Russia has always fascinated me. Now, I'm certainly not a fan of their senseless attack on Ukraine, but their culture (I love their music!), language, and history has had me hooked for decades.
Way back in the 1970's, when I was in Junior High School, my family lived in Florida. Sometimes mammoth-sized tankers would dock at the local paper-mill's port, and it so happened, that a ship from the Soviet Union docked. My Dad, who was a numismatist, was all in a flurry, wondering if he would be able to board the ship to trade coins with any interested crew members. Somehow--who knows how, as he was an extremely resourceful and persuasive guy--the Russian Captain allowed him aboard the boat. He had an eventful time, sharing a snack of sardines, crackers, and coin-trading with the First Officer. When he came home, he was grinning ear-to-ear and had a pocket full of rubles in every denomination.
Though Russia has been seized by dictatorship and communism for years, theirs is a truly unique and colorful civilization--a real mix of east and west. This week, I'm delighted to spotlight a novel by Roger Morris. It takes place toward the end of czarist Russia, and contains a mystery mixed with history and plenty of Slavic tradition. Scroll down and check out the book's blurb, and join me in welcoming Roger to the Journal!
Read ON, everybody!
ALL ABOUT THE BOOK
~Summer 1880~
Lipetsk, a spa town in Russia.
The elderly and cantankerous Princess Belskaya suffers a violent reaction while taking a mud bath at the famous Lipetsk Sanatorium. Soon after, she dies.
Dr Roldugin, the medical director of the sanatorium, is at a loss to explain the sudden and shocking death.
He points the finger at Anna Zhdanova, a medical assistant who was supervising the princess’s treatment.
Suspicion also falls on the princess’s nephew Belsky, who appears far from grief-stricken at his aunt’s death.
Meanwhile, investigating magistrate Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky arrives in Lipetsk from St Petersburg, seeking treatment after a nervous breakdown.
Against his better judgement, Virginsky is drawn in to the investigation. But is he getting closer to the truth or walking straight into a deadly trap?
ALL ABOUT ROGER
Roger (R.N) Morris is the author of 18 books, including a quartet of historical crime novels set in St Petersburg featuring Porfiry Petrovich, the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s great novel Crime and Punishment. These were followed by the Silas Quinn series set in London in 1914. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Gold Dagger and the CWA Historical Dagger.
A former advertising copywriter, Roger has written the libretto for an opera, modern retellings of Frankenstein and Macbeth for French school children. He’s also a scriptwriter for an award winning audio producer, working on true crime and history podcasts including The Curious History of your Home.
His work has been published in 16 countries.
Married with two grown-up children, Roger lives in Chichester where he keeps an eye out for seagulls.
CONNECT WITH ROGER
BUY THE BOOK!!!
*This book is also available on KindleUnlimited.
*Click the book-cover for the buy-link.
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