Reading 1001 discussion

A very simple straight forward writing style narrates a murder mystery which takes place in Albania and which is based on the unexplained death of Mehmet Shehu, long the second in command to Albanian communist dictator Enver Hoxha. The book takes place in the 1980's and I read a translation into English from the original French translation.
The book leads with a omnipresent narrator giving us insights into the various activities and fears generated by the uncertainty around exactly what happened the night of December 13th.
The book is set up to have a classic murder mystery resolution, after pointing to a variety of suspects. The reader at first assumes that we will learn more about whether The Successor’s death was a murder or a suicide. Instead we learn about the paranoia, anxiety and fear that rules even the simplest actions in the dictator’s realm. In the end, everyone from The Guide (Enver Hoxha) is guilty down to The Successor’s wife, his Architect, his son and daughter and of course, the author himself for writing such a book.

Reason read: This was available free on audible. European Tour features Warsaw Pact. Albania was part of but later left. This was a story I liked. It is a story of the mysterious death of a politician and was probably based on the real life Mehmet Shehu. The time period is early eighties. Shehu was the designated successor the dictator.

read Aug 2025

I am an Ismail Kadare fangirl! I’m sad that I’ve now read the three books of his that are on the list, but equally that is one of the joys of the list that you can find an author you really enjoy.

This novel is about the Communist regime’s machinations in Albania. The different perspectives of the death of the Succesor (not a spoiler – you know he is dead from the GR description and the outset of the novel) was particularly effective. Everything about the story is excellent – the writing, the progression of the plot, the voices of the different players, and the unfolding of the story. 5*