Punishment of a Hunter
A Leningrad Confidential
Published on 24. February 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-1-78227-679-1 (ISBN)
Description
1930s Leningrad. As a mood of fear cloaks the city, Investigator Vasily Zaitsev is called on to investigate a series of bizarre and seemingly motiveless murders. In each case, the victim is curiously dressed and posed in extravagantly arranged settings.
At the same time, one by one precious old master paintings are going missing from the Hermitage collection.
As Zaitsev sets about his investigations, he meets with suspicion at practically every turn, and potential witnesses are reluctant to provide information. Soon Zaitsev himself comes under suspicion from the Soviet secret police. The embittered detective must battle increasingly complex political machinations in his dogged quest to uncover the truth.
At the same time, one by one precious old master paintings are going missing from the Hermitage collection.
As Zaitsev sets about his investigations, he meets with suspicion at practically every turn, and potential witnesses are reluctant to provide information. Soon Zaitsev himself comes under suspicion from the Soviet secret police. The embittered detective must battle increasingly complex political machinations in his dogged quest to uncover the truth.
Reviews / Votes
Yulia Yakovleva's thrilling debut was a bestseller in her native Russia. It's not difficult to see why * The Times, Best New Crime Fiction * A masterclass in historical crime fiction set against the vividly-painted backdrop of 1930s Leningrad. It will pull you in and leave you breathless -- Chris Lloyd, author of The Unwanted Dead A serial killer is at work in 1930s Leningrad. Favourite line: "This is how we live, he thought. She's lying and so am I." * Sunday Times Crime Club, Pick of the Week * ...a fascinating story... Beautifully translated... Punishment of a Hunter establishes Yulia Yakovleva as a talent to watch * Irish Times * Gritty and gripping, Punishment of a Hunter is top class historical crime fiction -- Will Ryan, author of The Holy Thief This is the most successful reload of the retro-detective genre in Russian fiction since Akunin. * literratura * Yulia Yakovleva leads the hero (as well as the reader) through every circle of Soviet hell, to a bright finale that offers both satisfaction from how the plot wraps up as well as the suggestion of an opening for a sequel. * Medusa.io * Yakovleva writes with an expert and deep knowledge of the period, and she simply writes well. * Gorky * Yakovleva's unobtrusive art edutainment, which introduces paintings of Botticelli, Velazquez, Van Dyck, and Rubens, is one of the true pleasures this novel offers... For Yakovleva, it is more important to understand not how the crimes were performed, but why. The author is interested first and foremost in the mechanism of how the large state evil gives birth to a private, small evil. * Fontanka * The novel's main hero is the time period, a time marked by Petersburg's impotency and beauty, steel and blood * chaskor.ru * 'There are fantastic comic elements to this dark novel of life under dictatorship in Stalin's Russia... On a more serious note, this story exudes the sinister atmosphere of the time, the insecurity and lack of freedom ordinary people faced.... [It's] well plotted and with intriguing characters' * NB Magazine * Outstanding... Yakovleva perfectly balances evoking the terror of living in a police state with her whodunit plotline. Fans of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko will hope to see much more of Zaitsev. * Publishers Weekly starred review *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pushkin Press
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
314 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78227-679-1 (9781782276791)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Book
10/2021
Pushkin Vertigo
€38.56
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Yulia Yakovleva is a writer, theatre and ballet critic, and playwright. She is the author of a nonfiction title, ABC of Ballet (NLO, 2006) and a series of fiction books for children, Leningrad's Tales. The first book in the children's series, The Stolen City, was shortlisted for the Yasnaya Polyana Award and won the In Other Words Award 2017 from BookTrust, who supported the English translation of the book, published by Penguin. Yakovleva received her MA from School of Creative Arts of the University of Hertfordshire. She lives in Oslo, Norway, with her husband and son.