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The Alibi of St. PetersburgA crime novel by Olga Sverchkova about an old murder case that returns twenty-two years later
After more than twenty years of legal practice, Olga Vorontsova is closing her St Petersburg office and preparing to leave for Tbilisi. Among the files she has kept all this time is the case of Alexei Gromov, a man she defended on a murder charge in 2004.
She remembers the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case, the contradictions in the evidence and her first acquittal. She has no particular reason to question any of it.
Until a message arrives from an unknown number:
“You saved a murderer back then.”
She remembers the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case, the contradictions in the evidence and her first acquittal. She has no particular reason to question any of it.
Until a message arrives from an unknown number:
“You saved a murderer back then.”
A case she thought was over
In 2004, Marina Lebedeva was found dead in her St Petersburg apartment. Alexei Gromov had been having an affair with her. His fingerprints were in the apartment, a neighbour had heard a man’s voice, and Gromov had lied about where he was that evening.
To the prosecution, the case looked straightforward. To his twenty-nine-year-old advocate, it did not. There were contradictions in witness statements, questions about the evidence and enough uncertainty for Olga to challenge the prosecution’s version of events. Gromov was acquitted, Olga went on with her career, and the file stayed on the bottom shelf of her cabinet for more than twenty years.
Then somebody decided she should look at it again.
To the prosecution, the case looked straightforward. To his twenty-nine-year-old advocate, it did not. There were contradictions in witness statements, questions about the evidence and enough uncertainty for Olga to challenge the prosecution’s version of events. Gromov was acquitted, Olga went on with her career, and the file stayed on the bottom shelf of her cabinet for more than twenty years.
Then somebody decided she should look at it again.
An old file can change its meaning
Olga remembers what she knew in 2004. Returning to the case means facing what she did not know.
Two coffee cups stood on Marina’s kitchen table. Beside them lay a packet of cigarettes, although Marina did not smoke. A neighbour was certain about what she had heard until other people’s questions began to blur her own memory.
None of this proves what happened to Marina Lebedeva. But it is enough to make Olga open a file she had meant to pack away for good.
Two coffee cups stood on Marina’s kitchen table. Beside them lay a packet of cigarettes, although Marina did not smoke. A neighbour was certain about what she had heard until other people’s questions began to blur her own memory.
None of this proves what happened to Marina Lebedeva. But it is enough to make Olga open a file she had meant to pack away for good.
Read the first three chapters for freeChapters One to Three: ‘The Last Day’, ‘Marina’ and ‘Gromov’
The first three chapters of The Alibi of St. Petersburg are free to read here, with no sign-up.
Meet Olga Vorontsova on the last day of her legal career, return to Marina Lebedeva’s apartment on the night of the murder, and follow Olga as she finds Alexei Gromov and asks him the question he refused to answer at the time.
Meet Olga Vorontsova on the last day of her legal career, return to Marina Lebedeva’s apartment on the night of the murder, and follow Olga as she finds Alexei Gromov and asks him the question he refused to answer at the time.
Winning the case was one thing. Knowing what happened was another.
At twenty-nine, Olga knew exactly what her job required. The prosecution had accused her client of murder, and it was up to the prosecution to prove it. Her task was to defend her client, not to establish the ultimate truth. Gromov remembers that distinction too.
When Olga asks again where he was on the night Marina died, he reminds her that he refused to answer that question in 2004. Back then, he says, she was interested not in whether he had killed Marina, but in whether the investigator could prove it. Now she wants to know whether he did.
And Gromov has a question of his own: who sent the message?
When Olga asks again where he was on the night Marina died, he reminds her that he refused to answer that question in 2004. Back then, he says, she was interested not in whether he had killed Marina, but in whether the investigator could prove it. Now she wants to know whether he did.
And Gromov has a question of his own: who sent the message?
You might want to keep reading if…
You like old cases that refuse to stay in the past
The murder was investigated, a man was charged, a court reached its verdict and everyone moved on. The documents are still there, and so are the things nobody thought worth questioning at the time.
You enjoy crime fiction with a legal world behind it
Olga knows how a criminal case is built because she spent her professional life inside that system. She knows what belongs in a file, what a witness can genuinely remember, what an investigator needs to prove and how easily a convincing version of events can become the accepted one.
You prefer clues that do not announce themselves
Nothing in the file looks hidden. Details that seemed ordinary in 2004 begin to mean something different when someone finally asks the right question.
You like St Petersburg as part of the story
This is the city where Olga was born, became an advocate and spent her whole working life. As she prepares to leave it, an old case pulls her back into streets, offices and memories she thought she had already packed away.
About The Alibi of St. Petersburg
The Alibi of St. Petersburg is a crime novel and legal thriller by Olga Sverchkova, set in two periods: St Petersburg in 2004, when Marina Lebedeva is murdered and Alexei Gromov is prosecuted, and twenty-two years later, when his former advocate returns to the case she once thought was finished.
The novel asks who killed Marina. It also asks what happens when an advocate looks back at a case she won and begins asking questions that were not part of her job the first time.
The first three chapters are free to read on the author’s website.
The novel asks who killed Marina. It also asks what happens when an advocate looks back at a case she won and begins asking questions that were not part of her job the first time.
The first three chapters are free to read on the author’s website.
About the Author
My name is Olga Sverchkova. I spent more than twenty years practising law in St Petersburg, including work on criminal cases, and for many years I also wrote about the law and the people behind legal problems. My legal column won the Golden Pen of Russia award.
The Alibi of St. Petersburg brings together two parts of my life: legal practice and fiction. The characters, the murder and the investigation are invented, but the professional world in which the story takes place is one I know well.
The Alibi of St. Petersburg brings together two parts of my life: legal practice and fiction. The characters, the murder and the investigation are invented, but the professional world in which the story takes place is one I know well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Alibi of St. Petersburg about?
It is a crime novel about Olga Vorontsova, an advocate who receives an anonymous message about a murder case she won twenty-two years earlier. When she returns to the old file and finds Alexei Gromov, the man she once defended, questions that did not matter to her work as his advocate begin to matter now.
Is The Alibi of St. Petersburg based on a true case?
No. The characters, the murder and the investigation are fictional. The professional setting draws on Olga Sverchkova’s more than twenty years of legal practice.
Is it a detective novel or a legal thriller?
It has elements of both. The story turns on an old murder, while evidence, witness statements, investigative procedure and the tension between an advocate’s duty and the truth drive the plot.
Where is the novel set?
Mainly in St Petersburg. The story moves between the murder investigation in 2004 and events twenty-two years later, as Olga Vorontsova prepares to leave for Tbilisi.
Can I read The Alibi of St. Petersburg for free?
Yes. The first three chapters are free to read on the website, with no sign-up.
Start with the case that was supposed to be over
Begin with Olga Vorontsova’s last day as an advocate, return to the night Marina Lebedeva was murdered, and meet the man Olga defended in 2004.
Then decide whether the verdict really answered the most important question.
Then decide whether the verdict really answered the most important question.
Contact the Author
Questions about the book, reviews, interviews, or collaborations? You can reach me directly.