THE ENGLISH SPEAKERS

Two challenging murder investigations expose the turmoil within an urban police department.

Zaza’s intriguing noir procedural moves kaleidoscopically, with themes far more provocative than a traditional whodunit. At the center are three police detectives, all in different stages of their careers. The story, set in and around Helsinki, opens with veteran detective Charlie Yeats staring at the detritus that a fire has wrought upon his home. Just hours earlier, he was hosting a party whose guests included colleagues James Grey, a fledgling mystery writer recently gone part-time at the precinct, and Aija Kivinen, the youngest of the group and Charlie’s assistant. The English speakers of the title have bonded over their non-Finnish status. Even Charlie’s residence, in the suburb of Rastila rather than in the city, stamps him as an outsider. Two cases follow: the murder of a woman identified as American Lucinda Barnaby and the possible suicide of Gerald Venter, whose connection to James triggers something of a rift between the two men. As the tale scrolls in short chapters through the perspectives of these three characters, Zaza provides a full description of the internal politics of the Helsinki precinct where they work. Microaggressions in the workplace and the subtleties of human interaction leave their mark on the developing investigations. Themes of ostracism and conflicts that color workplace performance add depth without overshadowing the tension of the whodunit.

A discerning police procedural with something extra.