Review of "The Siberian Dilemma: An Arkady Renko Mystery" by Martin Cruz Smith

In this 9th book in the 'Arkady Renko' series, the Moscow detective goes to Siberia to lock up a criminal, and to look for his journalist girlfriend. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Detective Arkady Renko is an Investigator of Special Cases in Moscow, and usually uses his skills, smarts, and intuition to solve homicides.



Renko still has his job despite the fact that his boss, Prosecutor Zurin, can't stand him.



Zurin is a pompous Soviet apparatchik who resents Renko's tendency to flout authority and go his own way. Now Zurin has found a way to get rid of Renko for a while. A Chechen terrorist named Aba Makhmud took a shot at Zurin and escaped to Siberia, where he was caught.



Now Zurin is sending Renko to Siberia to put the finishing touches on Makhmud's conviction and imprisonment.

Renko is happy to go north because his girlfriend, investigative journalist Tatiana Petrovna, went to Siberia for a story and didn't return.



Tatiana's piece is about Russian oligarchs, and she went to the Siberian city of Irkutsk to interview oil baron Mikhail Kuznetsov, who has oil wells in the area.



Kuznetsov was previously imprisoned for criticizing Putin, and is now running against Putin for President. This could potentially put a bullseye on both Kutnetsov and Tatiana's backs. Renko hopes to find Tatiana and convince her to come home.

On the plane to Siberia Arkady meets Rinchin Bolot, a Siberian native who becomes Arkady's 'factotum' (all around helper).



This turns out to be a lucky break because Bolot knows all about ice, bears, and Lake Baikal's version of 'The Bermuda Triangle', all of which endanger Arkady on this trip.

Renko gets to Irkutsk, takes care of the Aba Makhmud business, looks at a sabotaged oil well, and finds Tatiana - who's now following Kuznetov's political campaign.



Renko also hobnobs with oligarchs, gets invited along on a bear hunt.....



…..and finds a couple of murder victims. Arkady investigates, but the case is solved more with luck than detective work. In addition, when Arkady is faced with a 'Siberian dilemma' - one of two bad choices - things are resolved in a manner I didn't find believable and didn't like. 

Overall I enjoyed the book, but it's not among the best in the 'Arkady Renko' series (in my opinion)

Rating: 3 stars