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A Leningrad Confidential #1
Вдруг охотник выбегает
Ленинград, 1930 год. Уже на полную силу работает машина террора, уже заключенные инженеры спроектировали Большой дом, куда совсем скоро переедет питерское ОГПУ-НКВД. Уже вовсю идут чистки – в Смольном и в Публичке, на Путиловском заводе и в Эрмитаже. Но рядом с большим государственным злом по-прежнему существуют маленькие преступления: советские граждане не перестают воровать, ревновать и убивать даже в тени строящегося Большого дома. Связать рациональное с иррациональным, перевести липкий ужас на язык старого доброго милицейского протокола – по силам ли такая задача самому обычному следователю угрозыска?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published February 27, 2017
43 people are currently reading
740 people want to read
About the author
Yulia Yakovleva
23 books20 followersYulia Yakovleva is a writer based in Oslo, Norway, who writes in Norwegian and Russian. Her books have received several international awards.
She has written a series of children’s novels – known as “The Leningrad Tales” – that examine aspects of the Stalin era, including political repressions and World War 2. The first book, The Raven’s Children, which was published in 2016 and translated into English by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp in 2018, is set in 1938 and tells of a brother and sister whose parents are taken away during the night. Later “Leningrad Tales” books cover the blockade of Leningrad, World War 2 evacuation, and returning home.
Yakovleva’s series of three adult historical detective novels about Leningrad police investigator Vasily Zaitsev, a character with an interesting moral code, is set in the 1930s. Yakovleva’s Zaitsev books are suspenseful and filled with atmospheric and period-specific details including the smells, quarrels, and density of communal apartments, as well as elements such as art, missing jewels, thoroughbred horses, and the plight of the dekulakized.
Her ABCs of Love, a book for all ages, looks at love through classic Russian literature; a 2020 novel, Poets and Gentlemen, is a sort of manga (in the ranobe subgenre) involving a battle between literary “dream teams” from Russia (Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Chekhov) and Britain (Austin, Shelley, Radcliffe). Her first children book Halens historie written in Norwegian, received the Bologna Ragazzi Award 2014 in Opera Prima category.
Previously, she worked as a ballet critic at the Afisha magazine and wrote a number of books on the Russian ballet’s past and present.
Russian profile here Юлия Яковлева
She has written a series of children’s novels – known as “The Leningrad Tales” – that examine aspects of the Stalin era, including political repressions and World War 2. The first book, The Raven’s Children, which was published in 2016 and translated into English by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp in 2018, is set in 1938 and tells of a brother and sister whose parents are taken away during the night. Later “Leningrad Tales” books cover the blockade of Leningrad, World War 2 evacuation, and returning home.
Yakovleva’s series of three adult historical detective novels about Leningrad police investigator Vasily Zaitsev, a character with an interesting moral code, is set in the 1930s. Yakovleva’s Zaitsev books are suspenseful and filled with atmospheric and period-specific details including the smells, quarrels, and density of communal apartments, as well as elements such as art, missing jewels, thoroughbred horses, and the plight of the dekulakized.
Her ABCs of Love, a book for all ages, looks at love through classic Russian literature; a 2020 novel, Poets and Gentlemen, is a sort of manga (in the ranobe subgenre) involving a battle between literary “dream teams” from Russia (Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Chekhov) and Britain (Austin, Shelley, Radcliffe). Her first children book Halens historie written in Norwegian, received the Bologna Ragazzi Award 2014 in Opera Prima category.
Previously, she worked as a ballet critic at the Afisha magazine and wrote a number of books on the Russian ballet’s past and present.
Russian profile here Юлия Яковлева
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
November 25, 2022
A #Noirvember/#Booksgiving crossover!
Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded down for being a touch too long for its story
The Publisher Says: The debut of the ultimate noir detective series: set in Stalinist Russia, riddled with corruption, informers, and purges that takes paranoia to the next level
MURDER
1930s Leningrad. Stalin is tightening his grip on the Soviet Union, and a mood of fear cloaks the city. Detective Vasily Zaitsev is tasked with investigating a series of bizarre and seemingly motiveless homicides.
MAYHEM
As the curious deaths continue, precious Old Master paintings start to disappear from the Hermitage collection. Could the crimes be connected?
MISTRUST
When Zaitsev sets about his investigations, he meets with obstruction at every turn. Soon even he comes under suspicion from the Soviet secret police.
The resolute detective must battle an increasingly dangerous political situation in his dogged quest to find the murderer―and stay alive.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: This is a newly translated series-starting thriller. I'm eager for the second one to appear, so go buy this one now.
Seriously. The only way the publisher knows there's a market is if there are sales, so go on now.
What do you mean, "but why should I?" Oh very well. Look at this image, of the same title as the book:
Doesn't that simply say it all in artistic form? And the painting's in the Hermitage collection in Russia, too.
The 1930s were a scary, scary time to be a Soviet citizen. The surveillance state's apparatus was risibly primitive by comparison to today's hypercapitalist surveillance model, but it was effective. Like those old Hitchcock movies where men in slouch-brimmed hats smoked on street corners by your apartment, the pervasive atmosphere was paranoid and terrified. (Our {great-}grandparents had more sense than we complacent and indifferent acquiescers do.) To be a policeman in a state-sponsored terrorist society, to be studied minutely as one tries to achieve the ever-elusive goal of bringing justice to transgressors while avoiding the political pitfalls of society's mad/badness, adds a layer of suspense to thrillers.
Author Yakovleva does a truly creditable and credible job with Zaitsev, her sleuth. He doesn't miraculously float above The System somehow, nor does he set out to provoke The System's minions to make his points. He falls victim to the excesses of the times (CW for torture!) and he still stubbornly insists on doing the right thing by the victims of personal violence. It is very much in the vein of the "lone truth-seeker" genre of thriller. I think those stories can go wrong quickly, turning into libertarian screeds against any and all forms of government by equating them with oppression. This book dodges that bullet by being about, explicitly taking as its subject, that nightmarish oppressive government and its warped and broken victim/citizens. I wish more libertarians would read this kind of historical take because it puts into a cold, unfriendly light the mild checks on their worst selves that so chafe them.
Author Yakovleva is ably assisted in telling her story by Translator Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp. There are bursts of informative explanatory things in the text that I'm sure are her work...no one in modern Russia likely needs as much explanation of the role of the OGPU, for example (the domestic secret police, like the FBI or latter-Soviet-days KGB). That this information, among so much other information needed by Anglophone readers not Russophone ones, was woven into the text pretty darn seamlessly is a testament to Translator Kemp's grasp of and skill at presenting the reader the best version of the original text.
