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The White Russian
St Petersburg 1917. The capital of the glittering Empire of the Tsars and a city on the brink of revolution where the jackals of the Secret Police intrigue for their own survival as their aristocratic masters indulge in one last, desperate round of hedonism.For Sandro Ruzsky, Chief Investigator of the city police, even this decaying world provides the opportunity for a new beginning. Banished to Siberia for four years for pursuing a case his superiors would rather he'd quietly buried, Ruzsky finds himself investigating the murders of a young couple out on the ice of the frozen river Neva.The dead girl was a nanny at the Imperial Palace, the man an American from Chicago and, if the brutality of their deaths seems an allegory for the times, Ruzsky finds that, at every turn, the investigation leads dangerously close to home. At the heart of the case, lies Maria, the beautiful ballerina Ruzsky once loved and lost. But is she a willing participant in what appears to be a dangerous conspiracy or likely to be it's next, perhaps last, victim?In a city at war with itself, and pitted against a ruthless murderer who relishes taunting him, Ruzsky finds himself at last face to face with his own past as he fights to save everything he cares for, before the world into which he was born goes up in flames.
564 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
102 people are currently reading
1217 people want to read
About the author
Tom Bradby
19 books293 followersTom Bradby is a British journalist and novelist. He has been political editor for ITV News since July 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
February 1, 2011
Another top-notch procedural/historical fiction by Tom Bradby, this set during January 1917 in St. Petersburg, with Russia on the verge of cataclysm.
Sandro Ruzsky is the chief inspector of the city police, just returned from serving time in Siberia, after taking responsibility for an act committed by his partner. He received a relatively lenient sentence because of his position as eldest son of a prominent family, albeit one of which he is the black sheep.
Now returned, Sandro is living in a cheap apartment while his unfaithful wife and his son live in opulence with Sandro's widowed father and his brother. Early on New Year's Day, a couple is found brutally murdered in the center of the city, spurring an investigation that will take Sandro to Yalta, to his ancestral home where family tragedies and secrets remain, and to the palace of the Tsar and Tsarina themselves, uncovering revolutionary plots and corruption.
As with The Master of Rain, which explores 1920s Shanghai, Bradby creates a completely realized world, meticulously researched, that sets the scene for events both personal and world-changing. Plus, some ripping good mysteries.
Sandro Ruzsky is the chief inspector of the city police, just returned from serving time in Siberia, after taking responsibility for an act committed by his partner. He received a relatively lenient sentence because of his position as eldest son of a prominent family, albeit one of which he is the black sheep.
Now returned, Sandro is living in a cheap apartment while his unfaithful wife and his son live in opulence with Sandro's widowed father and his brother. Early on New Year's Day, a couple is found brutally murdered in the center of the city, spurring an investigation that will take Sandro to Yalta, to his ancestral home where family tragedies and secrets remain, and to the palace of the Tsar and Tsarina themselves, uncovering revolutionary plots and corruption.
As with The Master of Rain, which explores 1920s Shanghai, Bradby creates a completely realized world, meticulously researched, that sets the scene for events both personal and world-changing. Plus, some ripping good mysteries.
June 4, 2009
Will look for other books by this author .
June 5, 2010
It was fine. I finished it and I'm not sorry although it wasn't great literature or anything.
August 11, 2019
I liked this book a lot.
When I finslly started reading it, after it's bee standing on my shelves for quite a few years, I had no idea what to expect.
I was pleasantly surprised. A nice combination of politics, mystery, thriller, family history, mixed with quite a good historically fictional tale of Petrograd in January/February 1917. The scenes depicted, the visits of the chief investigator to Tsarskoe Selo, the tension in the group of policemen and betweeen the police and the Ochrana, this all made it feel like I was transported back in time and place.
The fadt paced action combined with a touch of romance completed it for me. I'll see if I can find other books by this writer.
When I finslly started reading it, after it's bee standing on my shelves for quite a few years, I had no idea what to expect.
I was pleasantly surprised. A nice combination of politics, mystery, thriller, family history, mixed with quite a good historically fictional tale of Petrograd in January/February 1917. The scenes depicted, the visits of the chief investigator to Tsarskoe Selo, the tension in the group of policemen and betweeen the police and the Ochrana, this all made it feel like I was transported back in time and place.
The fadt paced action combined with a touch of romance completed it for me. I'll see if I can find other books by this writer.
