Martin Cruz Smith's latest installment of the Arkady Renko series was published last summer, "Stalin's Ghost."

In advance of reading this tome, I spent most of the summer catching up and read all but the first, Gorky Park (which I'd read many years ago) and the latest.

I finally got around to reading Stalin's Ghost and was not disappointed. Set mostly in Moscow, Renko is at home asking questions, upsetting the order of things, and getting to the bottom of things against all odds.

Zenya is still with Renko so too is Eva who came back with him from Chernobyl (Wolves Eat Dogs). While Zenya runs away and Eva leaves Renko for another detective, Arkady is charged with unofficially investigating sightings of Stalin on the subway late at night.

The book provides a better understanding of Renko's past including his childhood and mother's death. It also explains Zenya's youth and reveals his father.

All in all another great book by Cruz Smith.