What makes it a perfect book to get your thriller reader giftee, or your thriller loving self, is that very thing: It's the best version of what was, if my Spidey-senses do not deceive me, a top-quality read from the get-go. Translations are often serviceable, telling the story as it was told in the original and not grasping, or conveying at any rate, whatever special sparkle the original had. It sounds weird to tell you that the cold, grim, gray landscape of Stalinist-Purge era Leningrad, peopled with terrorized victims and subjected to psychic violence, physical violence, and sensory deprivation on an industrial scale, has a sparkle to it. But it does.
Not a joyous resolution to the weird, theatrically staged and colorfully over-the-top crimes committed here...but a resolution I believed and I supported with my whole readerly heart. More of Zaitsev, please, Pushkin Vertigo. We need this kind of "history as sly social commentary" Russian fiction; we in the Anglophone West need the warning klaxon of what *real* oppression feels like, why it does to its victims, so we will stop our loud, pointless whinging.
Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded down for being a touch too long for its story
The Publisher Says: The debut of the ultimate noir detective series: set in Stalinist Russia, riddled with corruption, informers, and purges that takes paranoia to the next level
MURDER
1930s Leningrad. Stalin is tightening his grip on the Soviet Union, and a mood of fear cloaks the city. Detective Vasily Zaitsev is tasked with investigating a series of bizarre and seemingly motiveless homicides.
MAYHEM
As the curious deaths continue, precious Old Master paintings start to disappear from the Hermitage collection. Could the crimes be connected?
MISTRUST
When Zaitsev sets about his investigations, he meets with obstruction at every turn. Soon even he comes under suspicion from the Soviet secret police.
The resolute detective must battle an increasingly dangerous political situation in his dogged quest to find the murderer―and stay alive.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: This is a newly translated series-starting thriller. I'm eager for the second one to appear, so go buy this one now.
Seriously. The only way the publisher knows there's a market is if there are sales, so go on now.
What do you mean, "but why should I?" Oh very well. Look at this image, of the same title as the book:
Doesn't that simply say it all in artistic form? And the painting's in the Hermitage collection in Russia, too.
The 1930s were a scary, scary time to be a Soviet citizen. The surveillance state's apparatus was risibly primitive by comparison to today's hypercapitalist surveillance model, but it was effective. Like those old Hitchcock movies where men in slouch-brimmed hats smoked on street corners by your apartment, the pervasive atmosphere was paranoid and terrified. (Our {great-}grandparents had more sense than we complacent and indifferent acquiescers do.) To be a policeman in a state-sponsored terrorist society, to be studied minutely as one tries to achieve the ever-elusive goal of bringing justice to transgressors while avoiding the political pitfalls of society's mad/badness, adds a layer of suspense to thrillers.
Author Yakovleva does a truly creditable and credible job with Zaitsev, her sleuth. He doesn't miraculously float above The System somehow, nor does he set out to provoke The System's minions to make his points. He falls victim to the excesses of the times (CW for torture!) and he still stubbornly insists on doing the right thing by the victims of personal violence. It is very much in the vein of the "lone truth-seeker" genre of thriller. I think those stories can go wrong quickly, turning into libertarian screeds against any and all forms of government by equating them with oppression. This book dodges that bullet by being about, explicitly taking as its subject, that nightmarish oppressive government and its warped and broken victim/citizens. I wish more libertarians would read this kind of historical take because it puts into a cold, unfriendly light the mild checks on their worst selves that so chafe them.
Author Yakovleva is ably assisted in telling her story by Translator Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp. There are bursts of informative explanatory things in the text that I'm sure are her work...no one in modern Russia likely needs as much explanation of the role of the OGPU, for example (the domestic secret police, like the FBI or latter-Soviet-days KGB). That this information, among so much other information needed by Anglophone readers not Russophone ones, was woven into the text pretty darn seamlessly is a testament to Translator Kemp's grasp of and skill at presenting the reader the best version of the original text.
What makes it a perfect book to get your thriller reader giftee, or your thriller loving self, is that very thing: It's the best version of what was, if my Spidey-senses do not deceive me, a top-quality read from the get-go. Translations are often serviceable, telling the story as it was told in the original and not grasping, or conveying at any rate, whatever special sparkle the original had. It sounds weird to tell you that the cold, grim, gray landscape of Stalinist-Purge era Leningrad, peopled with terrorized victims and subjected to psychic violence, physical violence, and sensory deprivation on an industrial scale, has a sparkle to it. But it does.
Not a joyous resolution to the weird, theatrically staged and colorfully over-the-top crimes committed here...but a resolution I believed and I supported with my whole readerly heart. More of Zaitsev, please, Pushkin Vertigo. We need this kind of "history as sly social commentary" Russian fiction; we in the Anglophone West need the warning klaxon of what *real* oppression feels like, why it does to its victims, so we will stop our loud, pointless whinging.
March 7, 2023
The concept of a book like this one is really exciting to me: in police procedural and noir novels, an atmosphere of paranoia and shiftiness is a key ingredient to make it work, and what place in the world felt that more deeply than Leningrad in the 1930s?
Murder victims arranged in strange displays, colleagues that may or may not be spying on you, a government that will dispose of you if you are no longer useful, an entanglement with someone who isn’t telling you the whole truth about themselves and who won’t tell people the truth about you… This is the sort of jam Vasily Zaitsev finds himself in. And then of course, his own past comes to haunt him, as he tries to stay alive and safe in this minefield that it Stalinist Russia.
I fully admit that I am not crazy about the police procedural genre in general, but my curiosity was really piqued by the setting and the idea – shamefully spoiled by the blurb on the back of my copy – of the parallel mysteries of the bizarre murders and missing paintings. The pacing really picks up around the halfway mark, and after that, it was a quick ramp up to a conclusion, that was - again given the context - both interesting and frustrating.
A fun book, that would certainly appeal more to readers who are fans of that genre than it did to me, but I am quite glad I read it!
Murder victims arranged in strange displays, colleagues that may or may not be spying on you, a government that will dispose of you if you are no longer useful, an entanglement with someone who isn’t telling you the whole truth about themselves and who won’t tell people the truth about you… This is the sort of jam Vasily Zaitsev finds himself in. And then of course, his own past comes to haunt him, as he tries to stay alive and safe in this minefield that it Stalinist Russia.
I fully admit that I am not crazy about the police procedural genre in general, but my curiosity was really piqued by the setting and the idea – shamefully spoiled by the blurb on the back of my copy – of the parallel mysteries of the bizarre murders and missing paintings. The pacing really picks up around the halfway mark, and after that, it was a quick ramp up to a conclusion, that was - again given the context - both interesting and frustrating.
