Evolution of the immigrant
As noted in an earlier entry, read Matti Rönkä’s entire mystery novel output this week.
And the evolution of the author is quite remarkable. While the characters are drawn with good detail from the very beginning onwards, it’s the plot and especially dialogue that improve in later books. The first two books are filled with so many worn one-liners, that it’s not clear whether their use is a conscious mannerism. Apparently not, since the last book Ystävät Kaukana rises above and beyond the suboptimal wordsmithing.
The protagonist of the novels is quite like Harri Nykänen’s Raid - a criminal with a well-developed sense of right and wrong. But Rönkä’s Vikor Kärppä is not a torpedo, but a businessman. A shady businessman, but a part of the establishment nonetheless. As an immigrant from Russia he brings a lot of baggage with him - and as a man with finnish roots, even more. A lot is made of the eastern mob-angle, but that’s only to be expected.
As is a medium-profile mini-series for television. After all, the author is a long term veteran of both yleisradio and MTV3.
Recommended, and persistence pays off even when the two first books are rough around the edges.
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