Tsar Ivan- soon to become Ivan the Terrible-grows more volatile and tyrannical by the day, and Yaga believes the tsaritsa is being poisoned by an unknown enemy. Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves.Īs she travels to Moscow, Yaga witnesses a sixteenth century Russia on the brink of chaos.

But when her old friend Anastasia-now the wife of the tsar and suffering from a mysterious illness-arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s. She mostly keeps to her hut in the woods, where those in need of healing seek her out, even as they spread rumours about her supposed cruelty and wicked spells.

Continue reading “Review: Trouble, by Katja Ivar” Posted by R Cawkwell 30 January 2023 17 January 2023 Posted in Blog tours, Book Reviews, Crime, Fiction, Historical Tags: Bitter Lemon Press, Book review, Katja Ivar, Trouble Leave a comment on Review: Trouble, by Katja Ivar Review: The Witch and the Tsar, by Olesya Salnikova GilmoreĪs a half-goddess possessing magic, Yaga is used to living on her own, her prior entanglements with mortals having led to heartbreak. But not for Hella, whose unwelcome investigation leads to some who would prefer to see her stopped dead in her tracks. Government was strong, including demands for the deportation of local Jews.Ĭolonel Mauzer, his wife and other family members were killed by a truck in a hit and run incident. German troops were sent to Finland, the Gestapo arrived in Helsinki and German influence on local Not the type of job Hella was hoping for, but she accepts it on theĬondition that she is given access to the files concerning the roadside death of her father in 1942, at a time when Finland joined forces with Nazi Germany in its attack against the Soviet Union. Hella, now a reluctant private investigator, has been asked by her former boss at the Helsinki murder squad to do a background check on a member of the Finnish secret services. Helsinki, June 1953, at the heart of the Cold War. A dark political thriller at the heart of the Cold War a novel about ruthless ambition and betrayal, but also about the challenges of being a single professional woman in post-war Europe.

The third in the series featuring Hella Mauzer, to follow on the success of Evil Things and Deep as Death.Ī Nordic Noir of the first-order set in Helsinki in 1953.

Space Taxis by Adam Frosh