Read
May 21, 2025I will not be providing a rating for The White Russian by Tom Bradby as it has been added to my DNF file unfortunately. I can't say it was badly written or not interesting, a mystery set during 1917 in St Petersburg. I can only say that I just found it too easy to put down. Maybe if I'd read it when I first got it, I would have finished it off.
It's an interesting setting and time period and if I were you, I wouldn't go by this Non rating. Check it out and judge for yourself. Back when I first bought his, 2016, I also bought Bradby's Master of the Rain and quite enjoyed. I should have read this then. Anyway, you don't want to hear my rationalizations for not reading it. Just check for yourself if you like historical mysteries. (DNF) (NR)
It's an interesting setting and time period and if I were you, I wouldn't go by this Non rating. Check it out and judge for yourself. Back when I first bought his, 2016, I also bought Bradby's Master of the Rain and quite enjoyed. I should have read this then. Anyway, you don't want to hear my rationalizations for not reading it. Just check for yourself if you like historical mysteries. (DNF) (NR)
May 9, 2021
I can literally never get enough of historical mysteries that take place in Russia. Ah Piter my beloved...
January 10, 2011
It's a shame Mr Bradby (THE MASTER OF RAIN) isn't published in the US anymore, because unlike so many current thriller writers, he has a unique approach and a sensitive eye for the nuances of history. In THE WHITE RUSSIAN, he sets his tale in the tumultuous days leading up to the revolution and the overthrow of the Tsar. It's mid-winter and in frigid snow-bound St Petersburg a man and a woman are found savagely murder+ed before the royal palace. Enter Investigator of the St. Petersburg Police Department, Sandro Ruzsky, a black sheep of noble descent who has just returned from a three-year exile in Siberia and is immediately involved in the double murder. Amidst growing unrest in the starving city, as an unpopular foreign war embroils the Tsarina in scandal involving the late Rasputin, Ruzsky must struggle against his own sense of impending doom falling upon Russia as he seeks the culprits of the gruesome crime. The political corruption he encounters within his own department and in the impenetrable bureaucracy set up to protect and isolate the royal family from the chaos brewing outside their very walls mirrors his own fateful love for a dancer who may be involved in a far-reaching and lethal conspiracy.
Mr Bradby excels in his evocation of place and time; this is a Russia that has long vanished, frozen and glittering and fragile as the Faberge eggs so treasured by the Romanovs, a world where ordinary folk perish of cold and hunger while the Tsar blindly sent thousands of his men to a futile front and in turn paved the way to his own downfall. Far more than a historical thriller, THE WHITE RUSSIAN offers us a glimpse into a forgotten realm, where idealism and violence brought down a dynasty.
Mr Bradby excels in his evocation of place and time; this is a Russia that has long vanished, frozen and glittering and fragile as the Faberge eggs so treasured by the Romanovs, a world where ordinary folk perish of cold and hunger while the Tsar blindly sent thousands of his men to a futile front and in turn paved the way to his own downfall. Far more than a historical thriller, THE WHITE RUSSIAN offers us a glimpse into a forgotten realm, where idealism and violence brought down a dynasty.
March 17, 2015
A nearly perfect mystery/thriller set in Russia in the days just before the 1917 revolution. (And while I certainly didn't time it this way intentionally, it was interesting to note that I finished the book on the day before Bloody Sunday, a famous date from the earlier 1905 Russian revolution.) As was the case with his earlier THE MASTER OF RAIN and its treatment of 1920s Shanghai, Bradby is so good at writing every scene here that I was thoroughly enveloped by the atmosphere that he created.
It begins with the discovery of two murder victims, found on the frozen Neva River of St. Petersburg soon after midnight of New Year's Day in 1917. And as the story's protagonist, the city's Chief Investigator, makes his way across the snow and ice to the crime scene, the writing is already so good that it was easy to feel that I was walking alongside him in the quiet cold of that time and place. As the investigation delves into the mystery of why the couple was there and what led to their deaths, the plot and subplots play out almost flawlessly within a fascinating historical context. Add a host of richly multi-layered characters, excellent dialogue and at least two doomed love affairs and you have another home run from a writer who has secured a spot on my don't-miss list.
