New York: Penguin, 2007. First edition - The author's first novel - one which is "Dostoyevsky-like, conjuring a cast of poseurs, prostitutes, poor gentlefolk, scam artists and grubby-nailed reprobates against the backdrop of RussiaÕs second city" (NY Times review), Se in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1866 and 1867, police investigator Porfiry Petrovich "faces his most challenging murder case since the events made famous by F. Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment- a case with disturbing parallels and even darker implications" 305 pp.