I recently had the opportunity to review an ARC of Alan Williams' "The Beria Papers", from Sapere Books, and while I cannot say that it was altogether satisfactory from my point of view, I suspect many readers of mysteries, historical or otherwise, might be entertained. The narrative is a kind of tale within a tale much of the time, with three would be millionaires scamming a publisher for the rights to what purports to be a manuscript authored by the notorious Lavrenti Beria, Stalin's secret police chief (at the time the NKVD) and one of the most feared people in Stalin's Russia. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular blot on humanity, it is worth noting that his voracious sexual appetites were given free reign during his time in power, without regard to anything approaching any kind of self restraint. Essentially, if a woman caught his eye, she was fair game, and her preferences were not of any consequence to Beria. He was a known sadist and reputedly open minded in his selection of women, with a pronounced preference for young women and a willingness to murder or imprison any persons, relatives or otherwise, who might take issue with his choices. In a word, he was a monster. At any rate, things do not go well for our would be forgers. The book is set in the twilight of the Communist empire, and no one finds it desirable to let this material come to light unchallenged. The plot revolves around this conundrum, and as it shifts from its central character, in some sense Lavrenti Beria, and focuses more on the machinations of those striving to perpetrate this literary fraud and the forces determined to expose it, I find it less interesting and somehow diminished. Even so, the plot careens along rather predictably, and I am confident it will find an audience.