3.5 stars

In this 7th book in the humorous 'Josef Slonský' series, the Czech detective has to deal with a severely injured knee while the police investigate several crimes. The book works fine as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a plus.

*****

Captain Josef Slonský of the Czech Criminal Police has two main interests in life: solving cases and filling his stomach - usually with beer and sausages or coffee and pastries. Slonský's contrivances in this regard are quite entertaining, as are his frequent stops at canteens and cafes, where he (constantly) 'replenishes his energy.' To add to the fun, Slonský almost always 'forgets his wallet', so someone else has to pick up the tab.

As the story opens, Slonský is in the hospital with a badly injured knee, having slipped while chasing a cat burglar. Slonský can barely walk, but he's desperate to get back to work for two reasons: First, he's bored. Second, he's approaching the age at which he can be made to retire. Thus Slonský is determined to be doing useful work on his birthday, so he can keep his job for another year (at least). Slonský manages to get himself released from the hospital under the auspices of his friend and drinking partner, a journalist called Valentin. The following exchange occurs in the hospital, between Slonský's doctor and Valentin.

Doctor (to Valentin): I understand that you are willing to look after Captain Slonský.

Valentin: Yes, if it means he can get home earlier.

Doctor: I must admit that we hadn't entirely understood the nature of your relationship with Mr. Slonský.

Valentin: Relationship?

Doctor: Yes. Of course, we are entirely non-judgemental about these things nowadays. I just want to be sure that your practices carry health risks.

Valentin (sweating): What exactly did Slonský tell you?

Doctor: There's no need for embarrassment. We're men of he world....I suppose it's natural to conceal those kinds of preference. You must experience a lot of prejudice......(and so on).

In any case, Slonský gets sprung, though he's seriously hobbled by his knee. Nevertheless, the detective inserts himself into cases being investigated by his team.

In the first case, a nightclub singer and dancer called Kateryna Teslenko was found in her apartment, brutally murdered.

The victim was tied to a chair, her severed head was on the windowsill, and the contents of her abdomen had been removed. Lieutenant Jan Navrátil is in charge of the case, and he discovers that Kateryna was the daughter of mob kingpin Grigory Darmant, and the girlfriend of the mobster's henchman, Oleg Yeremenko. Thus the cops aren't the only ones looking for the perpetrator.

Another case is being overseen by Lieutenant Krystyna Peiperova and her trainee, Officer Lucie Jerneková, who are looking for a possible rapist. A jogger called Paulina Zechovská was running through Letná Park when she was grabbed by a man and pulled into the bushes. The attacker was scared off by a dog-walker, and the cops were called. When Paulina was interviewed by the police she gave a fake address and then disappeared....and the detectives want to find out why.

After another murder occurs, Slonský and his team realize these two cases are connected, and the investigations take them here and there around Prague and its environs.

Meanwhile, Officer Ivo Krob investigates 'the case of the missing underwear.' A woman reports that, when she sends her laundry to be washed, it comes back missing panties. It's not a glamorous case, but Krob gets right on the job to determine what's happening.

The murder/assault investigations get very complicated, with a plethora of suspects and a convoluted plot. However, the strong point of this series is the humor, and I got quite a few laughs. I'll give examples of some fun sketches:

Here's a scene where Slonský manages to make his way into a bar after a period of enforced abstinence: "By the end of the second glass [of beer] his mental processes were purring like a Formula 1 engine. He did not care to make the experiment, but he was confident that he could polish off a sudoku puzzle in a few minutes. He totaled his bill mentally in a matter of seconds....the Slonský brain was back in business."

*****

Here's a scene about Major Klinger, head of the fraud squad: "His system for marking up case notes using a range of colours had never been completely elucidated despite the efforts of some of the finest minds in the Czech Republic. Even Sergeant Mucha, a known connoisseur of bureaucracy and a man whose ability to read handwritten notes of long-departed officers was legendary, had confessed himself bewildered by what exactly was denoted by the lavender pen marks."

*****

And here's a scene about trainee Officer Lucie Jerneková, who's driving Slonský around, though she has no driving license:

"They resumed their seats in the car and Jerneková carefully consulted the rear-view mirror before pulling out without a signal and earning a loud honk from the car behind them.

