The Tsarina's Mask

When Detektiv Kazakov finds himself assigned to a murder investigation in the winter-bound mountains of southern Fergana, he considered it a chance to reacquaint himself with a part of the country that he once loved. Instead of welcome, he finds a tribal community overrun with Russian tourists and a groundswell of festering resentment amongst the mountain people.

Regardless of his tribal connections, no one wants to deal with a Russian detective from the city, and that includes the resident police. With too-few suspects for the murder of a well-respected tribal healer, Kazakov must reach deep to build connections, but then the situation worsens when Kazakov's nemesis appears on the scene. A mounting body count sends Kazakov deep into the inhospitable mountains, but nothing prepares him for what he finds and the betrayal bound up in murder.