It begins with the discovery of two murder victims, found on the frozen Neva River of St. Petersburg soon after midnight of New Year's Day in 1917. And as the story's protagonist, the city's Chief Investigator, makes his way across the snow and ice to the crime scene, the writing is already so good that it was easy to feel that I was walking alongside him in the quiet cold of that time and place. As the investigation delves into the mystery of why the couple was there and what led to their deaths, the plot and subplots play out almost flawlessly within a fascinating historical context. Add a host of richly multi-layered characters, excellent dialogue and at least two doomed love affairs and you have another home run from a writer who has secured a spot on my don't-miss list.
January 30, 2024
The White Russian is another very solid entry in Tom Bradby's bodywork; it was the third in order of publication arder after Shadow Dancer and The Sleep Of The Dead (also in my view the weakest of the entire output).
After reading virtually all his books (except The Master Of Rain that will go down next), I can say Bradby's an author guaranteeing a pretty stable and high level of quality; The White Russian is an intense and complex piece of historical fiction set in the Russia of 1917, on the brink of the first of the two revolutions of that year. The destiny of a nation, of a family and of a bunch of individuals is interwar like in an ancient Greek tragedy.
For potential new readers of this author, here's my two cents:
Outstanding
Blood Money
Very Good
The God Of Chaos
Yesterday's Spy
Good
Secret Service trilogy (includes Double Agent and Triple Cross)
The White Russian
The Master Of Rain
So-So
Shadow Dancer
Bad
The Sleep Of The Dead
After reading virtually all his books (except The Master Of Rain that will go down next), I can say Bradby's an author guaranteeing a pretty stable and high level of quality; The White Russian is an intense and complex piece of historical fiction set in the Russia of 1917, on the brink of the first of the two revolutions of that year. The destiny of a nation, of a family and of a bunch of individuals is interwar like in an ancient Greek tragedy.
For potential new readers of this author, here's my two cents:
Outstanding
Blood Money
Very Good
The God Of Chaos
Yesterday's Spy
Good
Secret Service trilogy (includes Double Agent and Triple Cross)
The White Russian
The Master Of Rain
So-So
Shadow Dancer
Bad
The Sleep Of The Dead
January 19, 2012
St. Petersberg, 1917, so you already know how it ends. But Sandro Rusky of the Petersberg PD is a basic detective type with a Russian flavor--he treats his problems with vodka instead of bourbon. There are bodies on the frozen Neva, secret police, the beautiful ballerina, the haunting past. Well written and worth reading.
January 26, 2008
This is a great mystery and you learn alot about the Russian revolution about 1910
August 1, 2018
White Russian, by Tom Bradby, is a book by a man for men. It has all the elements of an action movie, with plenty of exciting moments (everything but a chase scene, but there are scenes where the protagonist is being followed). Still, it lacked something: maybe heart.
The books takes place immediately before the Russian Revolution in Petersburg. The leading man is a disgraced noble who has just spent three years in exile in Siberia. He returns to his unhappy family and his job as a homicide investigator. His wife is cheating on him and his young son, at first, barely recognizes him. To top that off, he wants to resume an affair with a woman who has taken up with someone close to him. All in all, especially in view of Russia’s political system at the time, it’s a recipe for disaster.
It’s also the recipe for the book. One disaster after another is narrowly avoided. He even manages to get through a couple of interviews with the disgraced Tsarina without it coming back to haunt him. Far-fetched, yes, but plenty of winning books are far-fetched. It’s a narrowness of view, something like a 21st century depressive man plopped down in the middle of Tsarist Russia.
The book starts with two grisly murders, and Sandro Ruzsky and his dogged partner, Pavel are out to investigate. Soon there is another murder, and then another, all killed in the same way, by multiple stab wounds. Who could be responsible?
There aren’t a lot of faux suspects in this book and not too many red herrings either. Rather, we are led, step by step, to what appears at the end to be an inescapable conclusion. If I read more mysteries I probably would have guessed who was responsible for the deaths but I have to confess I did not. Still, the ending seemed to come all at once. I felt a little cheated.
This is a well-written novel by a respected journalist in the U.K. Still, it bothered me that the woman Ruzsky is in love with is something of a stick figure — beautiful but unfaithful. It is a trap many male authors fall into, and I was surprised to see that Bradby had written an earlier book in which a woman was the protagonist. That book is out of print, but it would be interesting to see if he handles her better than the women in this book.
