Man spürt als Leser, wie der Krieg noch die ganzen Nebenfiguren sowie die Landschaften beeinflusst hat. It talks about friendship, trust and death in a child-friendly way without giving kids the feeling that you don't trust them they couldn't stomach such heavy topics. His inquiries take him from Leningrad to Moscow and involve victims of the Soviet gulags to the highest offices in the land.

It is obvious that the author depended much on portraying the era's political and security situation to give meat to the story. The serial killer element and its relation to the Leningrad philharmonic is clever enough, but as a whodunnit it barely passes muster. Obviously, I am not the intended audience for this, so a room full of Middle Graders may have a completely different opinion than me. Surprisingly, Nikitin becomes his ally in pursuing rapists and murderers among Stalin's top ranking leaders. Now serving as a Lieutenant, he is investigating a gruesome, macabre scene of five bodies laid on train tracks running parallel to each other.I may have exaggerated a lot here but what I am trying to say is that this is a Middle Grade book and we should approach it as one. I saw some negative reviews (all from adult readers) which actually made me go into this with lower expectations. Auch wenn ich selbst mit slawischen Namen vertraut bin, fand ich es sehr schwierig, mir die ganzen Namen der Figuren – abseits von Rossel – zu merken.

If my life were as aesthetic as Victoria's covers, I would have had an editorial in VOGUE years ago. Cassidy’s parents were pretty kick-ass though and I loved the fact that they spoke about ghosts and were experts but didn’t even have a clue that their own daughter could actually see and talk to them. All said this is still a decent thriller with good writing and strong characters who could easily carry a series. Clever entertaining and imaginative with superb characters, as our hero a former violinist with a seemingly glittering future ahead of him, is now a state militia detective tasked with investigating the gruesome find of five dead bodies. The overall atmosphere of this book is immaculate and I’m so excited to read future installments in this series.I also LOVED that this was set in Edinburgh; if I’m correct, each book in the series takes place in a different city, which I think is super cool. Mary King's Close" sounded too fascinating to pass on it and since I’m a little history geek Edinburgh sounds like the perfect place to be. Revol Rossel - once a virtuoso violinist with a glittering future - is now a humble state militia cop, forced to investigate desperate crimes in this desperate era. From the very first page, it is enthralling, impressive and thrilling, and there’s no doubt that it’s a perfect read for the spookiest month in the lunar calendar!

He went on to graduate from Southbank University in London with a 2:1 in politics and since then he has had various jobs in retail, cinema, and telesales and has kept a keen, almost obsessive, interest in current affairs. The descriptions of the intense torture and deaths of and by the musicians of Leningrad are genuinely stomach turning.

I loved getting to know different places around the city and it definitely added to the atmosphere of the book. I saw someone compare this novel to “Strangers Things meets Ghost Hunters” and I 100% agree with this sentiment. I loved seeing these scary places though the eyes of Cassidy, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. I don’t know how her other YA and adult books are but after giving “City of Ghosts” a try I’m convinced that I’ll like her other series as well. If you are afraid of her denser, more adult books , just start with this as it's an excellent middle grade book and just a cute story overall.

It was relevant to the series as a whole, but it wasn’t relevant to the specific book, and it ended up bothering me a lot, because there was just no focus on the specific book’s plot. And while in Scotland, Cassidy meets a ghost that is more evil than any of the others she’s ever encountered before.

With neither the charm of Cruz Smith or his compelling prose it's hard to feel much, if anything, for the disabled protagonist. It has a lot of harry potter references which can you find just okay like me or can really annoy you.