Book Title: Death of a Princess
Series: Empire of Shadows, Book #3
Author: R.N. Morris
Publication Date: 5th November 2024
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Pages: 192
Genre: Historical Crime / Mystery
Any Triggers: Description of illness, death, violent crime, murder, sexual references, sexual threat.
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Book Title and Author Name:
Death of a Princess
by R.N. Morris
Blurb:
Summer 1880.
Lipetsk, a spa town in Russia.
The elderly and cantankerous Princess Belskaya suffers a violent reaction while taking a mud bath at the famous Lipetsk Sanatorium. Soon after, she dies.
Dr Roldugin, the medical director of the sanatorium, is at a loss to explain the sudden and shocking death.
He points the finger at Anna Zhdanova, a medical assistant who was supervising the princess’s treatment.
Suspicion also falls on the princess’s nephew Belsky, who appears far from grief-stricken at his aunt’s death.
Meanwhile, investigating magistrate Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky arrives in Lipetsk from St Petersburg, seeking treatment after a nervous breakdown.
Against his better judgement, Virginsky is drawn in to the investigation. But is he getting closer to the truth or walking straight into a deadly trap?
What’s it all about?
Introducing my novel Death of a Princess
by R.N. Morris
Death of a Princess is a historical thriller set in Russia in 1880. The protagonist is Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky, a detective who investigates the shocking event that gives the book its title – the death of Princess Yevgenia Belskaya.
The character of Virginsky first appeared in my novel A Gentle Axe. In that book he was the suspect in a murder case conducted by the great investigating magistrate Porfiry Petrovich. Those of you who know your Russian literature will recognise that name. Porfiry was the detective in Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece, Crime and Punishment. I lifted his character from that and made him the protagonist in my own series of detective novels. The cheek of that move did not go unnoticed at the time.
The Virginsky of A Gentle Axe was inspired by Raskolnikov, the hero – or more accurately anti-hero – of Crime and Punishment. But by the time of the next book in my Porfiry Petrovich series, A Vengeful Longing, Virginsky had completed his law studies, cleaned up his act and was now a magistrate himself – Porfiry Petrovich’s sidekick in fact. Over the next three novels, their relationship would develop, with Porfiry in the role of mentor, and Virginsky occasionally pushing back against the older man’s guidance.
As a magistrate, Virginsky is a civil servant working for the tsarist regime. But he hasn’t entirely shaken off the radicalism and disaffection of his student days. In my novel The Cleansing Flames, the last in my Porfiry Petrovich series, he infiltrates a gang of dangerous revolutionaries. But his own political views mean that he is sympathetic to the revolutionaries’ cause. His loyalties appear divided. We are not sure which way he will turn. In the end… well, you’ll have to read The Cleansing Flames to find out what happens in the end!
When my publisher suggested I write a new spin-off series, it seemed natural to make Virginsky the protagonist. Time has moved on ten years or so. By now, Porfiry Petrovich has retired. Virginsky emerges from Porfiry’s shadow to lead investigations in his own right. That said, in each of the previous two books – Law of Blood and The Crimson Child – Virginsky is reluctantly obliged to consult his old mentor at crucial stages in the investigations. His continued dependence on Porfiry annoys Virginsky. After all, Virginsky’s relationship with Porfiry began when he was still a student. There’s also the lingering resentment caused by the fact that Porfiry once considered him capable of murder.
There’s something almost adolescent about Virginsky’s attitude to Porfiry. The older man is a kind of father figure to him, and we all know that relationships between fathers and sons can occasionally be strained. But he also respects Porfiry – even if begrudgingly at times. And ultimately there’s a deep affection too, not to say love, in his feelings towards his mentor.
As I’m writing, I find that it’s hard to talk about mystery books without giving too much away. I may already have let slip a few minor spoilers. The one thing I should stress is that each of my books is designed to be read on its own. Everything you need to know about Virginsky’s backstory is provided in the story you’re reading, so you don’t have to read all the previous books to enjoy the latest. Of course, if you do read out of sequence you might discover something crucial that happened in an earlier book, but I think that’s OK. Hopefully, it will encourage you to go back and read that earlier book to find out how exactly that crucial thing happened.
At the beginning of Death of a Princess – the only one of my Russian books not set in St Petersburg – we find Virginsky checking into a clinic in the spa town of Lipetsk following a nervous breakdown. I’m not going to say here what has caused his nervous breakdown, you can discover that for yourself. While he’s at the clinic, he learns of the death of Princess Belskaya and is urged to look into it by an elderly couple who befriend him. I should say that Virginsky is drawn into the investigation very much against his better judgement. Given his precarious mental and emotional state, this is the last thing he needs.
What he doesn’t realise is that there’s a group of terrorists present in Lipetsk. And his investigation draws him closer and closer to their activities. Or perhaps he does sense the impending danger, and rushes towards it, driven by a death wish born out of guilt?
Buy Link:
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Author Bio:
Roger (R.N) Morris is the author of 18 books, including a quartet of historical crime novels set in St Petersburg featuring Porfiry Petrovich, the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s great novel Crime and Punishment. These were followed by the Silas Quinn series set in London in 1914. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Gold Dagger and the CWA Historical Dagger.
A former advertising copywriter, Roger has written the libretto for an opera, modern retellings of Frankenstein and Macbeth for French school children. He’s also a scriptwriter for an award winning audio producer, working on true crime and history podcasts including The Curious History of your Home.
His work has been published in 16 countries.
Married with two grown-up children, Roger lives in Chichester where he keeps an eye out for seagulls.
Author Links:
Website: www.rogernmorris.co.uk
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Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B001JP9XXA
When Angels Fly 