To Kill a Tsar

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2 April 1879, St Petersburg. A shot rings out in Palace Square. The Tsar is unhurt, but badly shaken. Cossack guards tackle the would-be assassin to the ground. And in the melee no one notices a pretty, dark-haired young woman in a heavy coat walk purposefully away from the scene. Russia is alive with revolutionaries and this is just one of many assassination attempts on the unpopular Tsar Alexander II. For Dr Frederick Hadfield, part of the Anglo-Russian establishment with a medical practice dependent on the patronage of the nobility, politics is a distraction. But when he meets the passionate idealist Anna Petrovna, he finds himself drawn into a dangerous double life. Set in a world of stark contrasts, from glittering ballrooms to the cruel cells of the House of Preliminary Detention, from the grandeur of the British Embassy to the underground presses of the young revolutionaries, To Kill a Tsar is both a gripping thriller and a passionate love story.Review'Williams contrives an appealing blend of Doctor Zhivago, Conrad's Under Western Eyes and Boris Akunin's 19th-century crime fiction. His ability to bring a past world to life matches Furst's' -- John Dugdale, Sunday Times 'This is a dense, meaty affair which pulls off the trick of gripping the reader and bringing a complicated, alien world to life' -- Guardian 'He blends historical fact and fiction in a vivid recreation of the world of The Idiot and Crime and Punishment' -- The Times 'Elegantly serpentine plotting and finely etched characters confirm his place in the front rank of the new English thriller writers' -- Daily Mail 'A very accomplished novel which can be enjoyed as a gripping and moving thriller. Yet it is more than that, for it invites us to reflect on questions of morality, and on that age-old question of when, if ever, violent means may be held to justify worthy ends; whether, indeed, such ends can ever be achieved if the means are inescapably criminal' -- Allan Massie, Scotsman 'Exciting ... an important book for devotees of the spy story' -- Shots Magazine 'A gripping thriller set in a world of treachery' -- British Fantasy Society 'To Kill a Tsar ... had me biting my fingernails with the suspense' -- Andrew Roberts, Daily Telegraph 'Bravura story-telling... Andrew Williams is the real thing; a writer who can marry popular genres to the sophisticated treatments of political arguments' -- Independent 'Williams has done his homework and each setting rings true ... a well-constructed period thrilller ... you will get caught up in conspiracy and counter-plot' -- Shots magazine 'Sheer escapism ... To Kill a Tsar is a bold portrait of revolutionaries seeking to assassinate Tsar Alexander II in St Petersburg ... gripping authenticity' -- Oxford Mail 'Authentic, moving, though-provoking, gripping ... as good as historical thrillers get. Don't miss it' -- Beverley Guardian 'I was totally absorbed in this very gripping, sensational historical mystery, with a factual basis and with the nail-biting tension of whether the protagonists will be arrested or not. This is only the author's second novel and yet it was shortlisted for both the Walter Scott Prize and the CWA Ellis Peters Award. The depth of research that the author undertook with this book is to be applauded. I was completely captivated by the very tightly plotted depth of this story which I think is the best historical romantic mystery that I have had the pleasure of reading this year. I hope to include it in my top five books of 2011. If you enjoy a marvellously evocative historical mystery then this is the next one to buy if you have not done so already' -- Eurocrime About the AuthorAfter studying English at Oxford, Andrew Williams worked as a senior producer for the BBC's Panorama and Newsnight programmes, then wrote and directed history documentaries. He is the author of two bestselling non-fiction books, The Battle of the Atlantic and D-Day to Berlin. His acclaimed first novel, The Interrogator, is also published by John Murray.