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  • Location: Moscow

The Sin Collector

The Sin Collector

Why a Booktrail?

A city plagued by bodies displayed at major sites….and a killer on the loose, guided by sacred texts

  • ISBN: B06XNN1GWY
  • Translator: Shelley Fairweather-Vega
  • Genre: Crime

What you need to know before your trail

Ever since the unsolved murder of her father, law student Masha Karavay has nursed an obsession with homicide cases. When she nabs an internship with Moscow’s Central Directorate Headquarters, seasoned detective Andrey Yakovlev gives her a file of bizarre, seemingly unrelated slayings that should keep her busy and out of his way. But when Masha discerns a connection between the crimes and the symbolic world of medieval Moscow, she has Andrey’s full attention. The victims weren’t just abandoned…they were displayed—from Red Square to Kutafya Tower to the Bersenevskaya waterfront. What Masha and Andrey are dealing with is no ordinary serial killer, but rather a psycho with an unfathomable purpose, guided by sacred texts to punish his victims in the most unspeakable—and public—ways.

As each clue leads deeper into a maze of fanaticism and medieval ritual, all that stands between the terrors of ancient Moscow and a series of murders defiling a modern city is Masha and the killer himself. Soon, their personal obsessions will collide.

Travel Guide

Moscow

The major sites of a city on the edge, a city threatened and scared by a serial killer. A city where Masha who enjoys solving and reading about murder and serial killers  and then starts to work for the police as an intern…..in a city where maps and theories tell a very unique story:

Following the dark labyrinth of time, they might lead you to a different reality Innokenty become a historical so that you can dipping into other worlds

Looking over Herberstein’s map of Moscow

“Full of small mistakes, it reflected an outsider’s view. Who were modern Muscovites if not outsider  overseeing the 16th century city? They didn’t even know that Moscow, which now ranked somewhere between Delhi and Seoul worldwide, used to be the fourth biggest city in Europe, after Constantinople, Paris and Lisbon.”

Life is a pattern of choices, the city is a pattern of life, the murders a pattern of discovery…..

Booktrailer Review

Susan:@thebooktrailer

If this is the new Russian Noir, then I’m going to be reading more of this! The Moscow setting appealed and the medieval, map like city did not disappoint. This is a book with maps in the plot so I was caught up in this from the get go. A serial killer stalking and displaying their victims on the sites across the city. Crime scenes linked to the past? In such a ornamental city, historically significant and culturally special, it’s a fine backdrop to a maze of mysteries.

Medieval Moscow, well that just tingles the reading antennae straight away! Masha and Andrey are compelling characters and there are others which come and go creating a more haphazard feel to the novel, but it brings a unique angle to the serial killer genre. Think Medieval Moscow is the way to go for dark secrets and even darker crime scenes.

Grippingly gritty and maps which make for quite a trail around the city’s secrets!

Booktrail Boarding Pass:  The Sin Collector

Destination: Moscow  Author/Guide: Daria Desombre  Departure Time: 1600s

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