The Gardener from Ochakov Book Cover

The Gardener from Ochakov


A Mystery Novel


Subgenres:

  • Time Travel,
  • Soviet Ukraine,
  • Historical Mystery
Buy from Amazon

This book is for you if you're into...

  • Time travel mishaps with Soviet-era secrets
  • Darkly comic mysteries set in 1950s Kiev
  • Awkward run-ins with wine smugglers and suspicious gardeners
Publisher Description

When Igor accidentally travels back to 1957, he finds out that the past isn't as rosy as it seems. In fact, it's positively dangerous.

Igor is confident his old Soviet policeman's uniform will be the best costume at the party. But he hasn't gone far before he realizes something is wrong. The streets are unusually dark and empty, and the only person to emerge from the shadows runs away from him in terror.

After a perplexing conversation with the terrified man, who turns out to be a wine smuggler, and on recovering from the resulting hangover, Igor comes to an unbelievable conclusion: he has found his way back to 1957 Kiev. And it isn't the innocent era his mother and her friends have so sentimentally described.

As he travels between centuries, his life becomes more and more complicated. The unusual gardener who lives in his mother's shed keeps disappearing, his best friend has blackmailed the wrong people, and Igor has fallen in love with a married woman in a time before he was born. With his mother's disapproval at his absences growing, and his adventures in each time frame starting to catch up with him, Igor has to survive the past if he wants any kind of future.

More Andrey Kurkov

Follow This Author

Sign up & we'll email you when a new title is available for pre-order or hits the bookshelf

Little Stacks of Mystery

Get Mystery eBook Deals

Curated reads, irresistible prices—subscribe now

Add this book to your To Be Read list

Sign up to build your personal library

Archive This Book

Sign up to build your personal library