Stalin's Ghost

*Dont miss the latest in the Arkady Renko series,THE SIBERIAN DILEMMA, by Martin Cruz Smith, a novelist that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe (Val McDermid) *Martin Cruz Smithmakes tension rise through the page like a sharks fin'Independent Once the Chief Investigator of the Moscow Militsiya, Arkady Renko is now a pariah of the Prosecutors 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, Renkos 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 theres more to be found than bullets and boots.Praise for Martin Cruz Smith: The storydrips with atmosphere and authenticity a literary triumph David Young, bestselling author ofStasi Child ';Smith not only constructsgrittily realisticplots, he also has a gift for characterisation of which most thriller writers can only dreamMail on Sunday Smith was among the first ofa new generation of writers who made thrillers literaryGuardian Brilliantly worked,marvellously written. . . an imaginative triumphSunday Times A wonderful surprise of a novel'William Ryan, author ofThe Constant Soldier