Zaitzev once again fighting opponents who pull strings from the shadows. All this whilst walking on a tightrope with out a safety net.

Yakovleva deftly weaves in the realities of life in the Soviet Union led by Stalin, the oppression, the famine, the dekulakization, the purging, into a story where humans remain humans even under the Soviet rules, with love, adultery, murder, theft, greed playing their part as always.

This book is for the grown-up version of the kid in me that would read Dick Tracy stories at school (no joke!). The book is set in Russia and begins with the death of a horse rider. The pulpy, noir atmosphere is great and it's fun to see a book that feels like this but was written recently. If you're a fan of mysteries but want a Soviet-era book or a different vibe from a usual cozy read, this is it!

Set in 1930s Leningrad at the start of Stalin’s purges, when the atmosphere is one of suspicion and fear, what appears at first to be an unfortunate accident at the race track – a horse mysteriously collapses and dies, killing his carriage rider – turns out to be something far more complicated and sinister. Detective Zaitsev is put on the case and is determined to get to the bottom of it, come what may and in spite of there being clear indications that he perhaps is putting himself in jeopardy. A clever and inventive police procedural, but with a plot I found quite hard to follow and which I felt didn’t always hang together. There are a lot of characters, and it wasn’t always to keep track of them, nor to work out who was “good” or “bad”. What I enjoyed more than the actual storyline was the evocation of the Soviet Union in that era, the glimpse the book gives the reader of the terrible and bleak conditions, the actual famine which we see when Zaitsev travel to Novocherkassk in southern Russia, the shortages, the crowded living arrangements, the political machinations and corruption, the surveillance and constant worry of putting a foot wrong or saying the wrong thing. A certain familiarity with the time and place is probably necessary to enjoy the novel, otherwise I sense it could be an opaque and difficult read. I enjoyed it overall, but sometimes found myself confused – my fault perhaps - and it stops me being more positive in this review.

Death of the Red Rider is the second of Yulia Yakovleva's books to be published in English. I read the first, Punishment of a Hunter, last year and loved every moment of the process. Spending time with the central character, police detective Vaily Zeitsev, pulled me into the complicated world of 1930s USSR, where one has to worry about every possible meaning that may be ascribed to a casual comment, where every new acquaintance may be just an acquaintance or may be someone brought into your circle to test your loyalty to this relatively new union and its proletarian values.

Death of the Red Rider didn't rise to those heights for a reason I'll get into, but it still provided an engaging read, populated by a mix of characters including the no-longer-convenient mistress of a high-ranking official; members of the USSR's soon-to-be-obsolete cavalry, some revolutionaries, some former fighters on behalf of the Czar; minor officials meant to guarantee participation in the collectivization of agriculture; and those resisting collectivization at a very high price.

To be honest, Death of the Red Rider struck me as not-quite-equal to Punishment of a Hunter because the mystery is centered within a cavalry school. A favorite horse has suddenly collapsed and died—and, by the way, a cavalry student was killed during the horse's collapse, but his death is being treated like a minor detail in comparison with the loss of the horse. I was never one of those girls who was horse mad, and I didn't go through a Black Beauty/Misty of Chincoteague phase. As a result, I found the novel's setting less than completely engaging. Zeitsev is still quietly brilliant, noting clues that everyone else is missing, and insisting on the true truth, rather than the truth the party would find convenient. But scenes of future cavalry officers riding in circles under the eye of a critical instructor left me cold. (I feel the same way about novels that take place on ships, but... we don't need to go there.)

On the other hand, if you were one of those horsey girls (or boys or nonbinary youths) you'll find an extra layer of enjoyment in Death of the Red Rider. And if you enjoy international and/or historical mysteries, you'll find Zeitsev an excellent companion regardless of your feelings about horses.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title; the opinions are my own.

Surviving in post Tsarist Russia 1930’s

A glimpse into the conditions, the harshness of Soviet Russia post the revolution as Leningrad Detective Vasily Zaitsev of the Criminal Investigation Department investigates the death of a trotting horse and its Red Army Cavalry rider. A death brought about by something unusual, strange even.
Filled with darting, often satirical commentary on the times, the novel is dark, brooding and at times savage, with moments of compassion. A time when the Red Terror is unleashed, the political purge by the Bolsheviks.
Zaitsev’s search takes him to Novocherkassk in Southern Russia where the Cavalry training school has suddenly been relocated. Is this a subterfuge, an effort to save the horses or something else?
An unasked for assistant, Comrade Zoya, is sent with him. She’s prickly and annoying. There’s more here than meets the eye. Is she checking up on him?
A train stop and confrontation with starving people, like wraiths appear out of the darkness, is a wake-up call. A man made famine, known as the Holodomor has gripped Russia.
Novocherkassk is supposedly in the growing part of Russia. What Detective Zaitsev finds is starvation and danger. People being forced to give up their prized possessions to those in charge. Whoever that might be!
Always in the back of Zaitsev’s mind is that he might be taken back for questioning by the Soviet Secret police.
Meanwhile back at his apartment his landlady seems to keep adding staff for him, although he pays little attention. She’s hired a cook for him, and a nanny? What?
Once more I felt like I was wading through despair and hopelessness and yet I’m sympathetic to Zaitsev and his plight. I feared his many dilemmas and enjoyed any breakthroughs.
Zaitsev is living dangerously in a time where the state turned child against parent and all was in flux.
A fine Russian noir historical detective novel!


