Budapest Noir

I’m a week out from arriving in Budapest for the first time, and I was eager to find a good crime novel that took place there. I found Budapest Noir by Vilmos Kondor, his first novel. It’s a measure of his success with this book and its characters that he followed it up with four more novels. I think a good crime novel should have not only great characters and a gripping plot, but I also like a rich description of the area where the story takes place - a sort of crime-based travelogue. Daniel Silva is a master at that, and I’ve been able to travel through several European cities using Silva as source of information and excitement. The idea is one of historical fiction that is anchored in reality, and Kondor has done the that with Budapest while telling one hell of a story.

Zsigmond Gordon is an investigative reporter for The Evening, and he serves as Kondor’s protagonist. The story takes place in 1936 which predates the Nazi invasion of Hungary but the Nazi influence is significant with regard to the country’s economy and social issues. Gordon has been on Budapest’s crime beat for a while, so he’s well known by the chief inspector, Vladimir Gellert, and most members of the police force. While sitting in Gellert’s office, he notice the pornographic photo of a beautiful woman which Gellert had mistakenly left laying about. Subsequently, as Gordon investigated the death of a prostitute who had been beaten to death, he realized that it was the very same woman he had seen in Gellert’s photo. It was unusual that she was Jewish since Jews of that era rarely became prostitutes, and then he learned that she was the daughter of a wealthy coffee merchant. In the process of trying to unravel the truth, Gordon understood that he could never write about because of the State’s control of the press. Had he tried to publish such a story, he would have been killed. His editors would not have printed it for fear of what might happen to them. In writing about this very dark side of life in Budapest in the 1930s, Kondor has created an impressive social commentary.

But Gordon was tired of the power brokers getting away with murder and he was driven to solve the murder even if it was something he could never write about. This was a quick and fun read. The character development and plot were solid, and the author brought the story to a most satisfying conclusion. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Endstation Budapest.