Book Review: The Sin Collector (Daria Desombre)

This time of year as other bloggers are rounding up their favourite books of the year and creating their top lists for Christmas gifts, here I am, struggling to catch up on all the books I had read and neglected to review! I blame my wedding and my move.

That is my story. I am sticking to it.

Forever ago, I read The Sin Collector by Daria Desombre, which is the first in a new detective series starring Masha Karavai. A work of Russian noir, I was curious to see what this genre would bring, especially since this is unchartered territory for me.

The novel opened with the introduction of Masha, a brilliant law student, as she investigates a series of recent killings and navigates her way through law enforcement.  I found Masha to be a likeable and relatable lead. I found her narrative to be extremely believable and there were more than a few moments where I found myself chuckling under my breath as she dealt with difficult and seasoned detectives.

The plot itself was pretty stellar. I love when a novel is able to make past and present collide and Desombre does a brilliant job of doing just this. Medieval rituals, modern Moscow and biblical references had me captivated and I loved the premise of the “sins”. I thought this was very different which is always incredibly important to me in a new crime series!

There were a couple of things I found to be slightly problematic, for example, I struggled a little connecting with all the sub characters and their subplots. At some points, there is  A LOT going on and I did find myself moving backwards in the chapter to try and figure out where I was going and what I had been reading. I do realize though that this novel was translated from its original language, so, perhaps this is due to the translation.

Regardless of this issue, I felt like this was an enjoyable read that crime fans will enjoy! If you enjoy a police procedural with a Nordic noir vibe, then this novel will be a welcome addition to your TBR pile!

3/5 stars

Thanks to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for a digital copy of this novel; it was my pleasure to provide an honest review.