Almost one hundred years after the abdication of Tsar Nicholas Romanov and the subsequent murder of his family, the mysterious events of that time still pique our curiosity. Sam Eastland has written the first in a new series which once more imagines the Tsar, his family, their murders and the early years of Stalin’s reign.

Pekkala was Tsar Nicholas Romanov’s most trusted investigator; the Tsar even created a new position that only Pekkala ever held, the Emerald Eye. After the leader and his family were arrested and when they believed they would be exiled to England or Denmark, the Tsar ordered Pekkala to return to his home in Finland. Before getting very far, the Romanovs were killed and Pekkala was arrested. Pekkala was sent first to prison where he was tortured for the location of the Tsar’s secret treasure and then banished to a prison camp in Siberia. Ten years later, a Red Army Commissar approaches Pekkala asking the investigator to help with a case unique to his abilities.

A man committed to an insane asylum has come forward with new information about the location of the Romanovs bodies but he will only speak to the Emerald Eye. Pekkala, whose training included forensic science, is offered his freedom if he will investigate the possible remains of the royal family as well as unravel the mystery of what really happened on that night in 1918.

Pekkala is a fascinating character. The attributes the Tsar found in the man resulting in such a position of honor are the same characteristics which make him such a likeable man. He is intelligent, incorruptible and loyal beyond all reason. But he is also flawed — by his loyalty to his estranged brother, by his determination to avenge the deaths of the family he felt responsible for, and by the bone-deep hope that a Romanov survived the slaughter. Ultimately, it is this murder mystery he must ultimately solve — for his own peace of mind.
Full of twists and turns, as well as insight into Russia’s terrifying past, this was a terrific mystery. ~Patti