Days of Atonement

by Michael Gregorio

Book Overview

"Be very careful, sir " the young officer warned. "Colonel Lavedrine is a guest of this house, and this nation. I can hardly believe that any Prussian would be so foolhardy to doubt his word. Every... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312376448
• ISBN13: 9780312376444
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Gregorio Has Nothing to Atone For

I admit it: I purchased Days of Atonement because I liked the cover. You know how it is; you need something to read and browse covers. Well, Days of Atonement is a book you can tell by its cover. Gregorio ( a penman for a husband and wife writing team) takes us into the world of Prussia, held captive by Napolean's forces. The local magistrate Hanno Steffeniis is called in to solve a murder. Torn between helping the forces that rule him and his honor to his country, Hanno diigently solves the crime. Gregorio manages to run his plot through early 19th century Prussia while also evoking the emotions of living in a land occupied by captors. After reading Days of Atonement I immediately purchased Gregorio's first book. Get both and fear not; a wonderful vacation adventure.

a real page turner

A real page turner, this second installment in the Hanno Steiffeniis, had me glued to my seat till the very last page. The winter of 1807 sees Prussia completely occupied by the Napoleon's French army; the Prussians feel this defeat of their armies by the French and the shame and terror of occupation most keenly, and no one more so that the local magistrate of Lotingen, Hanno Steiffeniis, and his wife, Helena. Steiffeniis would like to do nothing more than to maintain a low profile and keep his family safe during this occupation, but when three children are found brutally slain in their home, Steffeniis finds himself having to work with famed Parisian criminologist, Serge Lavedrine, in order resolve this horrific murder. But if trying to sift through the meagre clues and having to work with a hated Frenchman is not difficult enough, Steffiniis also finds himself being pressured by his Prussian superiors to resolve the case quickly and to throw the blame on a despised minority. Soon, Steffeniis begins to realise that his only ally in seeing justice done and the right person arrested for the murders is the French criminologist, Lavdrine. But can Steffiniis put aside his misgivings enough to trust Lavedrine? "Days of Atonement" proved to be such an incredibly riveting and compelling read, that I simply had to stay up all night in order to finish the book. The period details were fantastic, the characters brilliantly drawn, the tension masterfully sustained, and the storyline a truly intriguing and completely absorbing one. I was hooked from the very first page! If I had any criticism of the novel it was that the character of the main character, Steffiniis, was a little too petulant at times -- esp when one contrasted Steffiniis with Lavedrine. But this was a very minor nitpick and it was one that I was able to overlook quite easily. A definite page turner, "Days of Atonement" was a wonderfully suspenseful and absolutely riveting read, and one that should not be missed.

A real page turner

I love quality intellectual mysteries, and this novel is the best I have read in a long, long time. It is 1807; Napoleon's army has swept over Prussia, and the French army occupies the conquered land. Hanno Stiffeniis, a local Prussian magistrate, along with his wife, Helena, and their three children have retreated to their country home in hopes of avoiding trouble. When three children are found murdered in a cabin, and their mother is missing, Hanno is called upon to assist the French Colonel Serge Lavedrine in investigating the crime. Each man wants to find the killer, and to exhibit their own superior investigative skills without really pointing their accusatory finger at the other man. Stiffeniis begins a search for the missing woman's husband. He travels to a remote town that is still in the hands of the Prussian Army, only to discover that the husband too, has died under mysterious circumstances. The pace goes into high gear when the missing wife is found dead in the most gruesome of circumstances. This is a novel that tells of difficult times with a sometimes dark mood-that also has explicit forensic detail-but maintains an exciting pace. Gregorio also wrote the acclaimed historical mystery, Critique of Criminal Reason, and in this novel, French, Prussians, and Jews are pitted against each other in a multi-level mystery with exciting and unique characters. The plot takes you in many different directions and brings you to an unexpected conclusion. I couldn't put this book down, and will definitely be watching for more from this talented author. Armchair Interviews says: A most well-done historical mystery about a time 200 years ago.

