Stalin's Ghost

While investigating mysterious spottings of Stalin on the Moscow subway, Inspector Arkady Renko shadows the investigations of several veterans of the Chechen war, now policemen in Moscow, whose cases seem too tidily resolved.

Smith's wonderfully atmospheric novel is set in Moscow in winter, where snow gives an illusion of purity but cynicism and corruption are palpable. Dead bodies, long-hidden secrets, drunkenness, and despair run through the well-crafted book, but Renko, the book's optimist, plugs along despite the threats to his life and livelihood.