by A. D. Miller
First published 2011
Nick works as a British lawyer in Moscow's wild capitalist frontier. He meets Masha, a mysterious Russian woman who draws him into her world of electric nightclubs and countryside dachas. She shows him both human kindness and systemic corruption that defines post-Soviet Russia. Nick knows Masha is dangerous, but he cannot resist her pull or the addictive chaos of Russian life. As their relationship deepens, Nick loses his moral compass and finds himself complicit in activities that compromise everything he once believed about himself. The Russian winter provides perfect cover for buried secrets and hidden bodies. Nick discovers that some confessions come too late, and some falls from grace leave permanent scars. The snowdrops will eventually surface when the snow melts, revealing what was hidden beneath.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Moscow, Russia
Period: Post-Soviet
273 pages · Kindle Edition · Atlantic Books (UK)