City of Ghosts: A Times ‘Thriller of the Year

The first in a trilogy, City of Ghosts is set in the Leningrad of 1951 where the shadows of the war and the threats of Stalinism loom large.

When five blackened corpses are found neatly arranged between three parallel railway lines, even Revol Rossel - once a Conservatoire-trained violinist, now a humble state militia-cop - is sickened by the gruesome scene. Whether victims of the MGB or a crazed yet methodical killer, these bodies soon lead Rossel back into the dark and ruthless heart of the Soviet classical music establishment, a place where his dreams were shattered and his ghosts barely laid to rest.