Ranka Nikolić: Mord mit Meerblick


Mord mit Meerblick (Murder with Sea View) turned out to be a fairly standard “regional” mystery of the sort that have become fashionable in recent years.  I was initially attracted by the setting, and yes, the reader is served with a tiny bit of local color and does learn a bit about Rijeka and modern-day Croatia (as well as a teensy bit about Croatian history) along the way — but the writing is fairly pedestrian, and by and large the mystery is entirely average and not tied into the location at all; it could just as well take place in any other city.  If you’re familiar with German TV, think Der Alte or Derrick or series of that kind … it doesn’t even rise to Tatort level, or the level of the *original* SOKO 5113 series from way back in the 1980s, FWIW.

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Durchschnittlicher Regionalkrimi der Art, die in den letzten Jahren in Mode gekommen sind.  Das Setting hat mich ursprünglich gereizt, und ja, es findet sich ein bisschen Lokalkolorit im Buch wieder und man lernt während der Lektüre etwas über Rijeka und das heutige Kroatien (und auch ein klitzekleines bisschen über die Geschichte Kroatiens) — aber der Schreibstil ist simplistisch und der behandelte Kriminalfall selbst allenfalls durchschnittlich und hat mit dem Ort der Handlung nicht das Geringste zu tun; der Fall könnte genauso gut an jedem beliebigen anderen Ort spielen.  Alles in allem erinnert das Ganze an deutsche Fernsehserien wie Der Alte oder Derrick … es kommt nicht einmal an Tatort-Niveau heran, geschweige denn die *Original*-SOKO 5113-Serie aus den 1980er Jahren.

 

Comments originally posted here:
http://themisathena.booklikes.com/post/2807570/bl-opoly-pandemic-edition-roll-13

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