To be published: Q3 2026
The White Ash. A noir crimi story with a sophisticated psychological dimension by contemporary Ukrainian writer Illarion Pavlyuk takes us back to a time when only candles and kerosene lamps provided light, to a village named White Ash. And it is not by an accident. The mysterious white ash covers the entire estate overnight and, according to locals, is connected to a nearby entrance to hell.
Detective Taras White is asked by the owner of the estate to investigate the murder of his daughter. It seems that the murderer can be easily identified, but as the investigation progresses, it becomes apparent that many things do not add up, the villagers behave suspiciously and they are all bound by fear of a mythical demon, against which they paint mysterious white circles. Folkloric motifs and elements of magical realism blend perfectly with the detective plot and unexpected twists. The mysterious character of the detective, who cannot remember half of his life, brings to this environment filled with rituals and occultism the question of the boundary between good and evil, which for certain reasons seems to be shifted in White Ash…