Another problem: I had a little difficulty dating the police officers in this book. Since I am such a fan of Philip Kerr, I kept thinking of Kerr’s depictions of police in Nazi-era Germany, and, in a sense, had trouble distinguishing this book from those. I would have enjoyed seeing more details of how police were hamstrung in 1917 Russia. I’m sure they were.
But there is plenty of information about the tsarina and Rasputin, and the author includes actual letters she wrote to Rasputin. So, the external stuff about the Russian Revolution is right — I just wasn’t feeling it. In other reviews, some people loved this book and other people hated it. I find myself in the middle.
Grade:
B-
The books takes place immediately before the Russian Revolution in Petersburg. The leading man is a disgraced noble who has just spent three years in exile in Siberia. He returns to his unhappy family and his job as a homicide investigator. His wife is cheating on him and his young son, at first, barely recognizes him. To top that off, he wants to resume an affair with a woman who has taken up with someone close to him. All in all, especially in view of Russia’s political system at the time, it’s a recipe for disaster.
It’s also the recipe for the book. One disaster after another is narrowly avoided. He even manages to get through a couple of interviews with the disgraced Tsarina without it coming back to haunt him. Far-fetched, yes, but plenty of winning books are far-fetched. It’s a narrowness of view, something like a 21st century depressive man plopped down in the middle of Tsarist Russia.
The book starts with two grisly murders, and Sandro Ruzsky and his dogged partner, Pavel are out to investigate. Soon there is another murder, and then another, all killed in the same way, by multiple stab wounds. Who could be responsible?
There aren’t a lot of faux suspects in this book and not too many red herrings either. Rather, we are led, step by step, to what appears at the end to be an inescapable conclusion. If I read more mysteries I probably would have guessed who was responsible for the deaths but I have to confess I did not. Still, the ending seemed to come all at once. I felt a little cheated.
This is a well-written novel by a respected journalist in the U.K. Still, it bothered me that the woman Ruzsky is in love with is something of a stick figure — beautiful but unfaithful. It is a trap many male authors fall into, and I was surprised to see that Bradby had written an earlier book in which a woman was the protagonist. That book is out of print, but it would be interesting to see if he handles her better than the women in this book.
Another problem: I had a little difficulty dating the police officers in this book. Since I am such a fan of Philip Kerr, I kept thinking of Kerr’s depictions of police in Nazi-era Germany, and, in a sense, had trouble distinguishing this book from those. I would have enjoyed seeing more details of how police were hamstrung in 1917 Russia. I’m sure they were.
But there is plenty of information about the tsarina and Rasputin, and the author includes actual letters she wrote to Rasputin. So, the external stuff about the Russian Revolution is right — I just wasn’t feeling it. In other reviews, some people loved this book and other people hated it. I find myself in the middle.
Grade:
B-
August 24, 2025
Som finländare är det intressant att läsa en thriller som utspelar sig i Ryssland år 1917 strax innan revolutionen. Ramberättelsen och miljön känns trovärdig och redan det första stycket i boken gör att man förflyttar sig till ett kyligt St Petersburg där samhällsstrukturen är på upphällning. Sandro Ruzsky är en trovärdig mångbottnad karaktär och polis med ett samvete. Hans altruism får sin förklaring via den skuld och skam han känner pga en traumatisk händelse från barndomen då hans bror drunknade. Hans melankoliska sentimentalitet och blinda tilltro till dem han älskar känns överdrivna, men speglar kanhända den ryska folksjälen. Tidsandan, klimatet och landskapet, den spända stämningen och konflikten mellan tsarväldet och folket beskrivs levande och inlevelsefullt. Polisutredningen framskrider via ett mångfald av ledtrådar, men det centrala är förhållandet mellan olika individer, hur de möts, interagerar och kommunicerar med varandra. Tyvärr är det just dessa otaliga ögonblick av interaktion, så centrala för berättelsen, som ofta skapar en känsla av frustration hos läsaren, antingen pga brist på trovärdighet, eller pga klumpiga dialoger, upprepningar eller onödiga detaljer. Det tänds och erbjuds cigaretter till höger och vänster. Blickar beskrivs ingående, men ytligt. I stället för att tillåtas upptäcka motiv och känslor hos karaktärerna ska vi ta dem för givna, för att författaren skriver ut hur personernas blickar ska tolkas. Men min största invändning gäller kvinnorna i berättelsen. En femme fatale som agerar hänsynslöst och beräknande men samtidigt påfallande känslosamt och kärleksfullt, så irrationellt att det är omöjligt att få något grepp om henne. Männen i hennes närhet beter sig minst lika ologiskt, förhäxade av hennes skönhet. Precis alla kvinnor är överdrivna karikatyrer och det går inte att förstå eller tycka om någon av dem. Därför kan jag inte förmå mig att ge boken mera än två stjärnor, trots dess många förtjänster.
