SNOW DROPS

Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger 2011, and also for the Man Booker Prize in the same year, this is an intense psychological drama that echoes sophisticated entertainments like Gorky Park and The Talented Mr Ripley. Nick Platt is a British lawyer working in Moscow in the early 2000s, a place where the cascade of oil money, the tightening grip of the government, the jostling of the oligarchs, and the loosening of Soviet social mores have led to a culture where corruption, decadence, violence and betrayal define everyday life. Nick doesn't ask too many questions about the shady deals he's working on and is too busy enjoying the exotic, surreally sinful nightlife Moscow has to offer. One day in the subway he rescues two willowy sisters, Masha and Katya, from a would-be purse snatcher. Soon Nick, the seductive Masha, and the long-limbed Katya are cruising the seamy glamour spots of the city, the electric nightclubs and intimate dachas. Nick begins to feel something for Masha and he is pleased to think is love. Then the sisters ask Nick to help their aged aunt Tatiana find a new apartment. The twists in the story take it far beyond its noirish frame and the sordid and vivid portrayal of Moscow serves as a backdrop for a book that examines the irresistible allure of sin, featuring characters whose hearts are as cold as the Russian winter. Written by the Economist magazine's Moscow correspondent. 273pp, paperback.