Riga Rising

Andreja Panasenko thought she knew her mother. But then, death changes everything. Mourning the death of her mother, Andreja just wants to be left alone. When a strange journal of espionage and intrigue comes to light, along with an amendment to her mother's will, peace is the last thing she'll get. To avoid losing her inheritance, Andreja must reconnect with her estranged sister. One problem, her sister went missing as a child, nearly fifty years ago. Leo & Allissa travel to Riga to help, but they're barely off the plane before Andrea's nowhere to be seen. Taken or fled, they don't know, but to find her, they must follow clues dating back to a time when powerful men ruled supreme. From the backstreets of Riga to the vast Latvian forests, Leo & Allissa stumble into a dog-eat-dog world of politics, lies and secrets. Can they find the truth about a woman who hasn't been seen in fifty years to save another whose life they fear is on the line? Or will the ghosts of the past get the final word? Riga Rising Frequently Asked Questions: What is Riga Rising about? Riga Rising is a Cold War mystery and missing person thriller set in Riga, Latvia. When Latvia's Soviet-era KGB archives were destroyed or taken to Moscow in 1991, they took a generation of secrets with them. Decades later, one of those secrets resurfaces. Leo Keane and Allissa Stockwell are called to Riga for a missing persons case that soon reaches deep into Latvia's Soviet past. A second storyline, set in 1973, follows a Latvian family trying to flee the Soviet regime on a frozen road. Where is Riga Rising set? Riga Rising is set mainly in Riga, Latvia. Key locations include Riga's Old Town, the Art Nouveau district, and the Central Market, housed in five former World War One Zeppelin hangars. The historical thread is set in rural Latvia in 1973, during the Soviet occupation. What inspired Riga Rising? I visited Riga during the 2020 Covid pandemic and ended up caught in lockdown. I spent my mornings writing and my afternoons walking the city's empty streets almost entirely alone. Reading about Latvia's Soviet occupation, Russification, the Singing Revolution, and the missing KGB archives gave the story its shape. A whole country, suddenly free, but unable to fully account for its recent past - that felt like a story. What makes the International Detectives series different? The International Detectives series begins with location. Each book takes Leo Keane and Allissa Stockwell somewhere new, and the place shapes the investigation. These are not traditional police procedurals. Instead, Leo and Allissa search for people who do not want to be found in places most detective novels rarely visit. Is Riga Rising clean or family-friendly? Riga Rising contains danger and tension, but nothing gratuitously violent or explicit. The historical thread deals with political violence under Soviet occupation, but it is handled with care. Can Riga Rising be read as a standalone? Yes. Riga Rising is book five in the International Detectives series. It works as a standalone missing person thriller, but reading from Kathmandu Killers gives the richest experience.