11 Nov Asya M Pereltsvaig Murder in Petrograd The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog @cathiedunn

FEATURED AUTHOR: ASYA M. PERELTSVAIG

I’m delighted to host Asya M. Pereltsvaig as the featured author in the The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog being held between November 9th – 13th, 2026. Asya M. Pereltsvaig is the author of the Historical Fiction, Murder in Petrograd, published by Historium Press on September 8, 2026 (392 pages). 

Below are highlights of Murder in Petrograd, Asya M. Pereltsvaig’s author bio, and an excerpt of the novel.

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2026/10/blog-tour-murder-in-petrograd-by-asya-m-pereltsvaig.html

HIGHLIGHTS: MURDER IN PETROGRAD

Murder in Petrograd
By Asya M Pereltsvaig

Blurb:

Petrograd, 1916. As Russia is swept up in the maelstrom of war, Oswald Rayner, a bookish Oxford graduate, is sent by British Intelligence to Petrograd. His mission is to curb Rasputin’s influence and eliminate the man himself if needed. But Oswald soon realizes that his remit goes against his morals. Will he shirk his duty or be forever haunted by the blood on his hands and the burden of secrecy?

Murder in Petrograd re-imagines the web of forces surrounding Rasputin’s murder in a gripping saga of obsession, politics, loyalty, friendship, love, and fate. Taking the reader from Russia in 1905 to Oxford and California fifty-five years later, the novel delves into the emotional lives of a wide cast of real historical figures to explore the central questions of power, complicity, morality, and destiny. Murder in Petrograd asks whether it is ever morally right to take the life of a human being, however repugnant and dangerous he might be. Blending archival research, immersive period detail, and vivid narrative reconstruction, it bridges scholarship and storytelling with cinematic scope.

Any Triggers: murder

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/49rOgp

AUTHOR BIO: ASYA M. PERELTSVAIG

Asya Pereltsvaig is a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia. After earning a BA in English and History and a doctorate in Linguistics and teaching at Cornell and Stanford, she turned to doing what she loves most: teaching Russian history in lifelong education and writing historical fiction.

Her debut historical fiction novel, centered on the assassination of Rasputin, is a sweeping saga of murder, love and fate. Her upcoming historical mystery series, Detective Rosen Mysteries, explores social tensions, political instability and the world of crime in the early 20th-century Saint Petersburg.

When she is not writing, Asya is an intrepid traveler, avid reader, and dedicated ballroom dancer.

Author Links:

Historium Press author page     Website     Facebook      Instagram 

Threads     Amazon Author Page     Goodreads

EXCERPT: MURDER IN PETROGRAD

Irina buried her face in her husband’s chest and burst into tears on his shoulder:

“I thought I might never see you again,” she wailed.

“There, there, it’s alright, my love, I’m here now,” Felix stroked her hair as if she were a child. 

“I wouldn’t want our child to grow fatherless,” she continued sobbing inconsolably.

“Our child, my darling?” he asked, bewildered.

“Yes, yes, we are going to have a little one!” Irina choked back tears, realizing her that crying was not good for the baby.

Felix hugged her even firmer:

“We must go home! At once!” he said resolutely. “Our baby must be born and brought up in Russia.”

But it was easier said than done. Although the authorities told them to immediately leave Berlin, they provided them with no means to do so. Trains were cancelled, and roads — even if they could find an automobile on such a short notice — were closed. Their money, it seemed, lost all its value at once. The only thing that they still appeared to possess and which could get them out of Germany was their connections, so they made a frantic use of the hotel telephone that day.

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