Innocence; Or, Murder On Steep Street

"Thank goodness Soho Crime had the taste and intelligence to publish this 1973 gem of Czech crime fiction. Heda Kovaly, a Holocaust survivor and memoirist (Under A Cruel Star), wrote Innocence based on her own experience of 1950s Prague, and its gnarly twists and turns mimic the steep climb up that city’s Castle Hill. You think the main character is lonely Helena Nováková — but her narration is just part of the story. Once your seat belt is fastened, Kovaly takes you on a ride as thrilling for its literary mastery as for its bleak mystery. Caveat lector: You may find the end unsatisfying. But the bulk of the novel is so amazing you won’t care, and you’ll mourn the fact that Kovaly never wrote another."