DI Gorska is in Warsaw with her brother to attend the funeral of her old piano teacher. Marek is also following up leads in his hunt for a missing piece by Chopin. The funeral is disrupted when a wreath containing a bomb is thrown into the grave. As Gorska links with the Warsaw police in her hunt for a drugs lord who has fled Dundee, she is also drawn into Marek’s search. The two are connected by corrupt businessmen and links to the pre-Communist era.
I read the first book in this series but this is the only one since then that I have picked up. I really enjoyed the fast moving story but even more so enjoyed the insights into Polish history and culture whcih underpin these novels. It’s a cracking police procedural with an extra layer.

The Unexpected Guest sees Dania Gorski travel to Poland, the country of her childhood, accompanied by her brother, Marek. Initially, travelling in pursuit of drug baron Merkury, the death of her beloved piano teacher takes her to his funeral where a bomb is exploded on the fresh grave. Now, Dania is both detective and witness. Joining forces with Polish detective Maks Robak, Dania must unravel complex clues to discover the true identity of Merkury and bring the mysterious funeral terrorist to justice.
As well as the police investigations, Marek is trying to solve the mystery of the lost Chopin manuscript. Are the investigations linked? Or are the seeming connections merely red-herrings, distracting them from the real perpetrators?
This is a complex plot, peopled with many characters. You need to keep your wits about you to follow who everyone is and how they link to the story. It very much helps that the main protagonists are so likeable and well-developed.
I enjoyed the writing style. Many times you are led down a rabbit hole, believing you are going one way, when suddenly the plot veers off in the opposite direction. I liked this unpredictability.
Knowing little about Chopin or Polish customs, I found these references intriguing. Enough detail is included to transport even the least knowledgeable reader to the heart of the story setting.
This was my first book in this series, but I will definitely be looking to read more from this series and this author in the future.

The latest in Hania Allen's Dundee based crime series featuring Polish DI Dania Gorska is set primarily in Poland, with Dania and her investigative journalist brother, Marek, staying at their parents apartment in atmospheric freezing, snowy, and foggy Warsaw. Dania is at the funeral of her beloved piano teacher, Jakub Frydman, when near the end of the service, a man is glimpsed in the mist throwing a wreath in the grave. As the mourners are leaving, they hear an explosion, but whilst the grave is destroyed, fortunately no-one is harmed. Who was the unexpected guest? And who could possibly have been the target? In charge of the Policja Krymnalna inquiry is Maks Robak, aided by his best officer, Pola Lorenc.

Dania cannot help but get involved too, although she is hoping to get a lead on the heroin drug trade king pin known only as Merkury, who fled Dundee for Warsaw with his gang. Marek is basking in the success of managing to discover letters between Chopin and his Scottish friend and pupil, Jane Stirling with the help of Baletnica. However, he now has another quest, locating a never previously played Chopin manuscript. The reader becomes immersed in the Polish police inquiries and actions, and it is not long before the rise in the influx of heroin into the city have them hunting Merkury too. There are further explosions and more murders, and it looks as if Marek is in danger if he continues his search for the manuscript. Will Dania be in Warsaw long enough for Merkury to be apprehended?

One of the best parts of Allen's latest in this Scottish series being set in Poland is that we learn of Polish culture, politics and history, such as the impact of WW2, the abandoned and collapsed buildings, the communist era, the secret police and surveillance, the betrayals, and the emergence of opposition in the form of Solidarity. We are given a picture of the wide variety of Polish food and snacks, and the traditional menu for Wiligia, with Marek doing the Christmas Eve cooking. This was a great crime read and it was a terrific idea to set it in Warsaw in the winter, with Dania working and managing her Dundee team remotely. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of The Unexpected Guest, the fifth novel to feature Scottish Polish detective DI Danuta Gorska.

Dania and her brother, Marek, are invited to the funeral of her old piano teacher, Jakub Frydman, while in Warsaw on other business. To their astonishment a wreath is thrown into the grave at the end of the ceremony, which explodes after the guests have left. Is the attack due to antisemitism or is it linked to Dania’s investigation into a drugs gang leader who left Dundee for Warsaw or is it linked to Marek’s search for a lost Chopin work? Who knows?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Unexpected Guest, which has a strong plot with some great twists that caught me out every time. It is told mostly from the investigative point of view, chiefly Dania and Maks Robak, the Polish detective in charge of the multiple crimes committed in Poland during Dania’s visit, with other characters contributing to what could be considered side issues.

As I said it’s a strong plot, but I don’t want to say too much about it as that would spoil the many surprises to found in it. I’ll stop at more murders and drug dealing as they are hardly a surprise, but all the extras that come with them are. I must admit that I got a bit Chopin-ed out by the end of the novel, but, then, I didn’t realise that he was such a national hero, and that explains the importance of Marek’s quest and all the intrigue surrounding it. This too has surprises, not least the to me deeply disappointing ending of the quest, and again I can’t say why. On the subject of endings I loved the resolution of Maks and Dania’s investigation. All ends tied up nicely and the bad guys comprehensively caught. There is never a dull moment in the novel as it has so many angles and players, which all contribute to the mystery of who did what.

I already like Dania, who is a sensible, level headed detective with a thirst for justice. Maks Robak is a new addition to the series and I hope that he will become a permanent fixture as he, too, is a more than competent detective with the desire for justice. There is a hint of an attraction between him and Dania, so who knows what the future will bring.

The Unexpected Guest is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Catching up with Dania this time takes us to Poland where she is trying to capture a criminal who has murdered her informant.

A great book which I raced through

Highly recommend.

4 stars