The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant of Boruvka — Josef Skvorecky

“Not only are the stories well written, they are constantly witty and engaging. . . . Boruvka has the logic of Aristotle and the tenacity of a bulldog.” ―Washington Post

A pensive, conscience-stricken man driven to melancholy by the fiendish truths of murder, the Czechoslovak policeman Lieutenant Boruvka is a notable new member of the brilliant-eccentric-detective literary tradition. Twelve bizarre tales―to be read as a continuous account―involve theatrical people, musicians, and mountaineers, who lead the lieutenant, and the reader, on an ingenious chase through the paths of crime.