Martin Cruz Smith

The later Renko novels are stark, spare and beautiful, like trees in winter. Martin Cruz Smith does more on a page than most writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable MICK HERRONARKADY RENKO IS BACK . . . Renko has been confined to a desk job by his superiors to keep him out of the way. Although hes more disillusioned with policing and the general state of Russia than ever, he feels an odd sense of hope. A rebellion is bubbling in the country, with new values butting heads against old-school regimes. People want change and politician Leonid Lebedev could be the man to do it. When Karina, a staunch supporter of Lebedev and member of the Forum, goes missing, Renko is asked by her father to find her. Soon after his investigation begins, Alex, a close friend of Arkadys son, is found dead. He was also a member of the Forum. The night before his murder, Alex sent Arkady a cryptic message, simply containing three pictures of Russian writers. The link between the pictures is there, if only Renko could see it.

ARKADY RENKO IS BACK . . . Confined to a desk job by his superiors to keep him out of the way, Arkady Renko is more disillusioned with the general state of Russia than ever. But, despite everything, he has hope. People want change, and politician Leonid Lebedev could be the man to do it. Tasked by a father with finding his missing daughter, a staunch Lebedev supporter and member of the Forum, Renko is thrown into the heart of a dangerous conspiracy when another member of the Forum is found murdered Alex, a close friend of his own son. The night before his murder, Alex sent Arkady a cryptic message, simply containing three pictures of Russian writers. The link between the pictures is there, if only he could see it. But Arkady has just been diagnosed with Parkinsons and the disease is taking its toll. This time, he must fight more than the impenetrable Russian regime to get answers he will also need to fight himself.

The highly anticipated new standalone novel from Martin Cruz Smith, whom The Washington Post has declared that uncommon phenomenon: a popular and well-regarded crime novelist who is also a writer of real distinction, The Girl from Venice is a suspenseful World War II love story set against the beauty, mystery, and danger of occupied Venice.Venice, 1945. The war may be waning, but the city known as La Serenissima is still occupied and the people of Italy fear the power of the Third Reich. One night, under a canopy of stars, a fisherman named Cenzo comes across a young womans body floating in the lagoon and soon discovers that she is still alive and in trouble.Born to a wealthy Jewish family, Giulia is on the run from the Wehrmacht SS. Cenzo chooses to protect Giulia rather than hand her over to the Nazis. This act of kindness leads them into the world of Partisans, random executions, the arts of forgery and high explosives, Mussolinis broken promises, the black market and gold, and, everywhere, the enigmatic maze of the Venice Lagoon.The Girl from Venice is a thriller, a mystery, and a retelling of Italian history that will take your breath away. Most of all it is a love story.

In Soviet Russia, a triple murder in Moscow amusement centre, Gorky Park, leaves three corpses frozen in the snow. But when Senior Investigator in the Moscow Prosecutor's Office Arkady Renko arrives, he finds that the brutal murder leaves the victims unidentifiable with faces and fingers missing. Renko must battle political and corporate corruption internationally, from the USSR to the USA, to uncover the truth - and he must fight for his own life in doing so. Meanwhile, he is falling in love with a beautiful, headstrong dissident for whom he may risk everything.

A World War II love story set against the romance and danger of occupied Venice. Cenzo is a world-weary fisherman, determined to sit out the rest of the war. He's happy to stay out of the way of the SS, quietly going about his business of fishing in the lagoons of northern Italy. Then one night, instead of pulling in his usual haul, Cenzo fishes a young woman out of the canal. Guilia is an Italian Jew who has managed to escape capture and is determined to find her family. This meeting results in them both taking an entirely unexpected journey, and Cenzo suddenly finds himself thrown headlong into the world of international wartime politics, where everyone has their own agenda and nowhere is safe...

This is the stunning new thriller from the author of "Gorky Park" and "Stalin''s Ghost". As a train pulls into Yaroslav Station, Moscow, a teenage girl - Maya - wakes to an unimaginable horror. Her baby has been taken...Increasingly disillusioned with the workings of Moscow''s Prosecution Service, Arkady Renko is teetering on the brink of resignation when he becomes drawn into a strange new case. A prostitute has been found dead in a trailer in Three Stations - a dark, notorious part of the city - without a mark on her. Soon Renko will find that the girl is linked to the extravagant Club Nijinsky and, as he is drawn into the extraordinary world of Moscow''s super-rich, that nothing is quite as it seems. Meanwhile, Maya also wanders Three Stations, searching for her baby. Her only ally is a young man, Zhenya - Renko''s own troubled ward - who is drawn to her cause and will guide her through Moscow''s dark underbelly. But neither Zhenya nor Renko realize that Maya herself is being hunted. And those seeking her will stop at nothing to silence her...

Su un treno espresso diretto a Mosca la giovanissima Maya, quindici anni, e la figlioletta di sole tre settimane viaggiano su uno squallido vagone in classe supereconomica, quando un soldato ubriaco tenta di violentare la ragazza. Soccorsa da un'amabile vecchietta, la ragazza si accorge al suo risveglio da un sonno drogato che l'anziana è scomparsa portandosi via la sua bambina. Nel frattempo, alla stazione d'arrivo, in piazza Komsomol - un'area popolata da ogni tipo di malavitosi, prostitute, bambini mendicanti e drogati - viene ritrovato il cadavere di una giovane prostituta. Incaricato delle indagini, l'ispettore Arkady Renko capisce che i due casi sono collegati e riconducono a un chiacchierato oligarca russo.

As a train pulls into Yaroslav Station, Moscow, a teenage girl wakes to discover an unimaginable horror. Her baby has been taken...When the station police are suspicious of the girl's elusive story, Maya finds herself having to search for her baby in this dangerous part of the city - Three Stations - without their help. Her only ally is a young man, Zhenya, who is drawn to her cause and who knows the dark underbelly of the city well. Increasingly disillusioned with the workings of Moscow's Prosecution Service, Arkady Renko is teetering on the brink of resignation when; trying to save the skin of his vodka-loving detective friend Victor Orlov - he becomes drawn into a strange new case. A prostitute has been found dead in a trailer in Three Stations, without a mark on her. With the local police keen to dismiss the death as a mere overdose - Renko's curiosity is piqued. And soon, as he is drawn into the extraordinary world of Moscow's super-rich, Renko will discover that nothing is quite as it seems...

Once the Chief Investigator of the Moscow Militsiya, Arkady Renko is now a pariah of the Prosecutor's Office and has been reduced to investigating reports of late-night subway riders seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin. Part political hocus-pocus, part wishful thinking - even the illusion of the bloody dictator has a higher approval rating than Renko. After being left by his lover for a more popular and successful detective, Renko's investigation becomes a jealousy-fuelled quest leading to the barren fields of Tver, where millions of soldiers fought, and lost their lives. Here, scavengers collect bones, weapons and paraphernalia off the remains of those slain, but there's more to be found than bullets and boots.