The Bloody Meadow

In 1937 Stalinist Russia, CID detective Alexei Korolev is “asked” by the NKVD to find out more about the suspected suicide of a young woman in Ukraine who was working on a movie production subsidized by the state. If it is in fact suicide then he can consider the trip as a holiday without mentioning his orders, if not, then he is to investigate. Making things more precarious, she was having an affair with a party director. He has no choice, however, even though he would prefer to avoid political cases at all costs. He travels to Ukraine from Moscow by air - his first flight! The coroner finds the woman was murdered, which to Korolev’s horror means he must investigate party members. While he is loyal to the party he finds himself show more trapped by that loyalty and his obligation to justice.

Ryan’s writing portrays not only the terrible anxiety produced by Stalin’s Communism that is in opposition to the Orthodox church, still operating in secrecy, but also the danger of antagonizing the party during a time of Stalin’s frequent purges. An excellent novel, I look forward to reading more by Ryan. show less

Captain Alexei Korolev returns for a second round of murder, mystery and political complications in Stalinist Russia, where political complications can be murderous. Unnervingly rousted from sleep by a knock on his door in the early morning hours, Korlev expects a one-way ticket to the Gulag for the revelations involved in his previous adventure. Instead, he is despatched to the Ukraine, where a young woman working with a film crew has apparently committed suicide. The young woman is a lover of the Commissar For State Security, and Korolev is to investigate her death and make sure there are no loose ends or embarrassing publicity. Unfortunately, it quickly turns out that it wasn't a suicide and there are loose ends that stretch back to show more the Civil War and the early years of Collectivisation.
The interesting thing about Korolev, of course, is that he's a moral man, a religious believer, who fully embraces the glorious future promised by the Revolution. He's not a fool, though, and is all too well aware of the fear, brutality and terror of the State as it flails around looking for enemies. Nonetheless, he just wants to do his duty, and while the story has a blazing climactic shootout in the limestone labyrinth under Odessa, the real climax comes when the reader realises that the villain is fundamentally in the right, albeit the losing side of history. This is a series doomed to endings that range from bittersweet to cruelly ironic.
Meanwhile, this is a cracking mystery with a great setting, tense with danger, epic in scope, marvelous characters and a thrilling conclusion. Very highly recommended. show less

This is the second novel featuring Alexei Korolev, a detective with the Moscow CID working in the late 1930s at the height of Stalin's purges. It is over seven years since I read the first novel, The Holy Thief (and six years since I bought this one), but this reflects the good and not so good aspects of the first book. The oppressive atmosphere of the times is quite well created, and the difficulty for an honest man to detect crime in an atmosphere where everything is mixed up with politics is well brought across. Korolev is a conflicted character, loyal to his country and accepting most of its mores most of the time, but also a religious believer, an interesting (and highly dangerous!) combination for the time. There are a lot of plot show more elements - a murdered actress, disaffected Ukrainians involved in gunrunning, and so on, and I did feel though that the various elements of the plot didn't hang together as well as they might have done, and I found the role of the Thieves a bit confusing. I wasn't initially totally clear exactly when this was set, but I think from the context it must be the late winter/early spring of 1937 - Yezhov has replaced Yagoda as NKVD chief, but Tukhachevsky is still around. Anyway, there will be a much shorter gap between my reading this and the third novel than between the first two books. show less

From the opening paragraph of William Ryan’s second novel, The Darkening Field, readers will feel the tension that builds throughout the novel until a climactic ending. Set in 1937 Russia, lead detective Alexei Korolev must navigate his way through a minefield of clues that could solve a murder mystery but also spark political revolution.
It is clear that Ryan is a master not only of plotting a well crafted mystery but also at describing settings and locations so smoothly that the reader will find themselves absent-mindedly rubbing their fingers to keep warm in the novel’s cold Russian nights. His hero, Korolev, has a distinct and clear mind that speaks plainly to the reader amid the precarious situation he finds himself in; even if show more he doesn’t dare voice his thoughts out loud to other characters.
Darken Field is a straight murder and mystery novel with only enough personal life information about our characters to establish their motives but not enough to get sidetracked from the main plot. I wish I had read Ryan’s first novel, The Holy Thief, before this latest only because I’m looking forward to reading more about Korolev’s life during this potentially explosive time in Russian history.
Certainly, this novel can be read purely for its entertainment value and readers would be rewarded for their efforts. However, there is so much more that readers can be intrigued about from this novel. For example, as a detective Korolev relies on a forensic team. My naïve mind couldn’t grasp what forensic evidence could be found in 1937. I discovered my error as forensic science has been practiced since the age of Caesar. By 1932 Harvard University had a chair of legal medicine. In addition, Ryan’s work will spark interest in post World War I political affairs in Europe. I hope readers take a few moments to review their history and grasp all that they can be inspired to learn from this amazing work of fiction. show less

As a reader with a fascination for Russian history, I enjoyed Ryan's first Korolev crime novel, The Holy Thief. His depiction of life in mid-1930's Moscow under Stalin was and is dark, and effectively evokes a sense of bloody history, resignation, dread, and drama. In this novel, Korolev is sent to Odessa, to investigate the suspicious death of a young woman, a popular and admired Party stalwart, on a film set. It's dark. And cold. And dark. And cold. Ryan doesn't manage to paint much more of a picture than that of this Ukrainian city amid the sea and the steppes, apart from a brief conversation in which a native describes it, which is a bit disappointing. The opening scene set in Moscow is far more vibrant and convincing. In age-old show more Russian fashion, there are a LOT of characters to keep track of, which dilutes the story and makes it even more tricky to follow at times. It's more or less a pretty standard detective / spy / thriller, involving the criminal underworld, espionage, gun-running, and ends with not one but two gunfights in enclosed spaces, all complicated by the competing and conflicting bureaucracies looming over all. Not my favorite genre, but Korolev is a likable and sympathetic character with his own ethical and spiritual issues, layered with a dogged determination to do his duty and, frankly, stay alive and out of the gulag. Not as good a Holy Thief; but if you liked that, this one will do nicely. show less

I enjoyed this book for its setting as much as anything. Ukraine in 1937 is not a place where one frequently finds a novel set. Ryan does a good job capturing the feel of the place back then when no one could trust anyone else. The main character, Alexei Korolev, is a Moscow detective who is sent to the Odessa area to investigate a death, specifically to determine whether it was a murder. A major movie was being filmed at an agricultural college, and one of the film's production workers, a beautiful young woman, was found dead from a hanging. Naturally one thing leads to another, and the one crime escalates into multiple crimes. Ryan very thoughtfully provides a list of characters at the beginning of the book because the names are show more somewhat difficult for westerners to grasp. The writer Isaac Babel is included in this novel as part of the movie crew which added an interesting bit of historical authenticity. I thought the book seemed realistic and liked it well enough that I now have Ryan's first novel, Holy Thief, on hand to read. show less

[b:The Darkening Field|12160902|The Darkening Field|William Ryan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1321500244s/12160902.jpg|16911078] by [a:William Ryan|268427|William Ryan|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg] is a wonderful murder mystery set in 1937 Soviet Russia. When Captain Alexi Korolev of Moscow's Criminal Investigation Division is sent to Odessa to investigate the murder of a young actress, he uncovers a plot much more twisted than he could have imagined. This is a first-rate mystery that perfectly captures the overriding fog of terror in Stalin's Russia, where even an innocent mistake or mishap is enough to doom you, your coworkers, and your entire family.

Thanks to Book Browse's First Impressions for a show more chance to read this advance readers' edition. show less