The Russian Detective. Carol Adlam

A fascinating work which wears its (considerable) learning very lightly. The author (a leading academic) makes full use of the enormous variety of visual styles and imagery that can be used to tell a story. There is much originality, and constant intrigue in what technique will be demonstrated to help develop the story. I think that the techniques chosen are often highly appropriate for the element of the story that is being revealed, like the use of the classic magic trick ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ and the earliest forms of cinema with the dramatic uncertainty as to whether one could actually believe one’s eyes as far as what one saw was concerned.

The book also hints at a vast and fascinating resource that has been barely touched (by either native Russian scholars or any other interested parties, with the start of the detective story and the forms it took in Russia ta this time. It was not just Wilkie Collins, clearly.

A fascinating book and one that makes one want to further explore this rich source  – as well as leading us to hope for more such works from the author.