"The Russian soul is well suited to a style defined by dark, hard-edged moodiness in underground settings. With St. Petersburg, the tsarοΏ½s 'Window on Europe,; we get European-style existential angst as wellοΏ½not to mention the scary sociopolitical realities of the new Russia ... For all sophisticated crime fiction readers."
--Library Journal
Fourteen uniformly strong stories in this outstanding noir anthology devoted to Russia's second city, St. Petersburg. With its rich if often tragic history, deep literary traditions, inspiring landscape, famous architecture, and an aging population stuffed into overcrowded 'kommunalkas' amid a post-Soviet decline and soaring crime rates, the city provides an ideal backdrop for crime fiction ...The diversity of these skillfully crafted tales testifies to the vigor of contemporary Russian writing."
--Publishers Weekly
Original stories by: Lena Eltang, Sergei Nosov, Alexander Kudriavstev, Andrei Kivinov, Julia Belomlinsky, Natalia Kurchatova, Kseniya Venglinskaya, Evgeniy Kogan, Anton Chizh, Konstantin Gavrilov, Vladimir Berezin, Andrei Rubanov, and others.
Natalia Smirnova was born in 1978 in Moscow, Russia. In 2006 she co-founded the Goumen & Smirnova Literary Agency with Julia Goumen, representing Russian authors worldwide. She and Goumen were also the co-editors of Moscow Noir.
Julia Goumen was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1977. With a PhD in English, she has been working in publishing since 2001, and since 2006 has run the Goumen & Smirnoval Literary Agency with Natalia Smirnova.
About the Author
Natalia Smirnova: Natalia Smirnova was born in 1978 in Moscow. After studying law and working as a lawyer, she moved to St. Petersburg to work as a foreign rights manager for a publisher. In 2006 she cofounded the Goumen & Smirnova Literary Agency, with Julia Goumen, representing Russian authors worldwid. She and Goumen were also the coeditors of Moscow Noir (Akashic Books).
Julia Goumen: Julia Goumen was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1977. With a PhD in English, she has been working in publishing since 2001, starting her own literary agency after three years as a foreign rights manager. Since 2006 Goumen has run the Goumen & Smirnoval Literary Agency with Natalia Smirnova. She and Smirnova were also the coeditors of Moscow Noir (Akashic Books).