Lush, and exceptionally compelling, but take your time . . . The Gentle Axe has a vast depth of Russian soul; mysterious, compassionate, and utterly irresistible. Alan Furst, author of The Polish OfficerSt Petersburg. The winter of 1866. Two frozen bodies are found in Petrovsky Park a dwarf neatly packed in a suitcase, and a burly peasant hanging from a tree. Police Detective Porfiry Petrovich begins his investigation in the city s squalid brothels and drinking dens but is soon led into an altogether more genteel stratum of society and to a shocking discovery which reveals the city s darkest secrets. Vivid and convincing . . . Morris keeps the reader guessing until the end. Virginia Rounding, Independent Tense, atmospheric and bristles with . . . intelligence. Tom Boncza-Tomaszewski, Independent on Sunday