Death of the Red Rider

Leningrad Detective Zaitsev finds himself investigating the death of a Red Army calvary officer and his prized horse, the perfect example of his breed. Initially it seems like an open and shut case. But the more the detective digs into the situation, the more complicated it becomes. He discovers some terrible truths about the world he lives in, and the decisions his country makes. How much of an impact can one man’s principles have in the face of inhumanity? Readers who enjoyed the tales of Sasha Vasin and Arkady Renko will find another complex antihero to cheer on.

This is the second of Yulia Yakovleva's Leningrad (St Petersburg) series, set amidst the red terror of 1930s Stalinist Russia, featuring the merged with the political OGPU, Criminal Investigation Department's Detective Vasya Zaitsev efforts to negotiate the dangerous system and the Party to ascertain truth has already seen him experience Schpalernaya prison, he is in constant fear of the knock on the door. There are problems at home, Pasha has assigned him a cook and nanny, neither of which he has any need of, what is going on? However, he is concerned about the skeletally emaciated Matryona and Katerina, who are they? Later, Zaitsev is to understand the horrifying truth, learning of the Holodomor, and the repercussions of collectivisation.

Zaitsev finds himself at the scene of what initially appears to be a accident, in which a carriage rider, Leonid Perlov, and Ginger, a legendary stallion are killed at the Hippodrome, but matters are considerably more murky. As Zaitsev investigates, despite the opposition of his boss, Kopteltsev, it becomes clear that this is a case of murder, but who was the victim, Perlov or the horse? As the cavalry school moves to the apparently fertile and abundant south, to Novocherkassk, another horse dies, as Zaitsev follows by rail, accompanied by the feisty independent Comrade Zoya Sokolova. Zoya confides more than Zaitsev is comfortable with about her personal life, confidently believing her married lover will leave his wife, something he severely doubts. As Zaitsev discovers in the sweltering heat, nobody is happy with his snooping.

This is a bleak, dark and atmospheric historical read, illuminating the horrors of Russian history, where purges, corruption, informers, surveillance, and paranoia abound, where human life is seen as worthless, and killing is all too easy. Zaitsev finds himself feeling hopelessly powerless, in a period affected by turbulent change with cavalries becoming obsolete in the face of the growing use of vehicles and tanks in war, driving OGPU's massive covert Spring operations. This is a superb series to read if you are interested in Soviet history in the 1930s, and Zaitsev is a determined detective, a captivating character, with the odds stacked against him, living in the most challenging of times. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Surviving in post Tsarist Russia 1930’s

A glimpse into the conditions, the harshness of Soviet Russia post the revolution as Leningrad Detective Vasily Zaitsev of the Criminal Investigation Department investigates the death of a trotting horse and its Red Army Cavalry rider. A death brought about by something unusual, strange even.
Filled with darting, often satirical commentary on the times, the novel is dark, brooding and at times savage, with moments of compassion. A time when the Red Terror is unleashed, the political purge by the Bolsheviks.
Zaitsev’s search takes him to Novocherkassk in Southern Russia where the Cavalry training school has suddenly been relocated. Is this a subterfuge, an effort to save the horses or something else?
An unasked for assistant, Comrade Zoya, is sent with him. She’s prickly and annoying. There’s more here than meets the eye. Is she checking up on him?
A train stop and confrontation with starving people, like wraiths appear out of the darkness, is a wake-up call. A man made famine, known as the Holodomor has gripped Russia.
Novocherkassk is supposedly in the growing part of Russia. What Detective Zaitsev finds is starvation and danger. People being forced to give up their prized possessions to those in charge. Whoever that might be!
Always in the back of Zaitsev’s mind is that he might be taken back for questioning by the Soviet Secret police.
Meanwhile back at his apartment his landlady seems to keep adding staff for him, although he pays little attention. She’s hired a cook for him, and a nanny? What?
Once more I felt like I was wading through despair and hopelessness and yet I’m sympathetic to Zaitsev and his plight. I feared his many dilemmas and enjoyed any breakthroughs.
Zaitsev is living dangerously in a time where the state turned child against parent and all was in flux.
A fine Russian noir historical detective novel!


A Pushkin Vertigo ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This book is for the grown-up version of the kid in me that would read Dick Tracy stories at school (no joke!). The book is set in Russia and begins with the death of a horse rider. The pulpy, noir atmosphere is great and it's fun to see a book that feels like this but was written recently. If you're a fan of mysteries but want a Soviet-era book or a different vibe from a usual cozy read, this is it!

Zaitzev once again fighting opponents who pull strings from the shadows. All this whilst walking on a tightrope with out a safety net.

Yakovleva deftly weaves in the realities of life in the Soviet Union led by Stalin, the oppression, the famine, the dekulakization, the purging, into a story where humans remain humans even under the Soviet rules, with love, adultery, murder, theft, greed playing their part as always.