Mrs Mohr Goes Missing

A really deliciously smart and amusing novel. Zofia Turbotyńska is a wonderful firecracker of a snobby protagonist whose shameless social climbing and desperate craving for something more satisfying in life were both utterly endearing. While a lot of modern novels which try to walk the line between comedy and mystery often fall into farce, Zofia's adventures were as cleverly amusing as a Jane Austen and as intriguingly mysterious as an Agatha Christie. The 19th century Polish setting was constructed with a light and elegant touch that was as entertaining as it was believable, and the translation was light and really quite delightful. I really look forward to seeing what Zofia and Maryla Szmyczkowa do next.

This is a translated historical mystery from Maryla Szymiczkowa, a refreshing take in its historical European setting on the classic age of golden crime with a structure that echoes the likes of Christie, including the finale with its assembled cast of interested parties and suspects where the truth and a killer is revealed by the protagonist, 38 year old Zofia Turbotynskya. She is married to Ignacy, a university medical professor, whose career promotions have been engineered by the wily Zofia. Set in 1893 in the Poland and the city of Crakow of the time, a melting pot of diverse ethnicities, languages and religion that reflects the regional history and culture. It took me a little time to warm to the flawed Zofia, she engages in familial rivalries, determined to improve her position, a name dropper, with every intention of climbing the social ladder, in many ways this novel is a study in the social manners and class divisions of the time in this part of Europe. 

Zofia writes poetry, which has yet to receive the public acclaim that she feels it deserves and is engaging in organising a charity raffle, seeking the patronage of elderly aristocratic women to raise her social and public profile in society. To this end she visits Helcel House, a retirement home run by Mother Zaleska. Zofia finds herself distracted by the disappearance of a judge's widow, Mrs Mohr, and is instrumental in the discovery of her body. This is just the beginning of the murders and disappearances at Helcel House, where investigating magistrate Klossowitz is dismissive of Zofia and her input. Aided by her cook, Franciszka, Zofia develops a taste for poking about in other peoples' business, whilst keeping her husband in the dark about what she is doing. She is a force of nature, with a talent for cajoling the truth from witnesses and suspects alike, not above engaging in underhand machinations, and making extensive use of her wide ranging social contacts to get to the complicated truth of the case.

The author includes some real life figures from this historical era, and does a stellar job of evoking the atmosphere of the period and the location with her rich descriptions of Crakow, its social and political class divisions, culture, religion and attitudes of women. The more I read of Zofia, the more I began to like her, sure there are times when she is distinctly unlikeable, but as a woman of the times, there were not many opportunities for women to make their mark or to develop their skills outside of the home. She begans to feel increasingly confident in what is a man's world as she begins to get results from all the efforts she expends on the case, although none of it is publicly acknowledged, and she is hiding her successes from Ignacy. This is a wonderfully quirky and entertaining read from Maryla Szymiczkowa, which I recommend highly to those looking for a slightly different take on the classic crime tradition with its unusual location of Crakow in the tail end of the 19th century. Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.