Slonsky: I'm not a qualified driving instructor, but this experience is giving me much greater respect for those who are.

Lucie: Sorry, Didn't see him there. Anyway he was a good fifty metres back.

Slonsky: How do you know if you didn't see him?

Lucie: I didn't see him before I pulled out. Once I was out I could see him clearly."

****

All the series' popular recurring characters make an appearance in the book, and part of the charm of the story is that they care about each other. A section where Slonský's team gets the idea their boss is seriously ill is hilarious. 🙂

I enjoyed the book and recommend it to fans of amusing mysteries.

Thanks to Netgalley, Graham Brack, and Sapere books for a copy of the manuscript.

*Many thanks to Graham Brack, Sapere Books, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
The latest Slonsky book does not disappoint as regards Captain Slonsky and his team. Their verbal exchanges and interactions are the best bit. I was somewhat put off by the gory murders included in this offering, and I am not sure I can follow Author's decision to include such horrific murders to support the plot. I would say there is no real justification for such decriptive murders if one considers the plot itself. It may be my problem as at present I avoid books including massive brutality. Still, I am happy Josef is still the member of the Czech law enforcement.

The Murdered Molls opens with Josef Slonsky in a hospital bed suffering from a serious knee injury incurred when he is called to duty in the middle of his third glass of pilsner to help catch a cat burglar. While Slonsky is still recuperating, his subordinate Navratil discovers the body of a woman who has been both eviscerated and beheaded, and Slonsky naturally wants to help solve this horrendous crime. The plot thickens with more attacks on women, and Slonsky is even more frustrated at being limited in his ability to participate fully in the investigation.
As an avid reader of thrillers, mysteries, and the like, I especially enjoy books in those genres that offer something a bit different than the usual formulas. The Slonsky series provides that beautifully with the setting in the Czech Republic in 2008. Although I confess it was more difficult than usual to keep the names of the places and the people straight due to their unfamiliarity, it is interesting to read about the culture and police procedures and to hear tidbits about the history.
What really makes this book and others by Graham Brack shine, though, is the delightful very wry and often quite cynical humor. My kindle version is fill of “ha ha” notes like Slonsky’s comment to his subordinate Navratil, “I hope you’re not suggesting fabricating evidence, Navratil. People who do that risk being fast-tracked to Colonel.”
Despite some character weaknesses like his excessive consumption of alcohol, Slonsky is a sympathetic character, especially since he is faced with two big personal challenges . The first is the Czech policy for review of law enforcement officers at retirement age that often leads to enforced retirement. The second is the serious knee injury that is both painful and may prevent him from showing his best while he is being reviewed for continuation or retirement. It makes him a bit more of a curmudgeon and to break some rules more than usual, but his colleagues and subordinates support him kindly and clearly care about him. They sound like genuine people.
Given a title like “The Murdered Molls”, it may come as no surprise that there are some NASTY people and some extremely unpleasant violence. Even the police are harsher than I would expect or want to see in my own law enforcement officers. If it were not for the wonderful humor and setting and believable characters, it might be enough to keep me from reading more in the series, but I confess I am a bit more sensitive to nastiness than most people.
Nonetheless, Brack leaves readers with a smile and their faces and leaves this reader looking forward to more books by Graham Brack. You can enjoy this book without reading others in the series; there are no real spoilers.
I received a complimentary review copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher.

It’s been a while since I’ve indulged in a Joseph Slonsky mystery. And it was a great reminder of what I’ve been missing. This was such fun! Hardly a page goes by without a chuckle. I adore Brack’ caustic sense of humor.
Slonsky is recovering from a knee injury and he’s really not fit to return to service. But there’s a gruesome murder that needs investigating. Plus, he’s worried about being put out to pasture if he’s not in the office on his birthday, just a few months hence.
The plot is complicated and definitely requires you to pay attention. There’s also a subplot about stolen panties.
I recommend this for fans of the Slough Horse series, as there’s a similarity between Joseph Slonsky and Jackson Lamb. And both are surrounded by a great team that provides equal amounts of humor.
My thanks to Netgalley and Sapere Books for an advance copy of this book.

