William Ryan - The Twelfth Department

My agent, Andrew Gordon, of David Higham Associates, always reads the earliest drafts of my novels and manages to be both an incisive and an enthusiastic critic—exactly what a writer needs. I’m very fortunate to have him looking after me, not least because he and his colleagues, particularly Tine Nielsen, Ania Corless, and Stella Giatrakou, have ensured the Korolev novels have been published in seventeen countries and counting. I’m particularly grateful to Kelley Ragland of Minotaur and Nina Salter of Editions des Deux Terres, who have been very generous in their support and encouragement.

George Lucas of Inkwell Management in New York has also been a careful reader of the Korolev novels, an enthusiastic advocate and a source of sound advice.

I knew before I began writing that having a good editor and a good publisher was important to an author—I now know just how important. I’m always aware of the many people at Mantle and Pan Macmillan who contribute to the success of the Korolev novels, in particular Katie James who handles publicity, Will Atkins who did a great copy-edit on The Twelfth Department, and the wonderful Sophie Orme who does, it seems, just about everything. However, my editor, and publisher, Maria Rejt is—well—Maria. With each novel I understand that little bit more how lucky I am to be both edited and published by her.

William Ryan is author of The Holy Thief , which was a Barry Award Nominee for Best First Novel and shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Born in London, Ryan attended Trinity College, Dublin and completed his Masters in Creative Writing at St. Andrews University.

The Darkening Field

The Holy Thief

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE TWELFTH DEPARTMENT. Copyright © 2013 by William Ryan. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

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Cover design by James Iacobelli

Cover photographs: sky © Michaela Stejskalova; buildings © E.O./ Shutterstock.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Ryan, William, 1965–

The Twelfth Department / William Ryan. — First U.S. edition.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-58652-2 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-250-03205-8 (e-book)

1. Detectives—Russia (Federation)—Moscow—Fiction. 2. Murder—Investigation—Russia (Federation)—Moscow—Fiction. 3. Families—Fiction. 4. Soviet Union—Politics and government—1936–1953—Fiction. I. Title.

PR6118.Y37T84 2013

823’.92—dc23

2013011923

e-ISBN 9781250032058

First published 2013 by Mantle, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

First U.S. Edition: July 2013