Book Log 2014 #13: Tatina by Martin Cruz Smith

The latest book featuring investigator Arkady Renko sees him take on a case involving the death of a crusading journalist - or perhaps non-case is more accurate, as the death is ruled a suicide. When the case intersects with Moscow's organized crime leaders and the disappearance of a translator from a Kaliningrad beach. The clues that may help to tie the cases together and solve them both include some audio tapes and the interpreter's notebook, kept in a series of symbols and marks intended to only be legible to the author.

Renko's personal connections are stronger in this case than usual - he knew the victim, and his prodigal ward, Zhenya, gets involved when he tries to decode the notebook with the help of a fellow chess player (also a potential girlfriend). Renko's father makes a brief appearance, as he usually does, but it seems like his presence is fading, which I guess makes sense as Russia moves farther away from the socialist paradise Renko pere fought to defend.

I think I liked this one a little more than the last couple of novels, thanks to the more personal touch and the use of Kaliningrad, a sliver of Russia disconnected from the motherland and thus prone to be a little different. Certainly a worthy installment to the series.