The Russian Detective

A stunning detective story from the winner of the World Illustration AwardA stunning detective story from the winner of the World Illustration AwardOBSERVER GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE MONTH Pick for March'Could not be more rich or more beautiful if it tried'OBSERVERIn this stunning reimagining of a nineteenth-century Russian crime thriller from the world of Dostoevsky, Carol Adlam presents Charlie Fox, stunt journalist, magician, liar and thief, who reluctantly returns to her hometown of Nowheregrad to investigate the murder of Elena Ruslanova, daughter of a fabulously wealthy glass manufacturer.In Nowheregrad Charlie finds herself caught up in a multi-layered story that is told through the richly varied visual devices of the time. With the unwitting assistance of her lover, Netochka, Charlie unravels the mystery of the Bobrov family, only to face the truth about herself.Exquisitely drawn and compellingly told, Adlam's complex, elegant narrative brings to life the lost legacies of early crime fiction and the first women journalists and detectives.

Dostoevsky eat your heart out -- here come the women crime writers erased from the Russian canon! -- Val McDermid
Could not be more rich or more beautiful if it tried. This is a book that replays multiple readings… its illustrations, so deeply atmospheric and so inordinately beautiful Observer
I mightily enjoyed lingering over this beautifully-drawn story. A deliciously layered palimpsest of texture, period pastiche and detail; subversive, immersive and elegant -- Kate Charlesworth, author of Sally Heathcote
The Russian Detective is truly incredible… a gorgeous intricate work of art with a really gripping and touching story. The book took me to Russia so fully that I could almost taste the vodka! Carol Adlam does character detail so well, all her illustrations are full of daring experiments with scale and structure, but also so many small moments of humour and warmth. -- Helen Cross, author of My Summer of Love
Grin-inducingly clever, this is a thrilling tour de force -- Stephen Holland Comics Laureate

Carol Adlam holds a PhD in Russian and an MA in Illustration from the Cambridge School of Art. She won a World Illustration Award in 2018, and was shortlisted in both 2016 and 2015. She was a writer-in-residence at the University of St Andrews in 2020 and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge in 2021.

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