Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of Winter’s Season by R.J. Koreto. This novel is published by Histria Fiction, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding original works of fiction.
A historical crime thriller that blends meticulous period detail with fast-paced suspense. Fans of early detective fiction, pre-Victorian London, and morally complex protagonists will be drawn to its vivid setting, sharp dialogue, and psychologically layered characters.
Set in London, 1817—before the existence of a professional police force—Winter’s Season introduces readers to Captain Winter, a war-hardened veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and a discreet government “special emissary” tasked with investigating crimes too sensitive for public scrutiny.
When a wealthy young woman is brutally murdered in a notorious London alley, Winter is drawn into a dangerous investigation that spans glittering aristocratic salons and the city’s darkest streets. With no forensic science and no police force to rely on, Winter must depend on intelligence, instinct, and a circle of unconventional allies—including a nobleman childhood friend, a perceptive Jewish physician, and Barbara Lightwood, a brilliant and enigmatic woman from his wartime past whose secrets may be as dangerous as the killer he hunts. As deception deepens and bodies begin to fall, Winter navigates a web of intrigue, corruption, and moral ambiguity—where survival may come at the cost of his own soul.
R.J. Koreto has been a magazine writer, website manager, textbook editor, novelist, and merchant seaman. Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Vassar College and has wanted to be a writer ever since reading The Naked and the Dead. In addition to his eight mystery novels, he has published short stories in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, and Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon. He and his wife have two grown daughters and divide their time between Rockland County, N.Y., and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
Winter’s Season by R.J. Koreto., 246 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-689-8, is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. Titles published under the imprints of Histria Books are distributed in the United States and Canada by Simon & Schuster and in the rest of the world through Unified Book Distribution. For information on publishing with Histria Books