A fun book, that would certainly appeal more to readers who are fans of that genre than it did to me, but I am quite glad I read it!
December 22, 2022
My thanks to Pushkin Press for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss.
Punishment of a Hunter is a dark, gritty and gripping historical mystery which gives the reader an excellent sense of time and place as well as a very satisfying mystery. Written by author, theatre and ballet critic Yulia Yakovleva, the book translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp came on my radar when I read Kaggsy’s wonderful review (https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordp...), and so, when I saw a review copy available, naturally I jumped at it.
Punishment is set in the 1930s Stalinist Leningrad, where the atmosphere is fraught and citizens live in constant fear. On the one side, everyone has become ‘equal’ (though we soon see that as Orwell showed us, some more ‘equal’ than others), which means people from poorer quarters are now living in once-luxurious bourgeois flats, now divided up (each person/family occupying a room) and squalid, but on the other, that every one has to be constantly on alert for the slightest misstep or indication of a background that doesn’t align with Soviet ‘values’, means one is liable at any time to be thrown into prison by the ominous OGPU (or secret police).
It is in this background that we meet our detective, Zaitsev of the Criminal Investigation Department who as our story opens is summoned to a crime scene—the murder of an ordinary woman, Faina Baranova, who is found dead in her apartment in strange (to her) attire and an equally strange pose. As he and his team start to puzzle things out, the department is facing interventions by the OGPU seeking to ‘purge’ ‘undesirable’ elements. While Zaitsev tries to help a colleague who might get in trouble with the secret police, he finds himself in their clutches, imprisoned and interrogated.
In another unexpected turn of events, he is suddenly released, going on to find that there has been a similarly bizarre murder, this time with more than one victims, one of whom is a Black communist, part of a handful of Americans who have come to work in the Soviet. The murders are being taken seriously by the authorities, seen as an attempt to destabilize the regime. Zaitsev is faced with a complex case to crack for no motive seems apparent, and there is no clue to the meaning behind the placement of the victims. There is pressure to get to an answer as failure might have consequences. To add to his woes, his former colleagues have started to treat him with suspicion, for a person arrested by the OGPU is not seen as one who can’t be trusted, and he is kept on the sidelines as they carry on with the investigation. The only person Zaitsev can rely on is strangely, Nefyodov, who is believed to have roots in the OGPU but seems keen enough to help. Can Zaitsev piece together this intricate puzzle?
I thought this book captured the atmosphere of Leningrad during the Soviet era wonderfully well—from the social structure and new living arrangements (poverty, want and dirt on the one side which every ‘common’ citizen had to bear, and the endless luxuries available to those more equal, at least in Moscow), the continuing popularity of the ballet, and the Komsomol (youth division of the Communist party) spreading among other things, cultural knowledge. Friendships and relationships are formed no doubt (as between Zaitsev and his team initially, and his love interest Alla, as the story progresses), yet seem tenuous for distrust, fear and suspicion abound, encouraged at all times by the state.
While the mystery is an interesting and engaging one, it really begins to develop only in the second half of the book, and once it does, it certainly keeps one reading. I should mention here that the blurb mentions part of what is revealed through Zaitsev’s investigations, which does kind of become a spoiler. Luckily, for me this wasn’t the case as between downloading and reading the book, I’d forgotten the blurb so that link did come to light gradually as Zaitsev uncovered it. I won’t go into the theme the mystery is built around since its more enjoyable as it is revealed, but it is one I liked very much, particularly how Zaitsev works it out. The ending and solution weren’t something I saw coming at all, and I came away from the book very satisfied.
Alongside, we have interesting glimpses into Zaitsev’s own background for while he is said to be an orphan with no idea of his family, down the line certain memories come back to him, indicating that this may not quite be the case. He develops an interest in Alla who works in the theatre as a costumier, and an uneasy friendship with Nefyodov, whom he is unsure he can entirely trust. As this book is labelled the first in the Leningrad Confidential Series, it has left me waiting eagerly to see what turns these aspects take in the next book, as also what puzzle Zaitsev will be faced with.
Needless to say, a book I very much recommend, both for its look into history as well as for the mystery itself!
p.s. I almost forgot to say, we have some wonderful little illustrations at the start of each chapter which also get one thinking!
4.5 stars rounded off to 5
Punishment of a Hunter is a dark, gritty and gripping historical mystery which gives the reader an excellent sense of time and place as well as a very satisfying mystery. Written by author, theatre and ballet critic Yulia Yakovleva, the book translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp came on my radar when I read Kaggsy’s wonderful review (https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordp...), and so, when I saw a review copy available, naturally I jumped at it.
Punishment is set in the 1930s Stalinist Leningrad, where the atmosphere is fraught and citizens live in constant fear. On the one side, everyone has become ‘equal’ (though we soon see that as Orwell showed us, some more ‘equal’ than others), which means people from poorer quarters are now living in once-luxurious bourgeois flats, now divided up (each person/family occupying a room) and squalid, but on the other, that every one has to be constantly on alert for the slightest misstep or indication of a background that doesn’t align with Soviet ‘values’, means one is liable at any time to be thrown into prison by the ominous OGPU (or secret police).
It is in this background that we meet our detective, Zaitsev of the Criminal Investigation Department who as our story opens is summoned to a crime scene—the murder of an ordinary woman, Faina Baranova, who is found dead in her apartment in strange (to her) attire and an equally strange pose. As he and his team start to puzzle things out, the department is facing interventions by the OGPU seeking to ‘purge’ ‘undesirable’ elements. While Zaitsev tries to help a colleague who might get in trouble with the secret police, he finds himself in their clutches, imprisoned and interrogated.
In another unexpected turn of events, he is suddenly released, going on to find that there has been a similarly bizarre murder, this time with more than one victims, one of whom is a Black communist, part of a handful of Americans who have come to work in the Soviet. The murders are being taken seriously by the authorities, seen as an attempt to destabilize the regime. Zaitsev is faced with a complex case to crack for no motive seems apparent, and there is no clue to the meaning behind the placement of the victims. There is pressure to get to an answer as failure might have consequences. To add to his woes, his former colleagues have started to treat him with suspicion, for a person arrested by the OGPU is not seen as one who can’t be trusted, and he is kept on the sidelines as they carry on with the investigation. The only person Zaitsev can rely on is strangely, Nefyodov, who is believed to have roots in the OGPU but seems keen enough to help. Can Zaitsev piece together this intricate puzzle?
