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.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Pushkin PressISBN: 9781782276791Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Yulia Yakovleva's thrilling debut was a bestseller in her native Russia. It's not difficult to see whyA masterclass in historical crime fiction set against the vividly-painted backdrop of 1930s Leningrad. It will pull you in and leave you breathlessA serial killer is at work in 1930s Leningrad. Favourite line: "This is how we live,he thought. She's lying and so am I."...a fascinating story... Beautifully translated... Punishment of a Hunter establishes Yulia Yakovleva as a talent to watchGritty and gripping,Punishment of a Hunter is top class historical crime fictionThis is the most successful reload of the retro-detective genre in Russian fiction since Akunin.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.Yakovleva writes with an expert and deep knowledge of the period,and she simply writes well.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.The novel's main hero is the time period,a time marked by Petersburg's impotency and beauty,steel and blood'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'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.
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