May 17, 2024
I became aware of Tom Bradby as an author on the excellent ‘ Books Of The Year Podcast ‘ , and as an occasional fan of historical fiction, I thought I’d give his ‘ The White Russian ‘ novel, a go recently
This story , centred in Saint Petersburg in 1917 , where Russia and its people are on their knees due to the ravages of WW1 alongside devastating poverty and harsh Winter , an uncaring and out of touch Monarchy , and revolution on the horizon
This story encapsulates this background, whilst a detective and his assistant investigate a series of connected murders , with links to Investigator Ruzsky’s personal Iife the Royal family , and domestic terrorism beginning in the Crimea and spreading to the nations then capital Saint Petersburg
There is also a rather beautiful love story skill fully intertwined into the narrative , and some beautiful descriptions rural and city life from the author who was stationed in Russia during his time as a journalist there , and his love of the country and its ordinary people shines through as his story unfolds
This book took me back to my school days, studying WW1 , and the Russian Revolution, and it would certainly be as informative, and much more entertaining, that the dry stuff we were taught back in the 1970s
This was a sweeping drama of over 500 pages , intricately plotted , and entertainingly written, which I began reading back in the cooler, darker days of March, and finished in a bright, hot, and sunny Canary Island location , which despite the meteorological variation, didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of this book
Highly recommended
This story , centred in Saint Petersburg in 1917 , where Russia and its people are on their knees due to the ravages of WW1 alongside devastating poverty and harsh Winter , an uncaring and out of touch Monarchy , and revolution on the horizon
This story encapsulates this background, whilst a detective and his assistant investigate a series of connected murders , with links to Investigator Ruzsky’s personal Iife the Royal family , and domestic terrorism beginning in the Crimea and spreading to the nations then capital Saint Petersburg
There is also a rather beautiful love story skill fully intertwined into the narrative , and some beautiful descriptions rural and city life from the author who was stationed in Russia during his time as a journalist there , and his love of the country and its ordinary people shines through as his story unfolds
This book took me back to my school days, studying WW1 , and the Russian Revolution, and it would certainly be as informative, and much more entertaining, that the dry stuff we were taught back in the 1970s
This was a sweeping drama of over 500 pages , intricately plotted , and entertainingly written, which I began reading back in the cooler, darker days of March, and finished in a bright, hot, and sunny Canary Island location , which despite the meteorological variation, didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of this book
Highly recommended
February 1, 2020
A great thriller all around, both emotional and action.
The story starts with a murder, but does not revolve around it. A family's past coming to haunt Ruzsky, a tragedy that Maria can't ever forget, it all comes together and slowly entwined to show the mastermind behind the action and the motivation behind it.
It was a very emotional book, with tragic romance surrounding the characters. Ruzsky's failed marriage with Irina, Maria's past and present that prevents them from coming together, it all brings melancholic emotion to the story, especially at the ending.
The characters has real potential to become a series with such chemistry and history, it's sad that this is the last that we'll see of Maria and Ruzsky. A masterpiece of storytelling, more than worth a read.
The story starts with a murder, but does not revolve around it. A family's past coming to haunt Ruzsky, a tragedy that Maria can't ever forget, it all comes together and slowly entwined to show the mastermind behind the action and the motivation behind it.
It was a very emotional book, with tragic romance surrounding the characters. Ruzsky's failed marriage with Irina, Maria's past and present that prevents them from coming together, it all brings melancholic emotion to the story, especially at the ending.
The characters has real potential to become a series with such chemistry and history, it's sad that this is the last that we'll see of Maria and Ruzsky. A masterpiece of storytelling, more than worth a read.
November 20, 2019
A thrilling tale wrapped in history
This was a captivating and thrilling tale wrapped in history and revolution.
I truly enjoyed the story that the author wrote with all its twists and turns. It was part history, part mystery and who done it.
