"A woman growing up in a family of Russian immigrants in the 1910s seeks a thoroughly American life. Yelena is the first American born to her Old Believer Russian Orthodox parents, who left two older daughters behind to build a life in a Pennsylvania Appalachian town. This town, in the first decades of the 20th century, is filled with Russian transplants and a new church with a dome. Here, boys quit grade school for the coal mines and girls are married...

"This Sasha Perlov mystery novel 'Death and Diamonds' continues the exploits of the Russian-born, NYPD detective, son of a Soviet dissident and grandson of the Hero of the Battle of Stalingrad... Spies, couriers, hush money and money laundering figure in this mystery novel. What the police originally label a simple street mugging becomes a case of international intrigue. And front and center is our man Sasha Perlov. The Sasha Perlov mystery series...