The first in a trilogy set in the Leningrad of 1951 where the shadows of the war and the threats of Stalinism loom large. Five blackened corpses are found neatly arranged between three parallel railway lines – the work of a crazed killer or the MGB?

'Reminded me of Gorky Park, only I liked this tense, complex thriller even better' JAMES PATTERSON


*Shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Gold Dagger and the John Creasey 'New Blood' Dagger*


'Brilliantly orchestrated and totally engrossing' THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION

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Leningrad, Russia, 1951.

The shadow of war lingers. Revol Rossel – once a virtuoso violinist with a glittering future – is now a humble state militia cop, forced to investigate desperate crimes in this desperate era.

But when five frozen corpses are found neatly arranged between railway lines, Rossel is faced with the most puzzling – and most dangerous – case of his career. His hunt for the truth leads him to the dark heart of Leningrad's musical establishment, and, ultimately, to the highest levels of the Kremlin itself.

It's a world he knows intimately. A world where his dreams were shattered.

A world where a killer may now be hiding...

'A highly assured and entertaining debut . . . Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park [...] may have a true heir' THE TIMES

'A worthy successor to Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko . . . A fine and often moving thriller' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Gripping . . . with historical heft, plenty of twists along the way, and a uniquely ingenious code left behind by our murderer. An excellent start to a new historical crime series' VASEEM KHAN