"We kill what we love."

Michael Gregorio's "Days of Atonement" opens during the cold Prussian autumn of 1807. A year earlier, Napoleon's army invaded much of Europe, and ever since, the vanquished citizens of Prussia have been angrily chafing under French rule. Procurator Hanno Stiffeniis is a respected magistrate who lives in Lotingen with his beautiful wife, Helena, and their growing family. At a dinner party, he meets Parisian criminologist Colonel Serge Lavedrine, who claims that in 1793, he corresponded with the great thinker, Immanuel Kant, a man whom Hanno had admired and worked with closely in Konigsberg. Lavedrine had been impressed with Kant's insights into the "bent wood of humanity," especially the professor's suggestion that "there is a less predictable side to the human heart" than the one casual observers notice. Hanno takes an instant dislike to the pretentious and condescending Serge. Soon, however, the criminologist and Hanno are forced to work together to solve a baffling case. A woodsman has reported finding the mutilated corpses of two brothers and their sister lying on a bed in an isolated cottage. Their mother, Sybille Gottewald, is missing and their father, Bruno, is a soldier who is stationed in Kamenetz, a remote military outpost. Hanno follows Kant's method of "recording the mechanics of a crime" by taking notes and making sketches of the scene, whereas Laverdine uses his eyes and his well-honed instincts to ferret out clues. Unfortunately, neither Hanno's scrutiny nor Laverdine's insight provides a quick solution to this horrific puzzle. Trouble is brewing in the form of anti-Semitism when a hysterical populace starts spreading rumors that the Jews killed the children to use their blood for religious rituals. If the real perpetrator is not found promptly, riots might break out, leading to even more carnage. The magistrate's inquiries take him to Kamenetz where a sadistic nationalist named General Juri Katowice commands a fiercely loyal band of Prussians, some little more than children, and teaches them to be as cruel and merciless as he is. The magistrate makes several perplexing discoveries that deepen the mystery surrounding the Gottewald murders. Hanno also finds himself walking a political tightrope, trying to allay the qualms of the District Governor, Count Aldebrand Dittersdorf, while at the same time pacifying the French occupiers. His time-consuming investigation places a strain on his relationship with Helena, who seems to be fascinated by the dashing Serge Lavedrine. Michael Jacob and Daniela De Gregorio, who co-wrote this book under a pen name, have created an engrossing, complex, and wrenching tale of political intrigue, religious persecution, and madness. The authors depict life in Prussia under Napoleonic rule with great care and precision, and they juggle their large cast and multi-layered plot with aplomb. The suspense mounts to an excruciating level until the investigators (with the help of Helena, an old manuscript by

superb Prussian-French historical mystery

Bonaparte's French forces occupy Prussia as it has for several years. Most villagers try to avoid the troops who need no reason to arrest someone. In Lotingen magistrate Hanno Stiffeniis knows the constant fear of incarceration or death although he is more concerned with his family's safety than his own. At a formal party Stiffeniis and French Colonel Lavedrine discuss criminology, which both has an interest in. The Prussian magistrate mentions applying philosopher Immanuel Kant's classic Critique of Pure Reason to a case (see CRITIQUE OF CRIMINAL REASON), which excites the French officer. He asks Stiffeniis to help him investigate the ghastly murders of Prussian Major Bruno Gottewald's three small children and the disappearance of his wife who Lavedrine believes was abducted and probably dead. The wife is soon found dead in a warehouse. Meanwhile Stiffeniis goes to inform and question Gottewald, but instead finds his murdered corpse. A family of five I killed in less than a week, but Stiffeniis cannot fathom why or who would commit such atrocities. The second Prussian-French historical mystery is a superb thriller that hooks the audience from the moment the two criminologists talk about crime theory over dinner. The whodunit is fun to follow because of the sleuths as Stiffeniis and Lavedrine share prevalent theories of the Napoleonic Era on how to solve a murder mystery; they each bring their form of logic to the Gottewald family mass murders. Harriet Klausner