4★
“A pedestrian who waits for the Prague traffic to stop is in for a long wait, even if they use the official crossings, it being the long-held belief of many Czech drivers that when it comes to traffic lights amber is a paler shade of green.”

I quoted this sentence the other day, not long after I’d read it. While this belief isn’t restricted to Prague, it’s a good example of the rather casual attitude to rules (and the law) that Josef Slonský finds among members of the public he is trying to protect. Unfortunately, he’s in hospital with an injured knee and at risk of being put out to pasture, an intolerable situation.

“When Josef Slonský asked for the bedpan, he did not really want a bedpan. What he really wanted was for the curtains around the bed to be drawn so that no-one would see him shuffle down the bed to unhook the clipboard at the far end.”

He has fudged his birthdate on several records in order to avoid compulsory retirement, and he’s never quite sure where his real one might turn up – hence the checking of paperwork. Throughout the book, he makes a point of asking someone to find something for him elsewhere while they’re in the middle of also looking something up for him on their database. He times it so they leave him with an open computer screen. Captain Josef Slonský, computer hacker!

That’s the personal theme that continues to run behind the extremely gruesome storyline about the headless, dismembered bodies of young women – the murdered molls of the title. The actual murders in this series are not comic, nor are they treated as such. But there are comic remarks made about some of the men “known to police”.

“ ‘We’d been wondering where he’d got to, but we thought he was probably holding up an elevated highway somewhere.’

‘Come again?’

‘Buried in the concrete. A significant number of our gang members just disappear and we don’t find them again until someone digs up some foundations or repairs a road.’ ”

The usual cast of characters is here. The now-married Lieutenant Jan Navrátil and his wife Lieutenant Kristýna Peiperová, stay true to form. He’s such a straight arrow, but his investigative skills are improving. She’s a delight and is now sometimes put in charge of a newcomer, Officer Lucie Jerneková, who is enthusiastic to a fault – literally.

Slonský can’t drive yet, because of his knee, and Lucie is still learning, but that doesn’t stop her. She takes him on a white-knuckle ride through the streets of Prague She means well, but definitely needs a minder. She seems to want to model herself on TV cops.

“Jerneková stuffed her hands in the pockets of her blouson jacket to look tough and then realised she couldn’t open the door.”

I’m not discussing the grisly plot, which revolves around feuding gangs, because while it’s clever and believable, I read these for the people, which is why I’ve mentioned Lucie Jerneková. Our much-loved Lieutenant Kristýna Peiperová asks her a bit about herself.

“ ‘And my mother used to say I was too choosy! Well, I was choosier than her because I wouldn’t have chosen Dad. And if I had, I’d have taken a kitchen knife to him if he knocked me about.’

‘Did your mother suffer from domestic violence?’

‘No. She got hit about. You have to be middle class to have “domestic violence”. It’s like skin rashes. Better-off families have dermatitis or eczema, but we just got scabs.
. . .
The best she could do was to keep Dad topped up with vodka and hope he slept more than he slapped.’ ”

Always entertaining, even with the grim crimes. I know fans will be glad to see old-school cop Slonský back in action.

“ ‘Get him into the interview room then, and try to see he doesn’t fall down those treacherous stairs more than once.’ ”

Thanks to #NetGalley and Sapere Books and especially to author Graham Brack for continuing to entertain us with Captain Slonský as well as his Master Mercurius series. It was a long wait for #TheMurderedMolls, but I’m glad I was patient.

Luckily for us Josef Slonsky has contrived to extend his service in the police force so we get to enjoy another episode in his hilarious but slightly sordid life.

Book seven opens with Josef in hospital recovering from surgery on his knee. He is desperate to escape a place where he is denied both beer and sausages and eventually manages to persuade Valentin to come to his aid. Of course there are other issues - a very unpleasant murder of a young woman plus the threat of compulsory retirement encourage Josef to endure the pain and get back to work.