As always the history and intrigue of this time and place always capture my attention. I will say one disappointing thing for me as a geek who likes to reference places and real people as I read - the maps at the beginning and pretty much unreadable in my e-book version. I tried to google them and the author to get a better one and I could find none - disappointing to say the least.
This was a captivating and thrilling tale wrapped in history and revolution.
I truly enjoyed the story that the author wrote with all its twists and turns. It was part history, part mystery and who done it.
As always the history and intrigue of this time and place always capture my attention. I will say one disappointing thing for me as a geek who likes to reference places and real people as I read - the maps at the beginning and pretty much unreadable in my e-book version. I tried to google them and the author to get a better one and I could find none - disappointing to say the least.
November 11, 2021
I really loved this book. I love books that are set in other parts of the world (and am realizing it's pretty much all I read) and after randomly stumbling on The Last Tsar on Netflix a couple years ago, with Simon Seabag Montefiore very prominent in it, I went down the rabbit hole of being obsessed with Russian history, particularly the 1917 revolution and Nicholas II reign.
This book was perfect for me. It is a great story, with great characters that is perfectly set against the backdrop of 1917 Russia without it being forced or corny. Just really really well done. So many of the characters are memorable for me too.
This book was perfect for me. It is a great story, with great characters that is perfectly set against the backdrop of 1917 Russia without it being forced or corny. Just really really well done. So many of the characters are memorable for me too.
April 10, 2024
Fear, mistrust and suspicion overlaid with greed come though on this intriguing book set in World War One Russia. The desperation and starvation of the majority along with the arrogant disdain of the elite oozes from the pages of this well worked murder mystery which will keep the reader captivated. For anyone wanting to know what a nation is like when revolution bubbles below the surface of society then this is a book for you. The author deals well with the spectrum of human emotions and mages to ratchet up the tension as the book progresses. Well worth a read.
October 10, 2018
Read this after someone told me that the fellow on the tv news was an author, and then proceeded to get me a second hand copy of one of his novels. A tight and historically melodramatic crime novel set in the days prior to the first Russian revolution of 1917. A dark and sad affair, where no one is as they seem. And you hope against hope that someone of substance and integrity will survive. A couple of murders turn into political machinations on a national scale.
June 5, 2017
Well, it’s not Pekkala.
I tried hard not to compare.
Story and some character’s behavior seem to me a little illogical. The end was disappointing and unfinished.
In spite of everything, I really like it.
page 13 - St. Petersburg, 1 January 1917
page 34 - They’d talked about Rasputin’s murder last night
Did Tom Bradby use Gregorian calendar in 1916/1917?
Confusing.
I tried hard not to compare.
Story and some character’s behavior seem to me a little illogical. The end was disappointing and unfinished.
In spite of everything, I really like it.
page 13 - St. Petersburg, 1 January 1917
page 34 - They’d talked about Rasputin’s murder last night
Did Tom Bradby use Gregorian calendar in 1916/1917?
Confusing.
June 28, 2017
The setting is Russia during WWI and deals with revolutionary activity prior to the revolution. There is a love story that is entwined into the story along with political intrigue and betrayal at several levels, including the adultery of the main character's wife. The sickness of the tsarivich and the activity of the Tsarina are also touched on.
March 21, 2025
Someone gave the Carrollton, Miss., library a hard copy of "The White Russian" by Tom Bradby, so I checked it out, read it and got chilly all the way through this detective mystery-history leading right up to the February Revolution in Russia in the mess also of mass death in war between Russia and nasty Germany. Not talking about WWII era, folks. A terribly sinister life.
December 2, 2021
I will also do a video review here at my channel: http://www.youtube.com/magicofbooks
“The White Russian” by Tom Bradby is set in the dying days of imperial Russia in 1917. Chief police investigator Sandro Ruzsky returns to St. Petersburg after spending three years in exile in Siberia. His first assignment involves the bodies of two people on the river Neva found just outside the Tsar’s Winter Palace. Ruzsky’s determination to uncover a ruthless killer leads him down a path of conspiracy and betrayal and a fight against the demons of his past.
As a note: "The White Russian" is part of my Year of Rereading for 2021. Find out more here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM-R0...
God, I still freaking love this book! This is a book that I have been wanting to reread for the longest time. This book was published way back in 2003 and I reread it a countless number of times, fulfilling my need for a book set in imperial Russia. As I’ve mentioned many times during my Year of Rereading, once I started my Booktube channel, I starting buying books at a crazy rate and, unfortunately, rereading my favorite books fell to the side. “The White Russian” is one of those books that I have been missing terribly.