A Pushkin Vertigo ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This is the second of Yulia Yakovleva's Leningrad (St Petersburg) series, set amidst the red terror of 1930s Stalinist Russia, featuring the merged with the political OGPU, Criminal Investigation Department's Detective Vasya Zaitsev efforts to negotiate the dangerous system and the Party to ascertain truth has already seen him experience Schpalernaya prison, he is in constant fear of the knock on the door. There are problems at home, Pasha has assigned him a cook and nanny, neither of which he has any need of, what is going on? However, he is concerned about the skeletally emaciated Matryona and Katerina, who are they? Later, Zaitsev is to understand the horrifying truth, learning of the Holodomor, and the repercussions of collectivisation.

Zaitsev finds himself at the scene of what initially appears to be a accident, in which a carriage rider, Leonid Perlov, and Ginger, a legendary stallion are killed at the Hippodrome, but matters are considerably more murky. As Zaitsev investigates, despite the opposition of his boss, Kopteltsev, it becomes clear that this is a case of murder, but who was the victim, Perlov or the horse? As the cavalry school moves to the apparently fertile and abundant south, to Novocherkassk, another horse dies, as Zaitsev follows by rail, accompanied by the feisty independent Comrade Zoya Sokolova. Zoya confides more than Zaitsev is comfortable with about her personal life, confidently believing her married lover will leave his wife, something he severely doubts. As Zaitsev discovers in the sweltering heat, nobody is happy with his snooping.

This is a bleak, dark and atmospheric historical read, illuminating the horrors of Russian history, where purges, corruption, informers, surveillance, and paranoia abound, where human life is seen as worthless, and killing is all too easy. Zaitsev finds himself feeling hopelessly powerless, in a period affected by turbulent change with cavalries becoming obsolete in the face of the growing use of vehicles and tanks in war, driving OGPU's massive covert Spring operations. This is a superb series to read if you are interested in Soviet history in the 1930s, and Zaitsev is a determined detective, a captivating character, with the odds stacked against him, living in the most challenging of times. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

3.5 stars. <i>Death of the Red Rider</i> is the second book in a series, and it picks up immediately where [book:Punishment of a Hunter|59352304] leaves off. I was hopeful that we would follow the thread left open in book one, but it seems I'll have to wait a bit longer for that story to get fully resolved. In this installment, Zaitsev is sent south to Novocherkassk to investigate a cavalry training school after the sudden death of a famous horse and its rider.

Secrets abound in this book, and the reveal of the guilty person(s) was not what I expected! I probably could have figured it out if I was so inclined ahead of time, but I enjoy the "ride" in these books so I just went with the flow. Zoya is a great character addition; mostly I love how much she annoys poor Zaitsev. Honestly, all of the characters in these books are positively bursting off the page, which I find is something of a Russian specialty.

Like the first book, <i>Death of the Red Rider</i> is slow and a bit plodding at times, and you will likely be confused if you don't understand the history of Soviet politics in the 1930s. I was lost a few times in the multiple layers of double/hidden meanings and had to re-read, but overall I enjoyed this story and will be looking forward to the next in the series.

Thank you to Yulia Yakovleva, Pushkin Press, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

Leningrad Detective Zaitsev finds himself investigating the death of a Red Army calvary officer and his prized horse, the perfect example of his breed. Initially it seems like an open and shut case. But the more the detective digs into the situation, the more complicated it becomes. He discovers some terrible truths about the world he lives in, and the decisions his country makes. How much of an impact can one man’s principles have in the face of inhumanity? Readers who enjoyed the tales of Sasha Vasin and Arkady Renko will find another complex antihero to cheer on.

Hooked again. Soviet era history always gripped me, even before I studied it. Now this is a translation, and with translation there are always things that are lost when it is mixed with another language. However, I did not like the writing. Descriptions were repeated, the adjectives are laid on thick and heavy. Even in the first lines of the book, "the grey, withered houses......light and papery." Is just one example, throughout the book it is adjective heavy, two words where one or none would do. Due to this I couldn't stomach it, it needs a hard edit, to polish it off and then it would be readable. Unfortunately, due to thoughts muddled with exposition, I could not keep my train of thought on what was happening either and was unable to get into the plot.