I love these books as much as the author's other series, Master Mercurius, and for the same reasons. The humor in both is dark but very funny, and all of the characters are so enjoyable. The dialogue between Josef and Valentin found me reading bits out to anyone and everyone whether they were listening to me or not.

I loved it all and hope for more books please Mr Brack!

Josef Slonský is back! How I have missed him.

‘When Josef Slonský asked for the bedpan, he did not really want a bedpan. What he really wanted was for the curtains around the bed to be drawn so that no-one would see him shuffle down the bed to unhook the clipboard at the far end.

Slonský, Josef, he read, Date of Birth: 11.XI.1947. He could hardly argue with any of that.’

The latest instalment in the Slonský series is set in Prague in 2008 and opens with Slonský in hospital. He’s recovering from damage to his knee, sustained while on duty after a scuffle with a cat burglar. Captain Josef Slonský is desperate to get out of hospital: not only does he miss real food and beer, but it is also only nine weeks until a medical review which he must pass to avoid compulsory retirement. Active duty has never been so important.

Meanwhile, a woman has been brutally murdered in her apartment. Some of her body parts have been surgically removed. Who is the woman, who has killed her and why?
With the help of his friend Valentin, Slonský manages to be discharged. He manages to get back to work and immediately starts helping his team: Lieutenants Kristýna Peiperová and Jan Navrátil and Officers Lucie Jerneková and Ivo Krob. In addition to the murder case, there’s a baffling case involving stolen underwear. And Slonský is hampered the fact that he cannot move very fast.

‘A pedestrian who waits for the Prague traffic to stop is in for a long wait, even if they use the official crossings, it being the long-held belief of many Czech drivers that when it comes to traffic lights amber is a paler shade of green.’
Yes, the murder case may have been assigned to Navrátil, but Slonský is full of advice. Some of the exchanges between them are brilliant:

‘Ah, Navrátil, what you missed by being born too late! Those days when you could just add a name to a list and get your neighbour arrested because he’d annoyed you.’
‘You’ve repeatedly told me how you hated those days.’
‘I did. But it was a great time to be a policeman. You had a list of crimes, and a list of criminals, and you just picked one off each and paired them up. Crime solved. And if, by some happy chance, we actually caught someone in the act it was even better. Collar someone doing a bit of shoplifting, and you can pin all the unsolved shopliftings within five kilometres on them.’
‘Didn’t their lawyers object?’
‘Of course not. We were the police, after all. The lawyers knew we wouldn’t have arrested someone unless they’d done something.’

And later:

‘That’s the real test of democracy, lad. It’s not what you can do; it’s what you don’t have to do us you don’t want to. Like stitching suspects up, which just proves my point. Let’s get some coffee if we’re going to continue this discussion.’

There’s plenty of dark humour in this novel and, having missed Slonský for the past four years, I was delighted to catch up with him and the team. Perhaps, one day, Lucie Jerneková will have a driver’s licence. Scary thought. Murder and organised crime are part of this story. Crimes are solved, albeit unconventionally, and Slonský continues to leave his wallet in his other coat.

Yes, you could read this as a standalone novel, but I strongly recommend reading the series in order. Welcome back, Josef Slonský!

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Captain Josef Slonsky and his team in Prague are investigating a murder linked to organised crime gangs. Slonsky is recovering from a knee injury and needs to recover fast so he doesn't get forced into retirement. The investigation is complex with a lot of potential suspects, and all the side issues don't detract from the story. Slonsky, his friend Valentin and the team are delightful characters, I particularly liked Jernekova. A great read. I look forward to more. Highly recommended.

This is the latest in Graham Brack's fun and hilarious series featuring Captain Josef Slonský of the Prague Police, set in 2008, that has Slonsky in hospital with a excruciatingly painful damaged knee after an incident involving notorious cat burglar, Pepe Mach. He is desperate to avoid retirement so must return to work to ensure he can continue as a detective for another year, and needs his fix of beer and sausages. He is eventually aided in his goal of leaving hospital by the journalist Valentin. Lieutenant Jan Navratil is in charge of the latest horror of a murder inquiry where the victim, 28 year old Kateryna Teslenko, from Cerny Most, has been gruesomely killed in her apartment, her organs and head removed. She is the daughter of a mobster, and the girlfriend of one of his men, Oleg Yermenko.

