Set in Russia and in the English seaside town of Hastings, Under a Russian Heaven follows James Eastaway, a young Englishman working as a teacher in a provincial Russian city, whose carefree life as a fledging expat spirals out of control after he meets the beautiful daughter of a local businessman.
Influenced by Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and the dark film noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, it captures a straight-talking, noir style, coupled with a dose of black humour.