Salamander: J. Robert Janes

J. Robert Janes has written a series of sixteen books about two men in Occupied France in 1942 and 1943 who are on opposite sides but must work together. Gestapo officer Hermann Kohler and  his partner, Sûreté Chief Inspector Jean-Louis St-Cyr have been instructed by their superiors to work together to investigate crimes.  Over time, they develop a trusting relationship, but know that due to the realities of war, it will probably not end well. One side or the other will be the victor, and then where will their loyalties lie?

Salamander, the fourth book in the series is set in Lyons, France, in December of 1942. From the cover of my Soho edition:

Jean-Louis St-Cyr of the Sûreté Nationale has been teamed with Hermann Kohler, formerly a Munich cop, now of the Gestapo, with respect to all police investigations of the so-called "ordinary crimes." They are sent to Lyon to find an arsonist. A fire set in a cinema has left one hundred and eighty-three Frenchmen and women dead. Is the crime linked to prewar cases of arson in Lubeck, Cologne and Heidelberg in Germany? Or to the Resistance, several of whose members were trapped in the flames? Or is there a pyromaniac at large who kills for sexual thrills and release? St-Cyr and Kohler face their most difficult challenge as they take on the case of the firebug who has been given the name of Salamander.

I am a fan of this series, but it has it problems. The writing is sometimes jerky and the story is often hard to follow. For me, the effort is worth it, primarily for the portrayal of France and it citizens during the German occupation. And the characterizations of the two policemen.

In this book we are in either Kohler's head or St-Cyr's head much of the time. This provides many hints to their characters and details about their friendship but also contributes to the confusion with frequent changes of point of view. This particular book in the series is heavy on sexual content, with a brothel and sexual perversions being a major element in the investigation.

Each book ends with a reference to the next case. There is very little time between each book. It isn't like a cliffhanger, just an enticement, and it works with me, I want to jump into the next one immediately.

Why did I read this book, now? Because the investigation is set around Christmas time, a time when everyone would rather be doing anything else but investigating an arson case. The fire occurred two days before Christmas and there are references to Christmas throughout. But this is not a cheery Christmas story.

For anyone interested in the series, I would recommend starting with the first book in the series, Mayhem (also published as Mirage) which provides background on the major characters.

You can see more about the series at the following links:

• Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc series, wrote a post on Mayhem, which also covers Mannequin, Sandman, and Stonekiller.
• J. Kingston Pierce posted two interviews with J. Robert Janes in 2012, one at Kirkus and a second at the Rap Sheet. 

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Publisher:   Soho Press, 1998 (orig. pub. 1994)
Length:       311 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       A St-Cyr and Kohler Investigation #4
Setting:      Lyon, France, 1942.
Genre:        Police procedural, thriller
Source:      I purchased this book.