The body, what was left of it, was drifting in Havana Bay the morning Arkady arrived from Moscow. The Cubans insisted that the body was his friend Pribluda, but Arkady wasn't so sure.

The Communist world has shrunk to Cuba. Havana is a city of empty stones and talking drums, Karl Marx and sharp machetes - not welcoming place if you're a Russian, particularly if you're a Russian investigating the death of another Russian. But Arkady is used to being unpopular. He's even used to losing friends.

'If there's a more intoxicating and intriguing setting for a thriller than Moscow, Smith has found it in Havana. Sheer class' Daily Mirror

'I hope a copy of this top-notch thriller reaches Castro as he wises up to the mobsters currently at his gate' Independent

'As in Gorky Park, Cruz Smith is outstanding on background. The feel of Havana is sensuously rendered' Sunday Times