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"A superb start to a series, a deft blend of crime and spy thriller. Recommended for fans of Dostoyevsky and Simon Sebag-Montefiore." Richard Foreman
February 1880.
St Petersburg.
A heavy snowstorm descends on the city. The body of a man is found on the frozen Neva, a knife wound in his side.
The victim is connected to a group of revolutionary terrorists known as the People’s Will.
To magistrate Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky, it looks like an execution. But just as he begins his investigation, it is taken out of his hands by the Tsar’s secret police, the notorious Third Section.
Perhaps unwisely, Virginsky decides to carry on his own unofficial enquiry. Only to discover that there are those who will do anything to stop him.
He feels the presence of hidden enemies moving against the Tsar, willing to destroy everyone who gets in their way.
As Virginsky tries to see through the confusing swirl of plots and counter-plots, the terrorists strike at the heart of the Russian empire, and a bomb blast rocks the Winter Palace itself.
For now, the Tsar survives. But when will the terrorists make their next move? And are there elements within the security forces – even within the Tsar’s own family - who are helping them?
One man, Count Loris-Melikov, is determined to find the answers. He recruits Virginsky on a secret mission, putting in play a ruthless strategy.
Fearing that he will be the next pawn to be sacrificed, Virginsky must risk his life to uncover the truth.
R.N. Morris is the author of the Porfiry Petrovich series of historical crime novels, featuring the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s masterpiece Crime and Punishment. He has also written six novels set in London in 1914: Summon Up The Blood, The Mannequin House, A Dark Palace, The White Feather Killer and The Music Box Enigma. His latest novel is Fortune’s Hand, a novel about Walter Raleigh.
Praise for Roger Morris:
"An extraordinary excursion into the past by a master storyteller. I have never read a book quite like it, nor admired a book so much." Michael Gregorio
“Morris has created an atmospheric St Petersburg, and a stylish set of intellectual problems, but what makes A Gentle Axe such an effective debut is its fascination with good and evil.” Times Literary Supplement
“As fans of Morris’s previous A Gentle Axe will know, this author not only has the nerve to lift his lead character from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment but also the skill to bring that distant Russia and its inhabitants to life, while drawing parallels with our own world.” The Guardian
“The streets of St Petersburg are vividly portrayed as the author shows the imperial Russian capital on the brink of upheaval… If you like historical crime novels, you will enjoy this.” Historical Novels Review
“Morris’s descriptions of the horrors of insanitary slum dwellings in St Petersburg are extraordinarily vivid, but the most striking feature of the novel is the way in which Porfiry’s sophisticated understanding of human nature compensates for the limited investigatory tools at his disposal.” The Times
“… a book that satisfies on more than one level — as a story of investigation and also as a historical novel crammed with sharply individualised characters.” Andrew Taylor in the Spectator
Genre: Historical Mystery
February 1880.
St Petersburg.
A heavy snowstorm descends on the city. The body of a man is found on the frozen Neva, a knife wound in his side.
The victim is connected to a group of revolutionary terrorists known as the People’s Will.
To magistrate Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky, it looks like an execution. But just as he begins his investigation, it is taken out of his hands by the Tsar’s secret police, the notorious Third Section.
Perhaps unwisely, Virginsky decides to carry on his own unofficial enquiry. Only to discover that there are those who will do anything to stop him.
He feels the presence of hidden enemies moving against the Tsar, willing to destroy everyone who gets in their way.
As Virginsky tries to see through the confusing swirl of plots and counter-plots, the terrorists strike at the heart of the Russian empire, and a bomb blast rocks the Winter Palace itself.
For now, the Tsar survives. But when will the terrorists make their next move? And are there elements within the security forces – even within the Tsar’s own family - who are helping them?
One man, Count Loris-Melikov, is determined to find the answers. He recruits Virginsky on a secret mission, putting in play a ruthless strategy.
Fearing that he will be the next pawn to be sacrificed, Virginsky must risk his life to uncover the truth.
R.N. Morris is the author of the Porfiry Petrovich series of historical crime novels, featuring the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s masterpiece Crime and Punishment. He has also written six novels set in London in 1914: Summon Up The Blood, The Mannequin House, A Dark Palace, The White Feather Killer and The Music Box Enigma. His latest novel is Fortune’s Hand, a novel about Walter Raleigh.
Praise for Roger Morris:
"An extraordinary excursion into the past by a master storyteller. I have never read a book quite like it, nor admired a book so much." Michael Gregorio
“Morris has created an atmospheric St Petersburg, and a stylish set of intellectual problems, but what makes A Gentle Axe such an effective debut is its fascination with good and evil.” Times Literary Supplement
“As fans of Morris’s previous A Gentle Axe will know, this author not only has the nerve to lift his lead character from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment but also the skill to bring that distant Russia and its inhabitants to life, while drawing parallels with our own world.” The Guardian
“The streets of St Petersburg are vividly portrayed as the author shows the imperial Russian capital on the brink of upheaval… If you like historical crime novels, you will enjoy this.” Historical Novels Review
“Morris’s descriptions of the horrors of insanitary slum dwellings in St Petersburg are extraordinarily vivid, but the most striking feature of the novel is the way in which Porfiry’s sophisticated understanding of human nature compensates for the limited investigatory tools at his disposal.” The Times
“… a book that satisfies on more than one level — as a story of investigation and also as a historical novel crammed with sharply individualised characters.” Andrew Taylor in the Spectator
Genre: Historical Mystery
Praise for this book
"A superb start to a series, a deft blend of crime and spy thriller. Recommended for fans of Dostoyevsky and Simon Sebag-Montefiore." - Richard Foreman
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