First published 2010
Investigator Arkady Renko has been suspended from the prosecutor's office for uncovering inconvenient truths. When an elegant young woman's body turns up in a construction trailer near Moscow's central railway station, everyone calls it a drug overdose. Renko sees something else. Among the victim's possessions lies an invitation to the Nijinsky Fair, Russia's most exclusive charity ball for billionaires. The case pulls Renko into the world of Moscow's wealthy elite, many scrambling to protect their fortunes as Putin targets the oligarchs who once supported him. Meanwhile, a teenage mother arrives in Moscow seeking a new life, only to have her infant vanish without trace after an encounter with a predatory soldier on the train. As Renko digs deeper, he uncovers connections between the dead woman, missing children, and powerful forces that prefer their secrets buried. The investigation threatens both the woman Renko loves and the vulnerable children he fights to protect.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corruption, investigative-journalism
Setting: Moscow, Russia
Period: 21st-century
243 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: violence