Tarnished Icons

Rostnikov uncovers a crime spree with roots in a long-lost Tsarist treasure.

Porfiry Rostnikov was just a boy when he lobbed a grenade at the Nazi tank, destroying the evil machine and his left leg with it. And after five decades' dragging his lame leg behind him, the police inspector decides to have the useless limb amputated. The Cold War is over, and as Russia learns to walk again, its finest policeman must do the same.

Meanwhile, a knife-wielding rapist known as the Silent One terrorizes the women of Moscow, and a bloodthirsty gunman begins a campaign to exterminate the city's Jews. And while investigating this hate-fueled crime wave, Rostnikov uncovers a mystery concerning a murdered baroness and a priceless wolf statue that has been missing since 1862. Moscow is on the verge of a bright new future, but the horrors of this ancient city's past may mean a return to the dark ages.

About the Author.

Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) was one of the most prolific crime fiction authors of the last four decades. Born in Chicago, he spent his youth immersed in pulp fiction and classic cinema - two forms of popular entertainment which he would make his life's work. After college and a stint in the army, Kaminsky wrote film criticism and biographies of the great actors and directors of Hollywood's Golden Age. In 1977, when a planned biography of Charlton Heston fell through, Kaminsky wrote Bullet for a Star, his first Toby Peters novel, beginning a fiction career that would last the rest of his life.

Kaminsky penned twenty-four novels starring the detective, whom he described as "the anti-Philip Marlowe." In 1981's Death of a Dissident, Kaminsky debuted Moscow police detective Porfiry Rostnikov, whose stories were praised for their accurate depiction of Soviet life. His other two series starred Abe Lieberman, a hardened Chicago cop, and Lew Fonseca, a process server. In all, Kaminsky wrote more than sixty novels. He died in St. Louis in 2009.

Review quote.

"Kaminsky stands out as a subtle historian, unobtrusively but entertainingly weaving into the story itself what people were wearing, eating, driving, and listening to on the radio. A page-turning romp." - Booklist.

"For anyone with a taste for old Hollywood B-movie mysteries, Edgar winner Kaminsky offers plenty of nostalgic fun . . . The tone is light, the pace brisk, the tongue firmly in cheek." - Publishers Weekly.

"Marvelously entertaining." - Newsday.

"Makes the totally wacky possible . . . Peters [is] an unblemished delight." - Washington Post.

"The Ed McBain of Mother Russia." - Kirkus Reviews.