Sometimes I’m afraid to read especially elaborate detective stories. I don’t fear that something will jump out of the book. That was only possible in “Bolek and Lolek” cartoons. There a pirate jumps out from the story book and waves a cutlass. Firstly, I’m afraid of the writer of the crime story. I wonder what kind of imagination he must have to create something awful like this. The second thing I’m afraid of is that the unbalanced person might want to realize the ideas from the book. Despite all this I like crime stories. Especially when I don’t know who the murderer is. The writer Zygmunt Miłoszewski didn’t disappoint me once again. The latest part of the trilogy is the strongest and aspires to be a thriller, not simply a crime story. Prosecutor Teodor Szacki resolves the mystery of a skeleton found in a forsaken chamber in Olsztyn. On the surface the investigation is simple. However, the old, godforsaken dead body turns out to be something or somebody completely different (unexpected?). Threads connected with domestic violence are interwoven into the case. Szacki realizes that routine can be deadly, deprives one of perceptiveness and lulls one into a false sense of security. The prosecutor’s work is irreversible. His mistakes may cost somebody’s life. Callousness and immunity are expressly condemned in this book. Abandonment is treated as a crime and is subject to penalty.
Miłoszewski precisely creates another picturesque set of characters for his book. All his heroes are unusual, one of a kind, and surprising. Often they aren’t unequivocally good or bad. “Anger” is the first book which made me question the motivation of the murderer, and sometimes I think he may be right.
The book’s ending leaves the author with the opportunity to continue Szacki’s story, even if the cover description suggests something different. I’m not saying farewell to the white-haired prosecutor. I have hope that more books will appear.