Girl At Midnight by Kataryzna Bonda

Author : Kataryzna Bonda
Title : Girl At Midnight
Published : 2014
Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton
Pages : 544
Genre : Mystery / Thriller

     For seven years, Sasza Zaluska has lived with her little girl in the north of England. Far from her previous job as an undercover cop, far from her dependence on alcohol and the traumatic case that made her flee from the police, her family and her native Poland. But now she is coming back. This time, Sasza is looking for a quieter life. She has studied to become a psychological profiler and she soon picks up a freelance job to check out some threats made against the owner of a nightclub. But no sooner has Sasza visited the club than a man is murdered there and Sasza finds herself drawn back towards the world she left behind. The dead man is a musician - famous for one song in particular: Girl at Midnight. Both the song and the crime seem to be connected to a double tragedy of years before when a brother and sister both died on the same day. Now Sasza Zaluska must follow a crooked, complex trail from a violent past to a more sophisticated criminal present, in which the gangsters have corrupted every level of society.

     Me and this book has been a very long time in the coming. Back in two thousand and sixteen, a Friend suggested to me to read this book, She having read it in its original Polish. It had been listed as coming out in a few months. But it sat there as the release day came and went with still no book in sight Then it completely disappeared and I figured it may never come to be. Then at the begin of the year, it resurfaced so cue the wait and me hoping it would actually get realized. So when it finally turned up on Thursday I jumped straight into it. This is by no means a short book so having spent two night completely wrapped up in it and a drag gin it off to the beach I finally finished it on Saturday. There was a lot to take in and keep up with while reading this book. This is not one of those books you can dip in and out of. 

     The author has crafted a very complex and tension-filled book. It is one that you need to keep your brain fully engaged for. In many ways, it reminded me of those amazing Scandi books that I enjoy reading so much. There Is an amazingly diverse cast that all seem to have something going on with back stories that I found drew me into who there were. As I discovered not all of these are so important to the story but for me, there do add so color and as a none Pole, they give context to times and situation that are not always s familiar. When it comes to our heroine she seamlessly comes into life not only on the page but in my imagination. For me, she ranks up there with some of my favorite Euro crime heroes. She is someone that cares deeply about her family and would seem like there is not much she would not do to protect them. She is also Struggling to deal with a job she told her self she would never go back to. Which also means that she is someone who sessions I cannot always agree with. This is for me a bonus if you always agree with the way a character acts and behaves they become boring and predictable which for me is the death of any good book.

     When It comes to the plot there is so much going on that it took a lot for me to keep all the threads present in my head. For some, I feel there will be simply too much, for those who enjoy a quick summer crime novel this will not be the book for you. If on the other hand, you are looking for something that will not only tax you but you can really play Sherlock with then I feel this might just be your next favorite read. There are some great dead ends and read hearings thrown at you to keep you guessing as to what really happend. As with a lot of books I've read from polish authors it dose delve into the countries past but in the case of Girl At Midnight that would be a bit more recent, think the early nineties.  I feel there is a certain style of writing that comes from authors who were once journalists. Even if you didn't know it going in, it would probably only take you a few chapters to figure it out.  They have a way of describing situations and places with a certain amount of detail. Its also why I suspect that they never write short books. She has crafted a book that shows us a more realistic view of not only her country but also the world of crime and law enforcement that did not feel like it was slipping in to parody.  

     If you are looking for a taut, well-plotted multi-decade, Polish noir thriller, I realize this is a very specific set of conditions, this is definitely the book for you. She has for me created a book that drew me in and kept me there. Both the plot and characters were interesting enough to make me intrigued by the other two books in their series.