To the book “Morde und Intrigen” by Heinrich Dick

A review by Max Schatz

Crime novels are one of the most popular genres of literature. A status that one also wishes for “Russian-German literature” that is still in the process of climbing out of its niche. Of course, the fulfillment of the wish remains unrealistic. But why not mix this literature of ours with crime literature and thus create something new, in a way fill a gap? That’s probably what Heinrich Dick, one of the most productive and active Russian-German authors, thought. Although I think that he didn’t really think about it much, but rather automatically resorted to the crime genre, in which he, as a professional lawyer for many years, found himself in his element
feels.

Russian-German thrillers … Many would object that such a direction only marginally had something to do with Russian-German literature, which primarily deals with the specific history of this people or the integration problems involved in returning to Germany today. That’s probably true. But if you look at the anthology “Morde und Intrigen” with its six stories (thrillers), the Russian-German mentality shimmers noticeably from this prose. It is not for nothing that Germans from Russia play the key roles in all six stories. Heinrich Dick is clearly addressing his compatriots among the readers, but he never puts the fate of their resettlers in the foreground – because there is always the actual criminal story.

It is probably a good way to reach readers: on the one hand, to offer a sophisticated and above all exciting story, on the other hand, recognition for the Russian-German reader without the long-established German being in any way ignored. To go this way – to combine without pushing one into the background through the other – sounds easy, but in reality it is a fine and artistic line that requires a fine literary instinct. Heinrich Dick succeeds admirably. And this identification with the characters is all the stronger as the author does not create superheroes, but always keeps the “simple people” and their inadequacies in mind. Just life.

Six narratives worth checking out individually in this review:

The book begins with the longer story “The golden bracelet” and the following initial situation: The protagonist has lost his wife and his job at the same time, he wakes up after a night of frustration, not knowing where. Then he witnesses a murder. I don’t know about you. But I want to read on straight away to find out what other peripetias the poor can expect and how they master everything. And there’s a lot more to come. Even if the story, which is a bit of a shame, increasingly loses sight of the main hero, it turned out to be super exciting.

In the second story, “A Dangerous Find”, we again cheer for the innocent hero who is drawn into evil crimes. The narrative has an excellent and funny punch line that is not easy to predict. In general, you have to read Dick’s crime novels very carefully, because every detail could play a role.
In “The RPG”, every detail actually does, just like Chekhov’s rifle hanging on the wall that has to shoot at some point. As with these kinds of twists in a book or film, when you no longer know what is still real and what is not, the author confuses the reader with his nifty story in a positive sense. The fantastic resolution forms the grand finale. For me personally a masterpiece, and my assessment may also be subjective, because I haven’t read many crime novels so far. In any case, this has completely convinced me of this genre.

Another longer story, which lives up to its claim to be an action thriller, awaits us in “Späte Rache”. In the last two stories, which are again more detective stories than thrillers, Aunt Nut plays the leading role – an older German from Russia with astuteness and great powers of observation. She helps solve crimes, yes, is always a corner ahead of the commissioners. So much for “laypeople” and professionals. It is also apt to see how she has to defend herself against prejudice: “You call me Russian, an old Russian witch … Is that bad that I speak Russian? For example, what second language do you speak? French… you see. Is that why I call you a French witch? ”(P. 198).

Heinrich Dick, “Murders and intrigues. Six exciting thrillers ”, translations by Vladislav Peschkov, Carola Jürchott, Katharina Kucharenko and Frieda Bayer, Seemann Publishing 2017, 236 pages, ISBN 9781520424422

Heinrich Dick is a thoroughbred writer. “Morde und Intrigen” is only one of his numerous works, but this anthology alone shows quite well what this author can do: first and foremost excellent, also entertaining with a lot of humor, parallel to it showing all social facets of human coexistence. He knows all kinds of milieus very well and knows in every line what he is talking about. And finally, even if the book deliberately does not make high literary claims, it nevertheless contains important moral messages that reflect the worldview of this extraordinary author and person: The world of people with their greed, greed for profit is in large parts very unjust. It is the most unexpected things, small miracles, that give us healing and hope – like the poppies in the story “Late Vengeance”.

The penultimate story “Aunt Nut” also surprises with a philosophical and profound ending: “What if you are right, and there is God … Then what? What happens to me then? ”(P. 208).

At some point the dark gears of everyday life and civilization stand still in a moment of silence, the time for melancholy and beauty, for a bit of true light.
An all-round successful book.

Heinrich Dick
The writer Heinrich (Gennady) Dick was born on February 22, 1955 in the village of Leninpol (Kyrgyzstan). In 1979 he successfully completed his law degree at the University of Perm (Russia). After graduating, he worked 15 years in his profession as a lawyer. In 1993 he moved to Germany with his family. He writes prose and poetry in Russian and German and is the author of 30 books for adults and children that have appeared in several languages. As a playwright, he wrote twelve plays, some of which have already been staged or are being prepared for the stage. In 2017, Heinrich Dick was included as a writer on the list of the most famous people who graduated from Perm University. He is a member of the International Academy of Literature and Art in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

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