Martin von Arndt’s thriller “The Vocabulary of Death” | EUROtoday

Martin von Arndt, born in Ludwigsburg in 1968, acquired his doctorate with a thesis on depth psychological biblical exegesis. He subsequently wrote tales, non-fiction books, theater texts and poems, translated poetry from French, English, Spanish and Hungarian, and printed eight novels, a few of that are set within the border space between modern historical past and political thrillers – with subjects such because the Armenian genocide, the Hungarian common rebellion (Arndt’s dad and mom come from Hungary) and the “Rat Lines”, the escape routes of Nazi criminals on the finish of the Second World War, which Philippe Sands broke it down in his non-fiction traditional.

In his new political thriller with the surprisingly pathetic title “The Vocabulary of Death” a brand new feminine protagonist comes into play: Irina Starilenko. Coming from Russia, she made a profession as an investigator within the prison justice service on the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden, politically motivated crime division. When the novel begins, she is, a bit hesitantly, a non-public investigator. The first order comes from, of all individuals, her opaque brother Konstantin, who lives in an underground shared condominium and has develop into politically radicalized.

He fears for his good friend Oleksandr Kovalschuk, who fled the Russians from Ukraine to Germany and is now in custody as a result of he’s suspected of murdering a Polish businessman. In reality, Kovalchuk confesses to the homicide, albeit out of a pressured scenario. Because simply on the time of the crime, he and Konstantin burned down an Identitarian home in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Conversely, Konstantin can’t testify for his good friend as a result of he’s out on probation and would danger imprisonment.

The proven fact that her brother was the explanation why Irina gave up her fulfilling job as chief detective on the BKA additional complicates the preliminary scenario: Sooner or later, Konstantin and his anarchist cell would have been categorised as a left-wing extremist statement case, and that will have fallen on Irina’s ft. Now, of all issues, she has to discover a means out of this dilemma. She has what it takes, however how shut does she come to herself and what buried reminiscences does she uncover? Because Irina carries a trauma together with her, which is causally linked to the dying of her father, a radiation physician who was on obligation in Chernobyl, from most cancers. Decades later, when she will be able to sleep, she goals of her father and the duty he gave her: she ought to deal with the household as a result of she is the strongest.

Five ft tall, darkish voice, physique educated in martial arts, quick black haircut, spectacular look and enigmatic as a result of she was born intersex, Irina is especially in love together with her canine Shun, an Armenian Gampr. She additionally feels affection for Xenia, the daughter of her depressed sister, whom she cheekily calls “auntie”. Just now within the bakery counter, she already has superb abilities as a hacker; Attempts to park them in boarding faculties are unsuccessful.

Von Arndt has accomplished intensive analysis within the BKA and BND atmosphere, and he has the braveness to get entangled in a subject that has dominated the information for 4 years – the Russian struggle of aggression in opposition to Ukraine, Putin’s threatening gestures in opposition to the West and the narrative that we’re in a pre-war interval. Sometimes the writer resorts to academic language (“In the light falling from the side”), however that can’t detract from the stable impression. Arndt has created a compact, very modern thriller that’s written all through.

Which even incorporates parts of humor. Prize query: Who is often the perpetrator on the “crime scene”? “Always the well-known actor who is only seen once at the beginning,” is what Irina reveals to Kovalchuk’s public defender earlier than the novel heads in the direction of the prolonged motion finale that’s important within the style. Because Irina will get in the way in which of the Russian home secret service FSB after an info trade together with her previous employer, Moscow sends a Likvidator. There could be so many spoilers: the second quantity with Irina Starilenko is within the works.

Martin von Arndt: “The vocabulary of death”. Crime novel. Ars Vivendi Verlag, Cadolzburg 2025. 288 pages, br., €18.