St. Petersburg Noir

“Fourteen uniformly strong stories in [this] outstanding noir anthology devoted to Russia’s second city … an ideal backdrop for crime fiction. ” —Publishers Weekly

The origins of St. Petersburg’s rich noir tradition come from the city’s history, urban landscape, and the weather. The freezing winds from the Baltics give rise to hopelessness, despair, and the darkest of humor. The swamps upon which the city was built cloak it in a thick haze that inspires ghostly tales and furtive behaviors.

In St. Petersburg Noir, you’ll find original stories by Lena Eltang, Sergei Nosov, Alexander Kudriavstev, Andrei Kivinov, Julia Belomlinsky, Natalia Kurchatova & Ksenia Venglinskaya, Anton Chizh, Vladimir Berezin, Andrei Rubanov, Vadim Levental, Anna Solovey, Mikhail Lialin, Pavel Krusanov, and Eugene Kogan.

“The Russian soul is well suited to a style defined by dark, hard-edged moodiness in underground settings. With St. Petersburg, the tsar’s ‘Window on Europe, ’ we get European-style existential angst as well—not to mention the scary sociopolitical realities of the new Russia … For all sophisticated crime fiction readers. ” —Library Journal

“A riveting collection. An insightful ‘tour’ of St. Petersburg. And a spellbinding introduction to Russian literature and perspective. ” —Killer Nashville

© 2012 Akashic Books (Ebook): 9781617751226

Release date

Ebook: 7 August 2012