R. N Morris is the author of the Porfiry Petrovich series of historical crime novels, featuring the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s masterpiece Crime and Punishment.

Praise for Roger Morris:

'The Raleigh of Fortune’s Hand is a seasick sailor, a sentimental war criminal, and a courtier of trouble as much as royalty. In this vivid, fast-moving account R. N. Morris captures the contradictions of the age in visceral descriptions and soaring flights of fancy - and all meticulously researched.' Lawrence Norfolk, author of Lempriere’s Dictionary

'Morris’ recreation of the seamy side of 19th-century St Petersburg is vivid and convincing … As to who did it, Morris keeps the reader guessing until the end.' The Independent

'Morris has created an atmospheric St Petersburg, and a stylish set of intellectual problems, but what makes A Gentle Axe such an effective debut is its fascination with good and evil.' Times Literary Supplement

'Morris’s descriptions of the horrors of insanitary slum dwellings in St Petersburg are extraordinarily vivid, but the most striking feature of the novel is the way in which Porfiry’s sophisticated understanding of human nature compensates for the limited investigatory tools at his disposal.' The Times

'… a book that satisfies on more than one level — as a story of investigation and also as a historical novel crammed with sharply individualised characters.' Andrew Taylor in the Spectator

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