Critique of Criminal Reason: A Mystery by Michael Gregorio
Hanno Stiffeniis, a procurator from a tiny village is summed by the king of Prussia to solve a series of murders that has the residents of Königsberg frightened out of their wits. Except the king didn’t send the letter. It’s eventually revealed the letter was sent by Immanuel Kant. Kant had met Stiffeniis years earlier and what he (Stiffeniis) had told him (Kant) was that someone could commit murder with no motivation, contrary to Kant’s theory of reason.
Or at least what I assume to be what his theory of reason is all about. I absolutely loathed philosophy in school so the minute the semester was over, I purged it from my memory. Still Gregorio’s description of Kant, a decrepit, cranky, smelly old man pretty much echoes my experience with the philosophy department at my alma mater.
It’s a good murder mystery although the eventual solution is telegraphed pretty early on. It takes place in 1804, with Napoleon threatening most of Europe as a backdrop. Gregorio does a fantastic job of describing every day life of a 19th century seaport village (or what I imagine it must be - the image is certainly compelling). Stiffeniis must battle superstition and politics while being mentored by Kant into developing a new form of crime investigation. Before, the procurator would just arrest anyone who looked like they might know anything and beat them into saying something. Now, footprints, cause and effect, and, I suppose, critical reasoning are used.
My only real criticism is that even though this takes place in Germany (or, more accurately, Prussia), many of the speech idioms sound as if they were from England. It may be the case they use the same manner of speech, but I doubt it. It’s all the more strange since Gregorio is Italian. Still, it in no way affects the book in any material way, it’s just a bit odd.
