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In this stunning reimagining of a nineteenth-century Russian crime thriller from the world of Dostoevsky, Carol Adlam presents Charlie Fox, stunt journalist, magician, liar and thief, who reluctantly returns to her hometown of Nowheregrad to investigate the murder of Elena Ruslanova, daughter of a fabulously wealthy glass manufacturer.
In Nowheregrad Charlie finds herself caught up in a multi-layered story that is told through the richly varied visual devices of the time. With the unwitting assistance of her lover, Netochka, Charlie unravels the mystery of the Bobrov family, only to face the truth about herself.
Exquisitely drawn and compellingly told, Adlam's complex, elegant narrative brings to life the lost legacies of early crime fiction and the first women journalists and detectives.
REVIEWS
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REVIEWS 〰️
Guardian and Observer Graphic Novel of the Month
Page 45 Graphic Novel of the Month
The Scotsman Books of the Year
“A Thrilling Tour de Force” - Comics Laureate Stephen Holland
“Eat Your Heart out, Dostoevsky” - Val McDermid, Queen of Crime
“Could not be more rich or more beautiful if it tried. This is a book that replays multiple readings… [it is] so deeply atmospheric and so inordinately beautiful.”
“It feels like there’s nothing she cannot do with her pen and her paintbrush ”
“Grin-inducingly clever, this is a thrilling tour de force [...] Each device is so skillfully selected for precisely the right moment: the sensationalist front pages, the photogravure captured by aerial balloon, a trip to a Magic Lantern Theatre, a peep through a Peepshow [...] I am all of a swoon!”
“The Russian Detective is truly incredible… a gorgeous intricate work of art with a really gripping and touching story. The book took me to Russia so fully that I could almost taste the vodka! Carol Adlam does character detail so well, all her illustrations are full of daring experiments with scale and structure, but also so many small moments of humour and warmth.”
“I mightily enjoyed lingering over this beautifully-drawn story. A deliciously layered palimpsest of texture, period pastiche and detail; subversive, immersive and elegant”
“I was bowled over by this book […] accomplished with superlative skill […] sure to be on the shortlist for graphic novel of the year accolades”
Girton Time
Carol Adlam first crossed the threshold of Girton College as the Mary Amelia Cummins Harvey Visiting Fellow Commoner in October 2021. She spent the next year haunting its corridors, lurking in stairwells, lying in long grass, drawing wheatfields, wind tunnels, laboratories, offices, libraries, archives, basements, bike huts, and clock innards.
Using rapid drawing techniques and materials including charcoal, printmaking, and chalk on blackboard, she focused on fleeting interactions and neglected spaces in order to tell new stories about the College and its people.
Adam Crothers’ and James Wade’s poems sit alongside the artwork, agreeing and disagreeing, remixing and riffing on its themes of daily time and deep time that underpin the life of the College in all its variety.
Details
240 x 300 mm
136 pages
108 colour images
Hardcover, printed and foiled cover, section sewn, speciality papers and full colour printing throughout.
English
Published by Beam Editions
ISBN 978-1-7399865-9-9
1st Edition 2023
