Zofia Nowak’s Book of Superior Detecting - Piotr Cieplak

A woman cleaning up ash from outside a house which is also a packet of cigarettes, with a bird on top and a shadowy figure in one of the windows. The book title is on the front, as is a quote from Helen Oyeyemi, and the author’s name is on the side.

Zofia Nowak’s Book of Superior Detecting by writer, academic and filmmaker Piotr Cieplak is a queer mystery novel set to be published by Renegade Books on the 26th June 2025.

5 Stars.

We follow Zofia Nowak, a Polish woman living in London (‘Chicken Town’) posing as a cleaner to aid in her work as a detective, and ultimately, get vengeance for her estranged son, Janek. We also follow Steve, a queer writer and university lecturer, dubbed ‘Mr. Writer' by Zofia, grieving for his late Polish partner Patryk and tentatively seeing an actor, Adam, also Polish. Steve is Zofia’s target and she soon wrangles her way into the role of his cleaner. How are Steve and Janek connected? And, for that matter, how are Adam and Zofia?

These two parallel, connected stories of Zofia and Steve feel tonally different in so many ways and yet still so similar, often in the same ways. We have the older woman investigating to figure out just what happened to her missing (presumed dead by the Polish police) son, staking out Steve and his world. And yet is that not what Adam and Steve are doing, figuring each other, and themselves, out, albeit in a romantic way?

I was drawn to this novel firstly by its really intriguing cover, and the glowing words of recommendation on it from one of my all-time favourite authors, Helen Oyeyemi, whose work I adore. And I'm glad I was, with the unlikely duo of Zofia and Steve being one of the best written I can think of, as their investigations take them from London to Warsaw and eventually Mazury.

There are some great witty and comedic moments for a story ostensibly about tragedy, such as Zofia’s cantankerous nature and disapproval of English life and ‘Dirty Bitches’ she lives with (also Polish). One great moment comes on the plane ride to Warsaw when Steve refers to himself as ‘some gay Orpheus mincing down to Hades… with Zofia as the ferrywoman.’ This is juxtaposed brilliantly (tragically) with a harrowing account of Steve's treatment by the homophobic Polish police following Patryk’s death (albeit with kind detective Roman there as well).

Zofia is so well drawn and characterised brilliantly, she is complex, funny (not always intentionally), and while I was initially unsure about the voice used for her sections, it works incredibly well, and you can tell that Cieplak knows the sound well. I'd venture he has known women like Zofia in his life, too, given her complexity and the way it is very hard to dislike her even in spite of her flaws.

Honestly, this book explores some very complex and varied themes (and all are handled well, in my opinion); persecution of LGBTQ+ people, particularly in Poland, politics, guilt, generational trauma, friendship, love, survival, motherhood, abuse, and that's barely scratching the surface. There's even the rise of the far-right, with a Farage/Netanyahu/Le Pen-like figure looming large over many elements of the story.

If you want a witty, well-crafted crime story, with queer themes, and brilliantly drawn characters, look no further than Zofia Nowak’s Book of Superior Detecting.