It's a joy to be reacquainted with Slonsky's team that includes Sergeant Mucho, Colonel Rajka, and the recovering from injury Krob who finds himself in charge of the missing women's underwear laundry case. The married Lieutenant Krystyna Peiperova has a new trainee, Lucie Jernekova, who fits right into Slonsky's team with her ability to bypass rules and regulations, including driving when she has yet to get a licence. They are trying to hunt down the attacker of a jogging woman, but the woman has given the wrong details, so they begin looking into her too, what could she possibly be hiding? Fortunately Slonsky has the prospect of keyhole surgery that will improve his knee no end, as he gets stuck into the investigations.

Amidst the laughter and chaos, the chase for the truth turns out to be a difficult and twisty one, with another murder with a similar MO. Brack's trademark comic humour throughout and his standout characters help to alleviate the bleak darkness and brutality of the horrifying murders of the 'molls'. This is an entertaining and engaging crime read that fans of the series are likely to adore, as I think will new readers encountering the wily Slonsky and his fabulous team for the first time. I cannot wait for the next book! Recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Josef Slonský is one of my favorite policemen, in The Murdered Molls by Graham Brack we find him in hospital due to a "serious" injury he got in the line of duty. Being injured and denied beer and sausages is making his life a living hell. To make it even worse his officers face a very brutal murder that they have to solve without him. Slonský also faces another problem, if he is not back on duty before his birthday he will be retired due to age and that is an ongoing struggle through these great books. The stories about this policeofficer in Prague is wonderful and filled with humor and some great characters created by Brack. I have read all the books in this series and enjoyed every single one, they are highly recommended by me.

Josef Slonsky makes a welcome return in The Murdered Molls which is another excellent crime novel from Graham Brack.

The trademark Slonsky humour and eating reappear while he and his colleagues solve a couple of murders in Prague.

Definitely recommended.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, Action, intrigue, mystery, murder, revenge, a great who done it, great plot twist, and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle!! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

The Murdered Molls is the seventh book in the Josef Slonsky series. I have read all the prior books and have enjoyed seeing Slonsky go from a loner on the force to a Captain with a team of four reporting to him. Slonsky does his best thinking with a sausage and a beer in front of him, but he loves his job and he is good at it, too.

This book covers two cases for the team to investigate while Slonsky hurries back to the job after knee surgery because he's afraid of being forced to retire if he isn't working. One of the cases in particular involves a very brutal murder, so in that aspect it is a gritty police procedural. Sometimes it was a little intense for me. However, the book is also full of humor, usually from comments from Slonsky, although new trainee Officer Lucie Jernekova is also very funny. It's a good mixture that works for me and I think fans of Colin Dexter or Peter James would enjoy this series.

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and Sapere Books, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Sapere Books for an advance copy of The Murdered Molls, the seventh novel to feature Captain Josef Slonský of the Prague Police, set in 2008.

A woman has been found murdered in her apartment and some of her body parts have been removed. Slonský can do nothing about it as he is in hospital with an injured knee after an encounter with a cat burglar. When he learns that if he is still off work in nine weeks he will be forced to retire he gets his friend, Valentin, to spring him and quickly gets busy investigating the murder.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Murdered Molls, which had me laughing out loud on several occasions and puzzling over who did what. Slonský is a very addictive character and I’ve missed him and his team.

The investigation begins with the murder and soon gets embroiled in Eastern European organised crime and all sorts of nasty people. The team tries to put together a timeline and motive, but it’s not easy with the players involved. They all have more than one name and a long rap sheet and are adept at stalling the forces of law and order. It’s interesting but not the main event.

Slonský is a larger than life character who likes a beer or two and a sausage, frequently during office hours as it lubricates his brain cells. He started policing during the communist era, so he has stories to tell and an elastic view of the regulations. Mostly, he is funny and his team never know how to take what he says. Needless to say his mind is devious enough to eventually solve his cases.

The Murdered Molls is a fun read that I have no hesitation in recommending.