I thought this book captured the atmosphere of Leningrad during the Soviet era wonderfully well—from the social structure and new living arrangements (poverty, want and dirt on the one side which every ‘common’ citizen had to bear, and the endless luxuries available to those more equal, at least in Moscow), the continuing popularity of the ballet, and the Komsomol (youth division of the Communist party) spreading among other things, cultural knowledge. Friendships and relationships are formed no doubt (as between Zaitsev and his team initially, and his love interest Alla, as the story progresses), yet seem tenuous for distrust, fear and suspicion abound, encouraged at all times by the state.
While the mystery is an interesting and engaging one, it really begins to develop only in the second half of the book, and once it does, it certainly keeps one reading. I should mention here that the blurb mentions part of what is revealed through Zaitsev’s investigations, which does kind of become a spoiler. Luckily, for me this wasn’t the case as between downloading and reading the book, I’d forgotten the blurb so that link did come to light gradually as Zaitsev uncovered it. I won’t go into the theme the mystery is built around since its more enjoyable as it is revealed, but it is one I liked very much, particularly how Zaitsev works it out. The ending and solution weren’t something I saw coming at all, and I came away from the book very satisfied.
Alongside, we have interesting glimpses into Zaitsev’s own background for while he is said to be an orphan with no idea of his family, down the line certain memories come back to him, indicating that this may not quite be the case. He develops an interest in Alla who works in the theatre as a costumier, and an uneasy friendship with Nefyodov, whom he is unsure he can entirely trust. As this book is labelled the first in the Leningrad Confidential Series, it has left me waiting eagerly to see what turns these aspects take in the next book, as also what puzzle Zaitsev will be faced with.
Needless to say, a book I very much recommend, both for its look into history as well as for the mystery itself!
p.s. I almost forgot to say, we have some wonderful little illustrations at the start of each chapter which also get one thinking!
4.5 stars rounded off to 5
January 5, 2024
Predation and fear ...... each feeding and winning of each other
The law of supply and demand works well even in a soviet communist setting. So we have a story of predation. How any system has lacunae, some systems more than others especially in the initial times when everything is new and the predators move in for the kill.
Yakovleva weaves in fear as a close constant companion in this novel. Our hero has a torturous journey, imprisoned, tortured, ostracised, set aside, treated as a rat, not to be touched for fear of contagion. How can one prevail, what keeps one going. The atmosphere of fear, secrecy reminded of Simenon's The People Opposite which I read recently.
In Russian there are three books already in this series, I do not read Russian so I sure hope that translations are in the pipeline so that I can read book two and three.
The law of supply and demand works well even in a soviet communist setting. So we have a story of predation. How any system has lacunae, some systems more than others especially in the initial times when everything is new and the predators move in for the kill.
Yakovleva weaves in fear as a close constant companion in this novel. Our hero has a torturous journey, imprisoned, tortured, ostracised, set aside, treated as a rat, not to be touched for fear of contagion. How can one prevail, what keeps one going. The atmosphere of fear, secrecy reminded of Simenon's The People Opposite which I read recently.
In Russian there are three books already in this series, I do not read Russian so I sure hope that translations are in the pipeline so that I can read book two and three.
Paulus Potter
August 23, 2017
Да ладно вам, нормальная книжка: во-первых, читается за два часа, во-вторых, жутенькая, в-третьих, там есть балет и Эрмитаж. Искушённые любители жанра могут, конечно, пожаловаться на скомканный конец, но его можно великодушно простить и быстро приступить ко второму роману про сыщика Зайцева, тем более что он буквально только что вышел.
November 30, 2022
There's something about reading a mystery novel in translation—assuming the translation is a good one. One gets swept up into a new culture and worldview as one gets swept up into the suspense and multiple leads of the plot. Punishment of a Hunter is just such a book. Written by a contemporary Russian author, but set in 1930s Leningrad, Punishment of a Hunter follows a mystery that is simultaneously bizarre and mundane.
1930s Leningrad is an uncomfortable place to spend time. No one is safe, the purges are ongoing, everyone is looking for someone to suffer in their stead or looking for a more bearable suffering from which there is still some hope of redemption.
The central character, Vaily Zeitsev is a member of the forces charged with investigating violent crime. At the same time, he's trying to help a coworker to avoid the purges and to avoid the purges himself. Higher-ups want a quick wrap-up to a murder. Zeitsev sees connections between that crime and a series of others that have drawn little official scrutiny. Zeitsev's colleagues have stopped trusting him, and his only ally (?) is someone he believes was planted in his unit to "discover" that Zeitsev is involved in incorrect political thought and/or has a bourgeois background.
Like many investigators, Zeitsev is unwilling to settle for the less-complex picture and the more-convenient solution. He wants to follow each and every thread of a complex criminal weaving, regardless of the price he'll pay for doing so.
If you enjoy historical and/or international mysteries, you're in for a real treat with Punishment of a Hunter. This is a book worth buying now—not a title to slowly wait to access until your name has risen to the top of your public library's request.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
1930s Leningrad is an uncomfortable place to spend time. No one is safe, the purges are ongoing, everyone is looking for someone to suffer in their stead or looking for a more bearable suffering from which there is still some hope of redemption.
The central character, Vaily Zeitsev is a member of the forces charged with investigating violent crime. At the same time, he's trying to help a coworker to avoid the purges and to avoid the purges himself. Higher-ups want a quick wrap-up to a murder. Zeitsev sees connections between that crime and a series of others that have drawn little official scrutiny. Zeitsev's colleagues have stopped trusting him, and his only ally (?) is someone he believes was planted in his unit to "discover" that Zeitsev is involved in incorrect political thought and/or has a bourgeois background.
Like many investigators, Zeitsev is unwilling to settle for the less-complex picture and the more-convenient solution. He wants to follow each and every thread of a complex criminal weaving, regardless of the price he'll pay for doing so.
If you enjoy historical and/or international mysteries, you're in for a real treat with Punishment of a Hunter. This is a book worth buying now—not a title to slowly wait to access until your name has risen to the top of your public library's request.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
October 5, 2020
Oi grāmata, oi patika, oi noteikti krieviski lasīt būtu prieks! :) Neesmu lingviste un parasti tādas lietas nemanu, bet nu šoreiz katru neveiklo teikumu neviļus tulkoju krieviski un - nuja, ir, tā tas krieviski, ir! :D
Detektīvs samocīts, bet vide, oi Piters (:D), oi komunalkas, oi padomju cilvēki! Mīlu (kā vēstures posmu un daļu, ne pa īstam).
Detektīvs samocīts, bet vide, oi Piters (:D), oi komunalkas, oi padomju cilvēki! Mīlu (kā vēstures posmu un daļu, ne pa īstam).
