“Dickinson textures his canvas with historical detail as thick as the oil paint on one of his favorite paintings by Turner.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Lovers of British historical mysteries will enjoy Powerscourt’s latest adventures.”—Booklist

“Splendid entertainment.”—Publishers Weekly

In 1904, Powerscourt comes out of retirement to go to Russia in one of the strangest cases of his career. A British diplomat has been discovered, his throat cut, on one of the bridges spanning the Nevskii Prospekt in St Petersburg. It transpires that the diplomat knew a secret—and that secret killed him. As Powerscourt strides through the halls of the Winter Palace and falls foul of the Okhrana, the Russian secret police, he has to attend to other matters. Russia is on the verge of revolution, and he must solve the crime and escape to England before time runs out.