THE TAILOR OF RIGA

An offbeat whodunit that will prompt readers to wonder: Did “it” actually happen?

In his fifth novel, Harries seems to blend elements of memoir and fiction as he tells the complex story of his ancestors, inspired by taking a genetic ancestry test. In a style that calls to mind the Sherlock Holmes tales, the author methodically excavates the roots of his family tree and uncovers a dark “family business.” His initial research focuses on his great-grandfather Abram Isakowitsch, who moved from his native Riga to the United Kingdom in 1888. Nothing so strange about that, but it’s not long until the events that Harries recounts start to stretch credulity. Isakowitsch changes his name to Abraham Harris, whom government documents identify as a tailor—an occupation he never held. Shockers start early on with the author’s discovery that his great-grandfather owned a pub where one of Jack the Ripper’s victims was last seen. Even more jaw-dropping details follow, as “Harris” was a former operative of the Okhrana, the Russian secret police, for whom he was a prized assassin (last known body count: 78). When panic began to grip London in 1888 over the Ripper murders, Britain’s prime minister, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, recruited Harris to track down and assassinate the infamous serial killer, according to the author’s research. The book slides between different time periods as Harris recounts adventures and misadventures of other ancestors. The chapter format makes it easy to follow the tangled timelines by listing the dates, locations, and cast of characters at the start of each. Later, the author learns, his mother’s great-aunt Mina Kapelus (a member of the Left SR Party) participated in a botched attempt to assassinate Lenin in 1918; in response, the Bolsheviks killed her and displayed her coffin on the street. Or did they? Harries teases readers with a subtitle that brands the book of “Dubious Veracity,” and he quips before the story begins, “The truth may be stranger than fiction, but it’s not as much fun. That is, of course, if you believe I’m not telling the truth.” Throughout, he displays consummate skill as a spinner of mysteries, and he recounts them all with a welcome and unexpected dash of humor.

A fast, fulfilling read with plenty of twists.