May 1, 2023
Excellent.Great depiction of a time and place,interesting characters,good plot.
I hope it's the start of a series.
I hope it's the start of a series.
December 8, 2019
Ļoti krievisks romāns. Sākumā gribējās tekstu tulkot galvā krievu valodā, t.i., likās, ka oriģinālā būtu ļoti garšīgi un viegli lasīt. Četras zvaigznes par atmosfēru. Par 30-to gadu Krieviju - Pēterburgu, arī nedaudz Maskavu. Par 'tīrīšanām', par kaismīgo proletariātu un inteliģenci, un cilvēkiem ar izcelsmes 'pagātni'. Man patika.
Kā detektīvs - nu tā, viduvēji. Sākums bija ļoti daudzsološs, tāpat arī pārējās slepkavības ir interesantas un vilina ar tajās ietverto āķi (āķis man patika, Zaicevs līdz tam aizrakās), bet tas atrisinājums ir bēdīgs, t.i., tāds gandrīz nekāds. Kā slepkava to paveica?
Izmeklētāja Zaiceva un viņa Sančo Pansas Ņefedova dēļ jādomā, ka vajadzētu būt kādam turpinājumam, kādai Zaiceva - Ņefedova sērijai. Viņi ir to vērti. Ņefedovam kaut kas slēpjas aiz viņa prastās ārienes, kā arī man ir āķis lūpā - kāpēc viņš ir atnācis / atsūtīts no OGPU uz kriminālizmeklēšanu un izrādās tāds reti sakarīgs, neOGPUisks.
Izskatās, ka vismaz viena jau ir - "Укрощение красного коня".
Kā detektīvs - nu tā, viduvēji. Sākums bija ļoti daudzsološs, tāpat arī pārējās slepkavības ir interesantas un vilina ar tajās ietverto āķi (āķis man patika, Zaicevs līdz tam aizrakās), bet tas atrisinājums ir bēdīgs, t.i., tāds gandrīz nekāds. Kā slepkava to paveica?
Izmeklētāja Zaiceva un viņa Sančo Pansas Ņefedova dēļ jādomā, ka vajadzētu būt kādam turpinājumam, kādai Zaiceva - Ņefedova sērijai. Viņi ir to vērti. Ņefedovam kaut kas slēpjas aiz viņa prastās ārienes, kā arī man ir āķis lūpā - kāpēc viņš ir atnācis / atsūtīts no OGPU uz kriminālizmeklēšanu un izrādās tāds reti sakarīgs, neOGPUisks.
Izskatās, ka vismaz viena jau ir - "Укрощение красного коня".
October 1, 2023
Russian detective novel set in early 1930 Leningrad (St Petersburg). A series of murders have been carried out with the victims posed.
Vasya Zaitsev is the detective in charge. Nothing is simple and when Zaitsev is dragged off for interrogation it all looks grim.
Atmospheric! One gets a sense of life in these times. The grounding down of life on the populace.
What is happening with the murders is crazed, yet simple.
Vasya Zaitsev is the detective in charge. Nothing is simple and when Zaitsev is dragged off for interrogation it all looks grim.
Atmospheric! One gets a sense of life in these times. The grounding down of life on the populace.
What is happening with the murders is crazed, yet simple.
December 13, 2022
3,5 stars
1930, Leningrad. Investigator Vasily Zaitsev is young, handsome and has the most proletarian origin - or rather, he himself thinks so. His figure is somehow indistinct (or incomplete?), I hope it will be more clarity in the next sequels.
Strange murders began in St. Petersburg. Very atmospheric, with a touch of high art and all that. And the criminal investigators are very perplexed: it all looks somehow not at all proletarian.
I found the writing style rather sketchy. (Considering positiv and negative reviews, the book probably is better in English - a translated version). A great idea eventually turned into mediocre execution, exciting in some moments and dull in others. There are interesting moments with communal life and ever-present neighbours, but a lot of historical mistakes (well, you should not confuse the beginning of the 30s and the end of the 30s) and a blurry ending (motives??) with a sagging middle part did their dirty work.
Despite all my complaints (at a high level) I'm going to read the next books, also because I am in a privileged position to be able to read them in original language.
1930, Leningrad. Investigator Vasily Zaitsev is young, handsome and has the most proletarian origin - or rather, he himself thinks so. His figure is somehow indistinct (or incomplete?), I hope it will be more clarity in the next sequels.
Strange murders began in St. Petersburg. Very atmospheric, with a touch of high art and all that. And the criminal investigators are very perplexed: it all looks somehow not at all proletarian.
I found the writing style rather sketchy. (Considering positiv and negative reviews, the book probably is better in English - a translated version). A great idea eventually turned into mediocre execution, exciting in some moments and dull in others. There are interesting moments with communal life and ever-present neighbours, but a lot of historical mistakes (well, you should not confuse the beginning of the 30s and the end of the 30s) and a blurry ending (motives??) with a sagging middle part did their dirty work.
Despite all my complaints (at a high level) I'm going to read the next books, also because I am in a privileged position to be able to read them in original language.
January 9, 2022
Yulia Yakovleva has crafted a tale of murder, political intrigue, and corruption that is utterly absorbing. I found myself engrossed in her desolate descriptions of 1930s Stalinist Leningrad, where purges and denunciations were a terrifyingly normal part of daily existence. The novel deftly explores the tensions between truth and survival, culture versus ideology, and conformity versus identity in the context of these dangerous times. One of my main difficulties with the story was how virtually all of the characters remain somewhat superficial - this is not a novel that deeply examines characters’ psyches. But this sense of the mysterious only adds to the cat and mouse that the characters play amongst each other - in a world where you don’t know who to trust, and where one’s facade is both sword and armour. Overall, a riveting piece of historical fiction. It had a slow start, but worth persevering as the tensions continue to build throughout…
October 18, 2022
I received a free digital review copy from the publisher, via Netgalley.
It’s fascinating to me when a crime novel presents a homicide detective who has to work within a totalitarian surveillance state. The detective doesn’t have to just worry about solving murder; he also must ensure that his actions and the solution accord with the demands of his political superiors. Making the wrong political move could mean the detective finds himself on the inside of prison bars—no matter how right his detection is.
This novel is set in 1930s Leningrad, just another gray, overcrowded city in the fear-drenched Stalinist era in the USSR. The food is terrible (and, as the old joke goes, such small portions!), families live in single rooms, clothing is inadequate to the weather. Criminal investigator Vasily Zaitsev is relatively lucky, because he has a small room to himself and he can get a meager meal at his work canteen. But he isn’t safe from the everyday fears of Stalinist purges, only being sprung from prison to help solve what seems to be a series of bizarre murders in which the victims are posed in mysterious tableaus.
