Wed 20 Jan 2016
Reviewed by Walter Albert: J. ROBERT JANES – Sandman.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[5] Comments
J. ROBERT JANES – Sandman. Soho, US, hardcover, 1996; paperback, 1998. First published in the UK by Constable, hardcover, 1996.
The sixth in a series of novels set in occupied Paris (1943) and featuring an unlikely pair of investigators who have become friends, Louis St. Cyr of the French Sûreté, and Hermann Kohler of the German Gestapo. They investigate what are thought of as “ordinary” crimes (not connected to the ongoing occupation), which in this case is the series of rapes and murders of schoolgirls by a serial killer called the “Sandman.”
Within the confines of the unusual situation, the novel follows a fairly conventional path, with incompetent superiors who threaten to impede the investigation by the two dogged, competent detectives.
The distinction of the book is in its setting, a cold winter in occupied Paris, where the weather and the occupation have settled into the bones and the soul, and the believable characterizations. This is definitely a series to which I will want to return.
The St. Cyr and Kohler series —
1. Mayhem (1992)
2. Carousel (1992)
3. Kaleidoscope (1993)
4. Salamander (1994)
5. Mannequin (1994)
6. Sandman (1994)
7. Stonekiller (1995)
8. Dollmaker (1995)
9. Gypsy (1997)
10. Madrigal (1999)
11. Beekeeper (2001)
12. Flykiller (2002)
13. Bellringer (2012)
14. Tapestry (2013)
15. Carnival (2014)
16. Clandestine (2015)
January 21st, 2016 at 7:42 am
I hadn’t realized he was still writing these. I used to pick them up in England. In those days there were probably eight of them. Of course, I never read one… .
January 21st, 2016 at 5:25 pm
For those of us who love Paris and history this series is a delight. It doesn’t compare to Alan Furst or Philip Kerr, but the books have much to recommend them and I enjoy the series.
January 21st, 2016 at 7:44 pm
As a Francophile, these sound tres bitchin’. Thanks, Walter.
January 22nd, 2016 at 10:19 am
I still remember the pleasure this series gave me. I know I read more than one of them and I’ll have to check my review file to see how many of the series I read. I’m astonished that the series is continuing and fell off my radar.
January 22nd, 2016 at 1:02 pm
I probably should have pointed out before that this review of Walter’s was reprinted from his DAPA-Em zine, Walter’s Place #159, March 2004.