This is one of those books that is hugely atmospheric. It’s Russia. It’s January. It’s cold. It’s icy. You spend this whole book freezing to death while reading. It’s an experience. Tom Bradby doesn’t just get the physical atmosphere of this book correct, but he also gets the political atmosphere of this book correct. The plot of this book is set in January of 1917 in St. Petersburg during the dying days of imperial Russia. Just a few months after the events of this book Tsar Nicholas II abdicates the throne and by summer of 1918 the Tsar, his wife, his son, his four daughters and a few of their loyal servants are brutally executed. You as the reader know the future of Russia. You know the turmoil that is to come and no matter what our main character Ruzsky tries to do, he will not prevent the fate of Russia. The atmosphere of this novel is so incredibly palpable. You can feel the unease and tension on ever page. You feel this world collapsing and suffocating and there’s dread around ever corner.
The novel opens with the bodies of a man and young woman on the frozen river Neva right outside the Tsar’s Winter Palace. This opens the book immediately with a feeling of tension. You meet our main character Sandro Ruzsky who is a police chief investigator and we find out he’s spent the last three years in exile in Siberia. Ruzsky is a man who wants to do the right thing, even if there’s a terrible price to pay, which is what got him sent into exile to begin with. Ruzsky has a lot of emotional baggage. He has an estranged relationship with his father. His father wanted a different career for his oldest son. Plus there’s the issue of Ruzsky feeling involved in the death of his little brother when they were children that he feels his father still holds him responsible for. Ruzsky also has an estranged relationship with his wife who tries to keep him away from their son. Ruzsky is on good terms with his brother (who would be the middle brother had the youngest not died), but realizes his brother is hiding something dark inside. There’s also the popular ballerina Maria who Ruzsky had a relationship with prior to going to Siberia and now there’s some estrangement there between them. There’s also Pavel, Ruszsky’s deputy, who feels that he should have been sent into exile instead. There’s an incredibly rich cast of characters that populate this novel and I’ve not even mentioned the antagonists of this novel which are Okhrana, the Tsar’s secret police, who are trying any which way they can to prevent Ruzsky from uncovering the crime on the Neva. All of these characters live in this world that is rapidly decaying and are powerless to stop it. Every character is richly drawn and interesting. The novel, for the most part, is heavily about the main crime: why were this people murdered and by whom? Is there an involvement that is political? Is there a need to protect the Tsar and his family? Might they know something? Why is the Okhrana butting into everything Ruzsky and his team are doing? What is the agenda? The deeper you get into this novel, the more political it gets and you start to see how the main events are colliding into the eventual fall of the monarchy. It lends a certain sadness to many of the events, especially any of the scenes where you see Empress Alexandria and the children since you know they will suffer horrible deaths in the near future due to the dramatically shifting politics.
If you can’t tell, one of my top favorite books. It’s not a mind-blowing amazing read that changes literature, but it is an absolutely gripping and exciting political thriller full of murder, betrayal, and shifting attitudes in Russia during this time period. Tom Bradby, in my opinion, really captures the mood of this era and does so by having a really well thought out plot and interesting characters who feel part of this world, not outside of it. I definitely recommend this book if you love all things imperial Russia or political thrillers with some murder and conspiracies.
“The White Russian” by Tom Bradby is set in the dying days of imperial Russia in 1917. Chief police investigator Sandro Ruzsky returns to St. Petersburg after spending three years in exile in Siberia. His first assignment involves the bodies of two people on the river Neva found just outside the Tsar’s Winter Palace. Ruzsky’s determination to uncover a ruthless killer leads him down a path of conspiracy and betrayal and a fight against the demons of his past.
As a note: "The White Russian" is part of my Year of Rereading for 2021. Find out more here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM-R0...
God, I still freaking love this book! This is a book that I have been wanting to reread for the longest time. This book was published way back in 2003 and I reread it a countless number of times, fulfilling my need for a book set in imperial Russia. As I’ve mentioned many times during my Year of Rereading, once I started my Booktube channel, I starting buying books at a crazy rate and, unfortunately, rereading my favorite books fell to the side. “The White Russian” is one of those books that I have been missing terribly.
