In the much-anticipated next Inspector Green Mystery, the impetuous Ottawa detective sails headlong into the case of an elderly woman from Ukraine — a perfect whodunit for fans of Louise Penny and Tana French.
When Anya Kurchenko, a woman recently arrived in Ottawa from Ukraine, is found murdered in an obscure alleyway, the only clue is a scrap of paper in her pocket with the name “Symkha Grunstein” written in three different alphabets. No such person seems to exist. While the police try to trace her past movements, an elderly man named Simon Stone, who lives nearby, is also murdered, and Inspector Michael Green is called in to interpret the mass of documents about the Second World War and the Holocaust stored in Stone’s basement.
What is the link between the two victims? Who is Symkha Grunstein? And could the murders be connected to something that happened during the war? As the police unravel the threads of betrayal and cover-up, Green finds himself on an emotional journey into his own past, where he uncovers long-hidden secrets and makes a startling discovery.