who they were any more."

I think this is a very impressive debut indeed, and I look forward to more from G.D. Abson.  Warmly recommended.

(My thanks to Mirror Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)