This is one of those books that is hugely atmospheric. It’s Russia. It’s January. It’s cold. It’s icy. You spend this whole book freezing to death while reading. It’s an experience. Tom Bradby doesn’t just get the physical atmosphere of this book correct, but he also gets the political atmosphere of this book correct. The plot of this book is set in January of 1917 in St. Petersburg during the dying days of imperial Russia. Just a few months after the events of this book Tsar Nicholas II abdicates the throne and by summer of 1918 the Tsar, his wife, his son, his four daughters and a few of their loyal servants are brutally executed. You as the reader know the future of Russia. You know the turmoil that is to come and no matter what our main character Ruzsky tries to do, he will not prevent the fate of Russia. The atmosphere of this novel is so incredibly palpable. You can feel the unease and tension on ever page. You feel this world collapsing and suffocating and there’s dread around ever corner.
The novel opens with the bodies of a man and young woman on the frozen river Neva right outside the Tsar’s Winter Palace. This opens the book immediately with a feeling of tension. You meet our main character Sandro Ruzsky who is a police chief investigator and we find out he’s spent the last three years in exile in Siberia. Ruzsky is a man who wants to do the right thing, even if there’s a terrible price to pay, which is what got him sent into exile to begin with. Ruzsky has a lot of emotional baggage. He has an estranged relationship with his father. His father wanted a different career for his oldest son. Plus there’s the issue of Ruzsky feeling involved in the death of his little brother when they were children that he feels his father still holds him responsible for. Ruzsky also has an estranged relationship with his wife who tries to keep him away from their son. Ruzsky is on good terms with his brother (who would be the middle brother had the youngest not died), but realizes his brother is hiding something dark inside. There’s also the popular ballerina Maria who Ruzsky had a relationship with prior to going to Siberia and now there’s some estrangement there between them. There’s also Pavel, Ruszsky’s deputy, who feels that he should have been sent into exile instead. There’s an incredibly rich cast of characters that populate this novel and I’ve not even mentioned the antagonists of this novel which are Okhrana, the Tsar’s secret police, who are trying any which way they can to prevent Ruzsky from uncovering the crime on the Neva. All of these characters live in this world that is rapidly decaying and are powerless to stop it. Every character is richly drawn and interesting. The novel, for the most part, is heavily about the main crime: why were this people murdered and by whom? Is there an involvement that is political? Is there a need to protect the Tsar and his family? Might they know something? Why is the Okhrana butting into everything Ruzsky and his team are doing? What is the agenda? The deeper you get into this novel, the more political it gets and you start to see how the main events are colliding into the eventual fall of the monarchy. It lends a certain sadness to many of the events, especially any of the scenes where you see Empress Alexandria and the children since you know they will suffer horrible deaths in the near future due to the dramatically shifting politics.
If you can’t tell, one of my top favorite books. It’s not a mind-blowing amazing read that changes literature, but it is an absolutely gripping and exciting political thriller full of murder, betrayal, and shifting attitudes in Russia during this time period. Tom Bradby, in my opinion, really captures the mood of this era and does so by having a really well thought out plot and interesting characters who feel part of this world, not outside of it. I definitely recommend this book if you love all things imperial Russia or political thrillers with some murder and conspiracies.
November 3, 2021
Mystery set in Petrograd in the days before the revolution. Quite moody, which certainly fits the time and place. Very much liked the main character and the setting, including the side trip to the Crimea; the plot perhaps a bit overly convoluted, but kept me reading.
November 11, 2022
There are so many characters in this book and so many plot twists, I found it hard to keep track of it all
The investigation of the murder if the two individuals at the start was very interesting and kept me in suspense right up to the last few chapters.
Although confusing it is a good read.
The investigation of the murder if the two individuals at the start was very interesting and kept me in suspense right up to the last few chapters.
Although confusing it is a good read.
September 18, 2023
Whew!! This is quite an involved plot!! There are many twists and turns. The characters are interesting. But I found it slow paced at the beginning and somewhat confusing. I think I understand the ending but definitely not what I expected. Smarter people than me will enjoy it.
October 25, 2017
This is a really good, atmospheric thriller, you can almost feel the tension in the air.
February 5, 2019
Murder and politics in Russia near the end of WWI...the book is very Russian - family drama and secrets, melancholy relationships, and the end of an era.
July 31, 2020
Murder mystery during the Russian revolution. Sometimes had trouble telling who was speaking. Cold and gloomy.
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