An indigent student has been shot and killed in an upscale hotel in the center of Bratislava. It appears to be a professional assassination, but who would want to kill a starving student? After examining the crime scene, Jana Matinova pays a visit to her lover, a government prosecutor. But when she arrives at his office, she learns that he's been killed by a phone bomb. Jana is devastated but determined to find his murderer.
Professional killings aren't common in Bratislava. Could the two deaths be connected? Before Jana can even begin investigating, she is transferred to The Hague, headquarters of the international police force of Europol. On the flight, she encounters a retired magician who turns out to be the dead student's uncle. He wants to help Jana investigate his nephew's death. And his help is needed, as Jana is soon confronted with an international conspiracy emanating from Europol itself.
“Jana, like a Femme Nikita working the right side of the law, and her professor sidekick are a study in opposites, trading the roles of magician and accomplice in order to stay one step ahead of the assassins. Genelin, like a consummate conjurer himself, effectively deploys a complex story and massive cast of characters to dazzle the reader and pull more than a few rabbits out of his hat.”—Boston Globe
“The reader gets quite a lot in Michael Genelin's Jana Matinova investigation novels. There's always a fast-moving plot, a whodunit mystery element, a travelogue that includes some lesser-known spots in Eastern Europe, perceptive social and political commentary on Europe in the post-Soviet era and a wide array of vivid characters… It also allows us an insider's look on the bureaucracy of today's Europe, equally ominous on both sides of what used to be the Iron Curtain.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Along with the authenticity of place, the relationship between this unlikely duo is one of the treats of this novel.”—Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
“There are no gimmicks, or sleight-of-hand tricks, just dogged pursuit, plenty of worn shoe leather, and characters that are generally not what they appear to be.... The Magician’s Accomplice is a classic police drama and mystery complete with fine dedication to principles.”—New York Journal of Books
“In Genelin’s superb third novel featuring Slovakian police commander Jana Matinova ... [he] brilliantly blends action and detection, never allowing the plot twists to overshadow his character’s humanity.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Genelin pieces his plot together by beginning with relatively few clues and allows Matinova to use her great investigative ability to see what is behind a crime. In this exceptionally wrought story full of cloak-and-dagger suspense, the author slowly reveals the motivation for murder and the life-threatening situation Matinova finds herself in, and this makes the third series title (after Siren, Dark Dreams) perhaps the best yet. Fans of Sally Spencer and Lynda La Plante ... will love this one.”—Library Journal, Starred Review
