Confession in Moscow

Steven Greenhalgh is the research librarian in the Department of Public
Health Sciences at the University of Alberta.

Confession in Moscow is the first novel written by Michael Johansen, a
12–year veteran of print and radio journalism. Set in 1990, the book
begins as Mathias Finne, a Danish Canadian, turns himself in to the
Moscow police, claiming to have committed a murder in the last days of
World War II. Finne’s skeptic is an English-speaking Russian inspector
who must record the old man’s testimony and confirm the alleged
murder. Little by little, Finne relates the events that led to the
supposed murder, along with his days spent on the Nazi-occupied island
of Bornholm, Denmark. It is on Bornholm where actions involving a
Russian spy, a German scientist, and the Danish Underground played out
before a young Finne and his 16-year-old friend Lise.

Johansen’s efforts to research the two settings of his novel are
evident in the vivid descriptions of Bornholm and contemporary Moscow.
The police inspector will amuse readers as he critiques the new
capitalist Russia with its gaudy consumer wares, overpriced restaurants,
and newly affluent bourgeois class. Moreover, readers will follow the
events of World War II through the eyes of a young boy as he tries to
understand the often-dangerous world around him. Johansen carefully
moves back and forth between past and present through Finne’s
narration and the inspector’s investigation.

Confession in Moscow is an engaging read that is sure to keep mystery
lovers guessing the nature of Finne’s murder till the very end.