For every good old book, there’s also one that you wonder how it made it to print.

I picked another one of my parent’s books, this one is from my dad’s side. Always passionate about spies and networks, but with the entire action taking place in the south of Romania. Constanta (near the border with Bulgaria) and the old customs.

The story is a pretty standard one: Old police investigator is called by an old flame to her house as she’s worried about her husband. She manages to tell him that he’s been behaving erratically and has purchased a gun, but their get-together is cut short when the husband returns home and throws the newcomer out.

Tragically, the couple is found dead the next morning and, as the last identified person to see them alive, our guy is pulled into the investigation which uncovers a smuggling business, all the way from Turkey.

What were they smuggling? Because it was old communist Romania, teas. Coffees. Dates. All luxury items. Tea, along with many other goods, was scarce in Communist Romania due to the economic policies and conditions of the time. The government’s centralized planning and state ownership of resources led to general shortages of basic goods. Additionally, the regime used food and other commodities as propaganda tools, often projecting a false image of abundance while shelves remained empty. This scarcity was part of the broader economic challenges and deprivation that characterized life in Communist Romania.

It’s a good police novel, but as I’m writing this, (two days after I’ve finished it), most of the details are already escaping my memory and it’s a solid statement to say this is not a book I’ll remember easily.

Plus points: Happens in Constanta, entry point for goods via the sea.