Moscow Underground by Catherine Merridale

Moscow Underground by Catherine Merridale is a compelling fusion of history, mystery, and political tension, set against the charged atmosphere of Stalin’s Soviet Union. Known for her distinguished career as a historian, Merridale brings to fiction the same meticulous eye for detail and nuance that marks her non-fiction work. The result is an immersive and intellectually rich debut novel that captures both the grandeur and the terror of 1930s Moscow.

The story begins in 1934, as the Soviet capital undergoes a monumental transformation. Stalin’s Moscow is a city both haunted by the past and obsessed with constructing its future - literally, through the creation of the new underground metro. When a respected archaeologist, working on excavations linked to the subway, is found murdered, Investigator Anton Belkin is drawn into a case that quickly proves to be far more dangerous than it first appears. Pressured by his former lover, Vika, now a formidable officer in the secret police, Belkin finds himself entangled in a web of deceit, ideology, and buried secrets that threaten not only his life but his very sense of truth.

Merridale’s protagonist is quietly magnetic. Anton Belkin is no typical detective hero; he is cautious, conflicted, and painfully aware of the peril of asking questions in Stalin’s Moscow. Through him, Merridale explores the moral compromises and private fears that shaped everyday survival in a regime where loyalty could be fatal and silence was often the only form of resistance. His relationship with his father, a once-lauded revolutionary artist now fallen out of political favour, provides a poignant thread of generational disillusionment. The emotional undercurrent between Belkin and Vika, meanwhile, adds both tension and tragedy, embodying the human cost of ideological devotion.

At its heart, Moscow Underground is a novel about excavation, of history, of memory, and of moral truth. The murder investigation functions as a conduit for deeper reflection on what it means to build a future on foundations of repression and erasure. Merridale deftly interlaces the physical unearthing of Moscow’s subterranean past with the psychological excavation of her characters’ loyalties and regrets.

Merridale’s Moscow is vividly realised: a city shrouded in perpetual cold and suspicion, its air thick with the weight of propaganda and fear. Her background as a historian is evident in the precision of her detail from bureaucratic jargon to the texture of rationed bread, but this authenticity never overwhelms the narrative. The pacing is measured rather than frenetic, yet the sense of peril remains constant, carried by an undercurrent of paranoia that recalls the best of historical noir.

Examining power, ideology, and art under totalitarianism, Merridale’s insight into how political systems manipulate truth and memory gives the book both historical and contemporary resonance. While some readers may find the plot secondary to the historical immersion, this is arguably part of its design; Moscow Underground is less a conventional thriller than a study of complicity and courage under oppression.

As a debut work of fiction, it is an impressive achievement - layered, intelligent, and emotionally resonant. Moscow Underground confirms Catherine Merridale as not only a master historian but also a gifted storyteller, capable of turning the darkest corners of history into compelling human drama.

Reviewer: Chris Reed

William Collins