The first Inspector Rostnikov mystery

Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov has a lot on his plate. His superiors in the Moscow police force are suspicious of his Jewish wife, the black-market copies of his beloved Ed McBain novels are getting tough to find, and his dreams of becoming a competitive weight-lifter are receding fast. And then there’s the famous dissident who’s been murdered right before his trial—a trial intended to showcase the wonders of the Soviet judicial system. Rostnikov is charged with finding the killer, but the arrest had better be acceptable to the KGB. And things only get trickier when the killer strikes again, displaying a fondness for weapons—a hammer, a sickle, a vodka bottle—with a particularly Russian resonance. Clearly, he’s making a statement, but what exactly is he saying? And can Rostnikov stop him before he says it again?

“Nobody writes character-driven crime fiction better than Mr. Kaminsky”—Dallas Morning News

Great for fans of Ed McBain and Gorky Park