Murder in Petrograd by Asya M Pereltsvaig

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/49rOgp

I’m delighted to welcome Asya M. Pereltsvaig to my blog today as part of the Coffee Pot Book Club tour, with an excerpt from her novel Murder in Petrograd. Set against the turbulent backdrop of Russia in 1916, the novel reimagines the events surrounding Rasputin’s murder, exploring the people, politics, and moral dilemmas at the heart of one of history’s most enduring controversies.

Here’s the Blurb:

Petrograd, 1916. As Russia is swept up in the maelstrom of war, Oswald Rayner, a bookish Oxford graduate, is sent by British Intelligence to Petrograd. His mission is to curb Rasputin’s influence and eliminate the man himself if needed. But Oswald soon realizes that his remit goes against his morals. Will he shirk his duty or be forever haunted by the blood on his hands and the burden of secrecy?

Murder in Petrograd re-imagines the web of forces surrounding Rasputin’s murder in a gripping saga of obsession, politics, loyalty, friendship, love, and fate. Taking the reader from Russia in 1905 to Oxford and California fifty-five years later, the novel delves into the emotional lives of a wide cast of real historical figures to explore the central questions of power, complicity, morality, and destiny. Murder in Petrograd asks whether it is ever morally right to take the life of a human being, however repugnant and dangerous he might be. Blending archival research, immersive period detail, and vivid narrative reconstruction, it bridges scholarship and storytelling with cinematic scope.

An excerpt:

Irina buried her face in her husband’s chest and burst into tears on his shoulder:

“I thought I might never see you again,” she wailed.

“There, there, it’s alright, my love, I’m here now,” Felix stroked her hair as if she were a child. 

“I wouldn’t want our child to grow fatherless,” she continued sobbing inconsolably.

“Our child, my darling?” he asked, bewildered.

“Yes, yes, we are going to have a little one!” Irina choked back tears, realizing her that crying was not good for the baby.

Felix hugged her even firmer:

“We must go home! At once!” he said resolutely. “Our baby must be born and brought up in Russia.”

But it was easier said than done. Although the authorities told them to immediately leave Berlin, they provided them with no means to do so. Trains were cancelled, and roads — even if they could find an automobile on such a short notice — were closed. Their money, it seemed, lost all its value at once. The only thing that they still appeared to possess and which could get them out of Germany was their connections, so they made a frantic use of the hotel telephone that day.

Asya M Pereltsvaig

Author Bio

Asya Pereltsvaig is a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia. After earning a BA in English and History and a doctorate in Linguistics and teaching at Cornell and Stanford, she turned to doing what she loves most: teaching Russian history in lifelong education and writing historical fiction.

Her debut historical fiction novel, centered on the assassination of Rasputin, is a sweeping saga of murder, love and fate. Her upcoming historical mystery series, Detective Rosen Mysteries, explores social tensions, political instability and the world of crime in the early 20th-century Saint Petersburg.

When she is not writing, Asya is an intrepid traveler, avid reader, and dedicated ballroom dancer.

Author Links:

Historium Press author page: https://www.historiumpress.com/hp-authors/asya-m-pereltsvaig

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asya.pereltsvaig/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pereltsvaigasya/?hl=en

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@pereltsvaigasya

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001JS2AWS

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/525576.Asya_Pereltsvaig

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