A murder mystery set in deepest, snowiest Russia? The Trans-Siberian Express? A tough female protagonist? Sign me up NOW! Thanks to NetGalley and Constable for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story follows Olga Pushkin, a railway engineer (Third Class) who works in a little railway hut in a tiny and remote village called Roslazny. Along with her pet hedgehog (a random but delightful addition), she lives a quiet life and dreams of being a writer and going to Tomsk State University. With all her money being spent on her father’s drinking habit, it is fair to say she is going nowhere…until her world is rocked by a murder and an opportunity for her to take action.
Regular readers of my blog will know that I’m both fascinated by Russia and love a snowy, inhospitable location – the latter makes for a great setting for a mystery, but a less good holiday destination (ask my kids…!) This book ticked those boxes for me, although I was slightly disappointed by the fact that there was really not much action on the Trans-Siberian Express itself – instead, we stay in small-town Roslazny and the nearby railway station.
However, it is a fascinating look at small-town Russia and felt really well-researched, The claustrophobia around being stuck in a place where everyone knows you is well-realised in the novel and there are lots of glimpses of modern-day Russia in attitudes and sentiments that still don’t feel entirely modern to a British reader – this is a society that has a dark undercurrent of corruption, lashings of alcohol dependency and some distinctly old-fashioned views on gender.
That said, this isn’t a depressing book and Olga Pushkin is a likeable and strong character at its heart. She is much put-upon by her family and friends as the capable, kind one – so it is heartening that she has good humour and interesting character development throughout.
The one drawback for me was the fact that the mystery is concluded relatively early on in the novel. It’s well plotted and the denouement is managed cleverly, but there is still a lot of novel left. This takes the form of a lengthy tying up of loose ends – all very pleasing and packed with authentic details of Olga’s world, but I did wish it was more concise.
Overall, I genuinely loved the setting of this novel and wholly enjoyed being immersed in the Russian town, lifestyles and attitudes. I sincerely hope that we shall be able to read more about Olga in the future – but I hope too that there is slightly more of the mystery element. If the balance could shift more towards the murder – with Olga as a strong, good-humoured investigator – then this series would be absolute gold.
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Header photo by Olivier Chatel on Unsplash
