The Moscow Affair – Nancy Boyarsky

I’m pleased to welcome back a favorite author of mine,

Nancy Boyarsky

Nancy has been a writer and editor for her entire working career. She coauthored Backroom Politics, a New York Times notable book, with her husband Bill Boyarsky. She has written several textbooks on the justice system, as well as articles for publications such as the Los Angeles Times and Forbes. In addition to her writing career, she was communications director for political affairs for ARCO. She  is currently producer, director of the podcast “Inside Golden State Politics.”

She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, journalist Bill Boyarsky.

In this fast-paced mystery, P.I. Nicole Graves agrees to an unusual, short-term assignment working for MI6 in Russia. It sounds straight-forward, even pleasant: a two-week luxury riverboat cruise on the Volga, observing a group of fellow passengers and filing a daily report on their activities. It’s simple enough, except for one caveat: No matter what these people do, she’s to tell her handler at MI6—no one else, especially not the Russian police. When one of the riverboat passengers winds up dead, Nicole realizes this assignment was anything but straightforward.

Here’s a short excerpt:

Nicole sat up, suddenly alert, heart thumping as if from a nightmare she
couldn’t remember. She turned on the bedside lamp. It was 3:00 a.m. by her
watch. Now she was wide awake and fairly certain she wouldn’t be getting back
to sleep anytime soon.
She put on her coat and opened the sliding door that led to the suite’s
private deck. She hoped for some brisk night air and her first look at of the
Moskva River. But all she could see was the ship docked next to hers. She left her
cabin and started down two flights of stairs that led to the main deck where she
might have a better view. The deck’s lighting had been dimmed for the night, but
when she neared the bottom of the stairs, she had a clear view of three men
standing by the ship’s railing. They had their backs to her. One of them appeared
drunk, and the other two seemed to be holding him up. But when he started to
struggle, it was clear they’d been restraining him. He said something she couldn’t
understand; perhaps it was in Russian. His voice grew louder as the other two
lifted him over the railing and pushed him. He screamed as he fell into the water
and there was a loud splash. The men turned in Nicole’s direction. She froze for
the briefest moment before ducking under a nearby lifeboat, one of several
suspended upside down along the deck’s perimeter.

She was stunned, not just by the violent act she’d witnessed but by the fact
that she recognized the two who’d thrown the third overboard. They were two of
her targets, people whose photos Ian Davies had given her.

My✰✰✰✰✰ Review

Disenchanted with the way her job is working out at Colbert & Smith, private investigator Nicole Graves takes on an assignment for, who she believes to be, the British Government. It sounds simple, just observe some of her fellow passengers on a riverboat cruise in Russia, and report their behavior. What could be easier? And it was, until she witnesses a murder. Then her life takes a turn for the worse, and she’s forever just one step ahead of being arrested by the KGB, that is, until she can escape the country. But when that falls through, she’s on her own.

This is a page-turner that I’m sure you’ll be as delighted to read as I was. Believable characters, hair-raising situations, wonderful setting descriptions, and sharp dialog make this a riveting thriller you won’t want to miss.