What follows is Zaitsev’s dogged, compulsive quest to solve these crimes, despite being hampered at every turn by forces he doesn’t understand. This turns out to be a sort of historical novel as well as a police procedural, not just because of its setting, but also because the crimes relate to a lesser-known episode in Soviet history.
This is an intriguing change-of-pace mystery, well worth reading if you have any interest in the setting. I got the feel that some of the flavor is lost in the translation from Russian to English, but not enough to be bothersome. I'm looking forward to reading more Zaitsev books.
It’s fascinating to me when a crime novel presents a homicide detective who has to work within a totalitarian surveillance state. The detective doesn’t have to just worry about solving murder; he also must ensure that his actions and the solution accord with the demands of his political superiors. Making the wrong political move could mean the detective finds himself on the inside of prison bars—no matter how right his detection is.
This novel is set in 1930s Leningrad, just another gray, overcrowded city in the fear-drenched Stalinist era in the USSR. The food is terrible (and, as the old joke goes, such small portions!), families live in single rooms, clothing is inadequate to the weather. Criminal investigator Vasily Zaitsev is relatively lucky, because he has a small room to himself and he can get a meager meal at his work canteen. But he isn’t safe from the everyday fears of Stalinist purges, only being sprung from prison to help solve what seems to be a series of bizarre murders in which the victims are posed in mysterious tableaus.
What follows is Zaitsev’s dogged, compulsive quest to solve these crimes, despite being hampered at every turn by forces he doesn’t understand. This turns out to be a sort of historical novel as well as a police procedural, not just because of its setting, but also because the crimes relate to a lesser-known episode in Soviet history.
This is an intriguing change-of-pace mystery, well worth reading if you have any interest in the setting. I got the feel that some of the flavor is lost in the translation from Russian to English, but not enough to be bothersome. I'm looking forward to reading more Zaitsev books.
July 7, 2017
Плохие детективы - моя слабость. «Вдруг охотник выбегает» сделан невоспитанной рукой, но с любовью. Несмотря на одинаковые описания и частые повторения (вроде «На широком крестьянском лице широко распахнулась улыбка»), читается легко и быстро. Главный герой оставил странное впечатление: культурного багажа - ноль, но при этом помнит все старые названия улиц, легко и к месту цитирует Пушкина, а еще знает о теории шести рукопожатий (которую, кстати, сформулируют аж спустя 30 лет). Мотивация убийцы непонятна, как он знакомился с жертвами и творил над ними всякое, осталось тайной.
Словом, эта книга идеальна для чтения в поезде: прочитал - заснул - проснулся - забыл.
Словом, эта книга идеальна для чтения в поезде: прочитал - заснул - проснулся - забыл.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2019
Krievu lasītāji interneta vietnēs gan raksta neglaimojošas atsauksmes. Tajās pausts, ka autore esot pārāk vērienīgi atvēzējusies un pārāk vāji trāpījusi, ko gan vispār baleta kritiķe un bērnu grāmatiņu autore var zināt par detektīvu rakstīšanu. Man tādām lietām piesieties galīgi negribas un nepiesiešos. Grāmata mani aizrāva, bet vairāk ne kā detektīvs, bet gan kā vēsturiska laikmeta dvesma.
Plašāk blogā:
https://lalksne.blogspot.com/2019/08/...
Plašāk blogā:
https://lalksne.blogspot.com/2019/08/...
January 1, 2023
Loved it! Stalin-era policeman on the hunt for a killer, facing opposing from within his own department and the secret police, with all the grimness, depression, political purges and suspicion of the period eloquently conveyed to the reader. A great start to what promises to be a rewarding series.
October 22, 2024
An intricate murder mystery set in 1930s St Petersberg involving the consentious detective Comrade Zaitsev, murders and missing paintings from the Hermitage amidst secrecy and intrigue at the Criminal Investigation Department. It's fun because it recreates the terror, uncertainty, and atmosphere of post-revolution St. Petersberg and Moscow. Special mention of Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is needed for her smooth translation.
Read
November 11, 2024Very nice. Tension, art, ballet, old friends and double crosses. Paranoia, distrust, twists. And a big question mark at the end. I’m all in for the next one.
November 1, 2021
The title of Yulia Yaklova’s book takes its name from a Dutch paining by Paulus Potter and at the beginning of each chapter the reader will find a drawing that pertains to that painting. It takes most of the book to realise why these drawings and that painting are relevant to the story of a series of bizarrely laid out murders which have the police mystified.
Our protagonist is Investigator Vasily Zaitsev and it is ostensibly his job to get to the bottom of these murders. I say ostensibly because this is Stalin’s Russia. Punishment of a Hunter is set in 1930’s Leningrad in the midst of Stalin’s oppression of the people and in particular of the class of richer rural peasants, the Kulaks, whom Stalin saw as resisters of change.
The murders in this book take place against a backdrop of political repression, arrests, deportations, and the executions of millions of kulaks who were deemed class enemies and in opposition to the Soviet 5 year plan.
Reading Punishment of a Hunter, which is riddled with informers, and in which no-one can trust anyone else, I was tempted to think of it as a biting satire of the times. But the truth is that those times were. I believe, pretty much as Yakovlev presents them; full of corruption, false confessions, hunger and extreme poverty.
It’s a bleak picture and Yakovlev paints it well. Investigator Zaitsev is that rare creature, a man in search of the truth. When he finds it, it comes as a very bitter pill which is hard to swallow and its relationship to justice is hard to configure, because there is none.
Yakovlev has taken the true story of a Government cover up involving the Hermitage and old masters and crafted around it a chilling political story of murder, conspiracy, corruption and political manoeuvring to hide the truth from the Soviet people. It is a fascinating tale that involves the naissance of the American National Gallery of Art and one of the world’s great art collectors, the founder of the Iraq Petroleum Company, philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian.
Punishment of a Hunter is a dark and divisive story in which no-one can be trusted and gifts should be considered at best bribes and at worst betrayals. Yakovlev casts a well-honed eye over the corrupt and morally bankrupt state and shows us just how easy it is to become one of the ‘disappeared’. This is a time when you need to constantly check you are not being followed – and if you’re not, there’s every chance that’s because they’re waiting at your room to arrest you.
Vasily Zaitsev’s problem is that he won’t settle for whatever rubbish the Secret Police are peddling; he actually wants the truth. Sadly, however he is pretty much the only one who does – apart that is, from the murderer.
Together with his team, not all of whom he can trust and most of whom certainly do not trust him, he has to doggedly piece the evidence together before coming to the startling and unpleasant truth.
