Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Kogoro Akechi, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.
Gorky Park is a 1981 crime novel written by American author Martin Cruz Smith.
Martin Cruz Smith, born Martin William Smith, is an American writer of mystery and suspense fiction, mostly in an international or historical setting. He is best known for his ten-novel series on Russian investigator Arkady Renko, introduced in 1981 with Gorky Park. The tenth book in the series, Independence Square, was published in May 2023.
Gorky Park is a 1983 American mystery thriller film based on the book of the same name by Martin Cruz Smith. The film was directed by Michael Apted.
Arkady Renko is a fictional detective who is the central character of ten novels by the American writer Martin Cruz Smith.
Polar Star is a 1989 crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. It is a sequel to Gorky Park and features former militsiya investigator Arkady Renko, taking place during the period of Perestroika.
Red Square is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, primarily set in Moscow, Munich and Berlin between August 6 and August 21, 1991. It is a sequel to Gorky Park and Polar Star and features the Investigator Arkady Renko, taking place during the period of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Gypsy in Amber is a 1971 mystery novel by the American novelist Martin Cruz Smith as "Martin Smith". It was first published on January 1, 1971, by Putnam and was Smith's second novel and first mystery novel.
Wolves Eat Dogs is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in Russia and Ukraine in the year 2004. It is the fifth novel to feature Investigator Arkady Renko and the first one taking place in Russia during the new, independent (post-Soviet) era.
Havana Bay is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in Cuba. It is the fourth novel to feature Investigator Arkady Renko, and it won the 1999 Hammett Prize. Cruz Smith has stated the book allowed him to explore America's "insane" relationship with Cuba and that it led to some criticism of him in the U.S.
Stalin's Ghost is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith set in Russia circa 2005. It is the sixth novel to feature Detective-Investigator Arkady Renko, published 26 years after the initial novel in the Renko series, Gorky Park.
Chifir is an exceptionally strong tea, associated with and brewed in Soviet and post-Soviet detention facilities such as gulags and prisons.
James Church is the pseudonym of an American author of six detective novels featuring a North Korean policeman, "Inspector O".
Child 44 is a 2008 thriller novel by British writer Tom Rob Smith. It is the first novel in a trilogy featuring former MGB Agent Leo Demidov, who investigates a series of gruesome child murders in Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union.
Tatiana Garmash-Roffe born November 4, 1959 in Moscow, Russia, is an author of detective stories, who also published under the pseudonym "Tatiana Svetlova".
Rose is a 1996 novel by Martin Cruz Smith. The story is set in 1872 Wigan, Lancashire, England, a district with extensive coal mines.
Arkady is a Slavic masculine given name, ultimately derived from the Greek name Αρκάδιος, meaning “from Arcadia”. Endeared versions of the name are Kesha, Arkasha. The Latin equivalent is Arcadius. Notable people with the name include:
Three Stations is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith set in Russia circa 2010. It is the seventh novel to feature Detective-Investigator Arkady Renko, published 29 years after the initial novel of the Renko series, Gorky Park.
One Good Turn is a 2006 crime novel by Kate Atkinson set in Edinburgh during the Festival. “People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a brutal road rage incident - an incident that changes the lives of everyone involved.” It is the second novel to feature former private investigator Jackson Brodie and is set two years after the earlier Case Histories.
The Siberian Dilemma is a 2019 crime fiction novel by American writer Martin Cruz Smith. The novel's main character is Arkady Renko, who appears in a number of Smith's works. It is the ninth of Smith's works to feature Renko. Renko is sent to Siberian taiga to investigate "oil oligarchs". Critical reception of the book included disappointment that it lacked "the exciting twists and turns of Smith's earlier novels".
