Citizen Orlov

A 2024 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Silver Medal Winner

A 2024 IPPY Award Bronze Medal Winner

A 2024 Silver Falchion Award Finalist

“[An] enjoyable comic fable . . .” —Wall Street Journal

“This auspicious debut announces a bright new voice in comic suspense.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Not every fishmonger can be a secret agent.

Journey to an unnamed mountainous country in central Europe at the end of the Great War. Enter Citizen Orlov, a simple fishmonger and an honest, upright citizen, who answers a phone call meant for a secret agent and stumbles into a hidden world of espionage and secrecy. Recruited by the Ministry of Security, he is sent on assignment to safeguard the king.

But Orlov soon discovers that his ministry handler, the alluring femme fatale Agent Zelle, is planning not to protect the king but to assassinate him. Caught in a web of plot and counterplot, confusing loyalties, and explosive betrayals, Orlov finds himself on trial for murder. Given the opportunity to clear his name, he finds that the lives of his friends, mother, and fellow citizens hang in the balance.

Jonathan Payne is a British-American writer based in New York City. He holds a Master of Arts degree in novel writing from Middlesex University, London. His debut novel, Citizen Orlov, was published by CamCat Books in May 2023. Apple Books named it one of the Books of the Month. It won the 2024 IBPA Ben Franklin Silver Medal for Mystery/Thriller and the 2024 IPPY Bronze Medal for Suspense/Thriller.