Review: Moscow Underground A 1930’s Mystery

While Moscow Underground by Catherine Merridale, may not be perfect there are a number of positive points about the novel that would still make it perfect for the right reader.

Set in Moscow in 1934, Moscow Underground is based on the construction of the city’s first subway line, a project intended to showcase the ambitions of the Soviet state.

As excavations reshape the capital, they also uncover remnants of Russia’s past, bringing history into conflict with the political realities of Stalin’s regime.

Anton Belkin is an investigator for the Procuracy, working at a time of increasing political repression. The son of an avant-garde artist whose work has fallen out of favour, Anton is careful to avoid drawing attention to himself.

However, he is assigned to investigate the murder of a prominent archaeologist connected to the subway construction after being persuaded by his former lover, Vika, now an influential member of the secret police.

As Anton’s investigation progresses, he uncovers discoveries beneath the city that extend beyond the murder itself, drawing him into political rivalries within the Soviet leadership.

At the same time, he is forced to confront his shared past with Vika and the choices that have shaped both of their lives.

Blending historical fiction with crime and political intrigue, Moscow Underground explores power, ideology, and the personal consequences of living under Stalin’s rule.

Review: Moscow Underground

Moscow Underground by Catherine Merridale is an historical mystery thriller set in Moscow in 1934, at the time that the Moscow underground was being built.

The novel centres on Anton Belkin, an investigator at the Procuracy, and is given the job of investigating a murder of an historian who is working on recording the historical buildings that are being destroyed during this intensive period of construction.

Location/Time Importance

Moscow Underground is one of those historical mystery novels which takes full advantage of its historical setting.

Which other novels in this genre just make a passing reference toit and could almost be set at any time, in history. Which means as a reader you feel like you are really immersed in the setting of the novel.

While some readers may find that Catherine Merridale has too much historical information contained in the novel, but this is a personal preference for any individual reader.

Not enough Story

The issue that does arise with the Moscow Underground as a story, is that at times it feels more like a history book rather than a novel.

This was because the fictional plot of the murder and the subsequent conspiracy that arises from Anton Belkin’s investigation felt a overwhelmed by the historical information, contained in the work.

This was even more exposed in the action scenes which while they had the basic outlines of a good action sequence they never quite hit the mark for a mystery thriller.

The strengths and weaknesses of the Moscow Underground, maybe because the writer Catherine Merridale is an historian with specialities in the History of Russia and this period.

Why Read? Moscow Underground

While Moscow Underground would not be my recommendation for any one new to the historical genre, but for anyone who is into historical mystery novels especially with the emphasis on history should give it a try.

One other group which would have an interest in Catherine Merridale’s novel is any student or individual of USSR under Stalin in the 1930’s or the Moscow underground system would find the novel fascinating for its historical references.

Conclusion

While Moscow Underground, may not be perfect there are a lot of possibilities for future novels by Catherine Merridale, particularly set in this time period and location.

But still give Moscow Underground a read as it really emphasises the historical in the Historical Mystery thriller genre.

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Above all Keep Safe and treat people fairly.

Mark.