One of the worst of its genre I’ve ever had the misfortune to waste my time reading. Really, an embarrassment. Poorly conceived, dull witted, badly proof-read, unimaginative, unconvincing and littered with cliches. ( )

Set in Leningrad in 1951 this is a well written and researched story, atmospheric descriptive with a real feel for the tension of citizens who at any moment could find themselves arrested, having been informed on by colleagues family friends or complete strangers. Clever entertaining and imaginative with superb characters, as our hero a former violinist with a seemingly glittering future ahead of him, is now a state militia detective tasked with investigating the gruesome find of five dead bodies. A quality engaging mystery. So why only four stars well whilst music plays a significant part of the story, and I am afraid quite a lot of the in depth musical explanations went straight over my head and bored me.
Entertaining read ( )