PUBLISHED IN THE US AS "THE DARKENING FIELD".

SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR

Following his investigations in The Holy Thief, Captain Alexei Korolev is uneasy– his new-found knowledge is dangerous, and if some of his actions during the case come to light, he will face deportation to the frozen camps of the far north.

But when the knock on the door comes, in the dead of night, it is not Siberia Korolev is destined for. Instead, the detective is asked to look into the suspected suicide of a young woman, Maria Lenskaya, and when the detective arrives on the set for Bloody Meadow, in the bleak, famine-scarred Ukraine, he soon discovers that there is more to Lenskaya’s death than meets the eye . . .

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2013 IRISH CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR

Ryan has obviously done much research into that sinister period of Russian history and manages to convey its claustrophobic atmosphere brilliantly.

The Times

Ryan has produced a film-noir-ish rewrite of the old-fashioned locked-room mystery, complete with creepily gripping, and ultimately gruesome, cops and robbers chase through the great catacombs on which Odessa sit … Ryan’s unrolling of the mental gymnastics required to survive this upside-down world where the morning’s hero is the evening’s victim is both thrillerishly pacey while also allowing his characters to grow in moral stature.

The Spectator

The Bloody Meadow is every bit as darkly compelling as its predecessor with ... razor-sharp plotting, an evocative sense of location in a vividly realised Ukraine and most winning of all the vulnerably human Alexei Korolev making a nuisance of himself.

The Daily Express

The resemblance to an Agatha Christie country house mystery (but with an injection of politics) grows as he quizzes a colourful set of suspects, in a novel that confirms Ryan’s talent

The Times

The series’ chief strength comes from Ryan’s skilful evocation of everyday life under Stalin. Ordinary Soviet citizens, Korolev included, have become resigned to all forms of corruption and hypocrisy, yet must still wear the mask of communist devotion.

Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)

Filled with chilling twists and turns, The Bloody Meadow is another masterpiece from Ryan

Gulf News

William Ryan is a refreshing voice in the world of detective fiction, introducing characters we become fond of in a difficult period of world history. I admire his enthusiasm for the research he has to do and the way he eases it into a fast-paced story.

The Gazette Herald

In a topsy-turvy world where logic and experience can’t compete against a capricious tyranny, Korolev knows only too well that survival is a fluke and safety is an illusion. This is very neatly plotted and well written, and amounts to a convincing recreation of paranoia in Stalinist Russia.

The Literary Review

It’s an outstanding thriller... in a Soviet Union marked by purges and paranoia, all is not as it seems. Ryan handles his plot and characters in an admirably unfussy and engrossing manner.

Irish Independent (Book of the Year)

Ryan’s main characters are strong and believable, the dialog is crisply idiomatic, and Odessa’s cityscape is grimly foreboding. Ryan’s Korolev is on a brilliant trajectory to join the ranks of respected European detectives.

Library Journal

Korolev is a wonderful character, a spiritual ancestor of Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko, persevering amid the murderous paranoia of Stalin’s Russia. The plot is intricate, the action satisfying, and Ryan’s use of period detail ... makes for exhilarating reading.

Booklist (Starred Review)