Verdict: A dark and bitter murder mystery in which the biting cold and dark repressive practices of 1930’s Russia shine through with a vengeance. It’s not always the easiest of reads, but Yakovlev and this translation by Ruth Ahmedzai has produced a startlingly clear portrait of the era laced with bite and a grim, satirical humour.
Our protagonist is Investigator Vasily Zaitsev and it is ostensibly his job to get to the bottom of these murders. I say ostensibly because this is Stalin’s Russia. Punishment of a Hunter is set in 1930’s Leningrad in the midst of Stalin’s oppression of the people and in particular of the class of richer rural peasants, the Kulaks, whom Stalin saw as resisters of change.
The murders in this book take place against a backdrop of political repression, arrests, deportations, and the executions of millions of kulaks who were deemed class enemies and in opposition to the Soviet 5 year plan.
Reading Punishment of a Hunter, which is riddled with informers, and in which no-one can trust anyone else, I was tempted to think of it as a biting satire of the times. But the truth is that those times were. I believe, pretty much as Yakovlev presents them; full of corruption, false confessions, hunger and extreme poverty.
It’s a bleak picture and Yakovlev paints it well. Investigator Zaitsev is that rare creature, a man in search of the truth. When he finds it, it comes as a very bitter pill which is hard to swallow and its relationship to justice is hard to configure, because there is none.
Yakovlev has taken the true story of a Government cover up involving the Hermitage and old masters and crafted around it a chilling political story of murder, conspiracy, corruption and political manoeuvring to hide the truth from the Soviet people. It is a fascinating tale that involves the naissance of the American National Gallery of Art and one of the world’s great art collectors, the founder of the Iraq Petroleum Company, philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian.
Punishment of a Hunter is a dark and divisive story in which no-one can be trusted and gifts should be considered at best bribes and at worst betrayals. Yakovlev casts a well-honed eye over the corrupt and morally bankrupt state and shows us just how easy it is to become one of the ‘disappeared’. This is a time when you need to constantly check you are not being followed – and if you’re not, there’s every chance that’s because they’re waiting at your room to arrest you.
Vasily Zaitsev’s problem is that he won’t settle for whatever rubbish the Secret Police are peddling; he actually wants the truth. Sadly, however he is pretty much the only one who does – apart that is, from the murderer.
Together with his team, not all of whom he can trust and most of whom certainly do not trust him, he has to doggedly piece the evidence together before coming to the startling and unpleasant truth.
Verdict: A dark and bitter murder mystery in which the biting cold and dark repressive practices of 1930’s Russia shine through with a vengeance. It’s not always the easiest of reads, but Yakovlev and this translation by Ruth Ahmedzai has produced a startlingly clear portrait of the era laced with bite and a grim, satirical humour.
February 22, 2022
To pierwszy tom trylogii o śledczym Zajcewie. Zdecydowanie górna półka wśród kryminałów!
Oraz proszę oklaski dla tłumacza, ponieważ językowo jest fantastycznie.
Świetny kryminał dziejący się w Leningradzie w 1930 roku, w czasie porewolucyjnych czystek, czyli pozbywania się "elementu wrogiego klasowo".
Grupa milicjantów zostaje wezwana do zabitej kobiety, upozowanej w dziwny sposób. Potem następuje kolejne morderstwo, tym razem ofiar jest kilka i znowu dziwnie to wygląda. A że jedną z ofiar jest czarnoskóry amerykański komunista, który przyjechał do Związku Radzieckiego wraz z grupą jemu podobnych, to sprawa zyskuje wymiar polityczny.
Zajcew musi radzić sobie nie tylko ze śledztwem, ale i z intrygami oraz jawną wrogością "kolegów" z pracy. Musi żyć w mieście i w systemie, w którym nikt nikomu ufać nie może.
Rozwiązanie sprawy jest zaskakujące, ale to, co dostajemy po drodze, jest moim zdaniem nawet lepsze od samego wątku kryminalnego. Bo autorka bardzo wyraziście maluje obraz Leningradu i życia w nim - komunalnych mieszkań, niegdyś należących do "burżujów", w których teraz w każdym pokoju mieszka inna rodzina. ["Życie porewolucyjne było biedne, ciasne i śmierdzące, uwięzione w krzyku i kuchennych oparach komunałek"]. Ubóstwa i brudu miasta, w którym ludzie usiłują żyć w miarę normalnie. I do tego świata milicji i służby bezpieczeństwa, która tę milicję kontroluje i straszy. Bo nawet milicjant może trafić do więzienia "za bezdurno".
Język jest super plastyczny, literacki, ta powieść ma większe ambicje, niż być tylko rozrywkowym kryminałem z dużą liczbą trupów na kilometr kwadratowy.
Dawno nie zdarzyło mi się nie kłaść się spać, tylko siedzieć w kuchni i czytać, żeby wiedzieć, jak to się wszystko skończy.
Oraz proszę oklaski dla tłumacza, ponieważ językowo jest fantastycznie.
Świetny kryminał dziejący się w Leningradzie w 1930 roku, w czasie porewolucyjnych czystek, czyli pozbywania się "elementu wrogiego klasowo".
Grupa milicjantów zostaje wezwana do zabitej kobiety, upozowanej w dziwny sposób. Potem następuje kolejne morderstwo, tym razem ofiar jest kilka i znowu dziwnie to wygląda. A że jedną z ofiar jest czarnoskóry amerykański komunista, który przyjechał do Związku Radzieckiego wraz z grupą jemu podobnych, to sprawa zyskuje wymiar polityczny.
Zajcew musi radzić sobie nie tylko ze śledztwem, ale i z intrygami oraz jawną wrogością "kolegów" z pracy. Musi żyć w mieście i w systemie, w którym nikt nikomu ufać nie może.
Rozwiązanie sprawy jest zaskakujące, ale to, co dostajemy po drodze, jest moim zdaniem nawet lepsze od samego wątku kryminalnego. Bo autorka bardzo wyraziście maluje obraz Leningradu i życia w nim - komunalnych mieszkań, niegdyś należących do "burżujów", w których teraz w każdym pokoju mieszka inna rodzina. ["Życie porewolucyjne było biedne, ciasne i śmierdzące, uwięzione w krzyku i kuchennych oparach komunałek"]. Ubóstwa i brudu miasta, w którym ludzie usiłują żyć w miarę normalnie. I do tego świata milicji i służby bezpieczeństwa, która tę milicję kontroluje i straszy. Bo nawet milicjant może trafić do więzienia "za bezdurno".
