A Vengeful Longing confirms what RN Morris' previous novel, A Gentle Axe, suggested - that here is major talent in the increasingly overcrowded historical crime field. On the evidence here, Morris is writing novels that rival the very best in the genre in terms of atmosphere, plausible historical detail and exemplary plotting. Two people - a mother and son -- are murdered; a box of chocolates delivered by woman's husband contains an agonising poison. The detectives investigating the killing (in which the doctor husband is, of course, the prime suspect - and seems to telegraph his guilt when interviewed) are the novice Virginsky and the experienced Porfiry Petrovich - the later, of course, the protagonist in Morris' previous books -- And the policeman in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, no less. Morris audaciously utilised Petrovich in his previous novel. That gamble (cheeky though it was) has paid off handsomely there - and does so once again in A Vengeful Longing.

19th-century Russia is once again evoked with total authority, and the murder investigation has the compulsiveness of modern crime fiction - with the added frisson of a brilliantly conjured period setting. The continuation of characters created by other authors is nothing new, but few have the chutzpah of RN Morris - or the skill to pull off (not once, but twice - and more, we are told) this daring trick. --Barry Forshaw