Język jest super plastyczny, literacki, ta powieść ma większe ambicje, niż być tylko rozrywkowym kryminałem z dużą liczbą trupów na kilometr kwadratowy.
Dawno nie zdarzyło mi się nie kłaść się spać, tylko siedzieć w kuchni i czytać, żeby wiedzieć, jak to się wszystko skończy.
January 28, 2023
I may not get this book because I am an American and I read an English translation of this book written by an actual Russian. I probably don't know enough about Russian history and culture for it to make complete sense. The concept of the book is awesome, but there were some
THINGS I LIKED: Since Yulia Yakovleva is actually from Russia, she was able to provide many cool details that I do not think a foreign author could have included. For instance, each family in a communal apartment had its own pattern of buzzes at the doorbell so visitors could call the specific people they wanted to see.
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: This happens pretty near the beginning, so it's not really a spoiler, but the main character detective, Zaitsev, is unfairly denounced and put in prison for several months. The book almost entirely skips over this time, which I found surprising. Then he is suddenly released, but he doesn't reflect on the experience and doesn't change his way of viewing the Soviet judicial system. Now that could very well be realistic. It could be a sort of Russian fatalism, and I just don't know enough about Russia, during that time especially.
The next part is a mild spoiler without any specifics.
THINGS I LIKED: Since Yulia Yakovleva is actually from Russia, she was able to provide many cool details that I do not think a foreign author could have included. For instance, each family in a communal apartment had its own pattern of buzzes at the doorbell so visitors could call the specific people they wanted to see.
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: This happens pretty near the beginning, so it's not really a spoiler, but the main character detective, Zaitsev, is unfairly denounced and put in prison for several months. The book almost entirely skips over this time, which I found surprising. Then he is suddenly released, but he doesn't reflect on the experience and doesn't change his way of viewing the Soviet judicial system. Now that could very well be realistic. It could be a sort of Russian fatalism, and I just don't know enough about Russia, during that time especially.
The next part is a mild spoiler without any specifics.
January 1, 2023
Przeczytałem niewiele kryminałów i myśle, że ten nie jest jakimś wyróżniającym sie dziełem. Dobrze ujęty klimat Leningradu - no jakbym tam był!!! Pomysł na połączenie zabójstw, obrazów i wielkiej polityki - bardzo fajen, mimo ze intryga nie urwala dupy. Największe minusy to mieszające się rosyjskie nazwiska oraz fakt, że postacie (z protagonistą na czele, yikes) mogłyby być ciekawsze, żywsze.
October 18, 2020
It kā vide lieliska, bet, bet, bet ... detektīva intriga nepārliecinoša, arī attiecību attīstība nepārliecinoša + saraustīti, vāji vai nevajadzīgi dialogi (pirmo reizi gribas novelt vainu uz tulkotāju, bet varbūt arī pats orģināls ir vājš???). Diskusijai - inteliģence ir vai nav izglītota cilvēka prerogatīva?
Lasot varbūt kādam noderēs vizuāls atbalsts (pēc 231.lpp jeb 13.nod.):
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/5...
Lasot varbūt kādam noderēs vizuāls atbalsts (pēc 231.lpp jeb 13.nod.):
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/5...
June 28, 2018
Прочитала книгу Яковлевой о балете и решила поискать, что у неё ещё есть. Оказалось, ещё есть детектив о ленинградском следователе 30х годов. Очень неплохой детектив. И, конечно, в какой-то момент главный герой отправляется в Мариинку смотреть «Щелкунчика» :)
December 9, 2022
This is a great detective story set in 1930s hungry imagine investigating random murders were the victims are dressed up wearing nice clothes and holding strange objects and it’s your job to find the killer and on top of that paintings are going missing and on top of that you have to worry about you yourself being arrested. At a time where people get arrested for no reason at all this detective has a lot on his plate with pressure to deliver and victims piling up he is more than one reason to solve this case but what do the murders have to do with the paintings if anything. This was such a great book and I loved it the way he got along with his team and how despite him being in charge he paid attention to the man with the most experience I just love this book I did find it was a bit long but with a Book This Good I almost wanted it to be longer. I highly recommend this book if you love a good mystery story
October 20, 2022
4/5 Very Good.
This is a fine historical thriller set in Stalin Russia 1930s.
Full of the politics and corruption and the oppression, the story’s itself is an atmospheric and intriguing tale of the era in which its set.
The protagonist, Vasya Zaitsev, is on the case of a murder of woman, found in a strange pose. No one wants to investigate the crime yet Zaitsev can feel there is more to this than suicide or just a murder of passion.
A quite intricate plot plays out, as stated it’s very political but then it’s really showing the time in which it’s set.
It’s great noir, it’s gets a bit literary as the story unfolds and art begins to play a large part, but this just adds to the fascination of this quite superb tale.
This is a fine historical thriller set in Stalin Russia 1930s.
Full of the politics and corruption and the oppression, the story’s itself is an atmospheric and intriguing tale of the era in which its set.
The protagonist, Vasya Zaitsev, is on the case of a murder of woman, found in a strange pose. No one wants to investigate the crime yet Zaitsev can feel there is more to this than suicide or just a murder of passion.
A quite intricate plot plays out, as stated it’s very political but then it’s really showing the time in which it’s set.
It’s great noir, it’s gets a bit literary as the story unfolds and art begins to play a large part, but this just adds to the fascination of this quite superb tale.
March 6, 2020
Vāji vidēji visās jomās. Valoda - bet drīzāk tulkojums - tāds raustīgs un nemākulīgs. Traucēja sadrumstalotie, aprautie teikumi, tiešie pārlikumi no krievu valodas. Nesajutu romāna vēstījumu, jo tik ļoti traucēja valoda, ka gandrīz vai gribējās mest pie malas puslasītu.
Kā detektīvs vispār nekāds - slepkavības interesantas, bet ar to arī viss beidzās. Abi izmeklētāji tādi dīvaini, ne cepti, ne vārīti. Mazliet pavīdēja humors viņu saskarsmē - par to otrā zvaigznīte. Pirmā - par to, ka autore strādājusi.
Kā detektīvs vispār nekāds - slepkavības interesantas, bet ar to arī viss beidzās. Abi izmeklētāji tādi dīvaini, ne cepti, ne vārīti. Mazliet pavīdēja humors viņu saskarsmē - par to otrā zvaigznīte. Pirmā - par to, ka autore strādājusi.
February 5, 2018
Все книги Юлии Яковлевой очень атмосферные, а вот сюжеты немного незаконченные. Читать было интерсно, перехожу к продолжению.
December 21, 2021
This looks like a very promising series, can't wait to read more. Fuller review here: https://findingtimetowrite.wordpress....
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