The Sad Detective

The novel was translated into all major European languages, and for over thirty years its adaptation was successfully staged at the Mossovet Theatre.

Viktor Petrovich Astafyev is an outstanding classic of Soviet literature, author of books “Cursed and Killed,” “The Last Bow,” “The Shepherd and the Shepherdess.”

Late one evening, Leonid Soshin—an ex-operative of the criminal investigation—returns home. Soshin is only forty-two, but his life is already going off the rails. On the way home, Leonid recalls the years he has lived through and tries to find answers to questions that keep haunting him. Why is there so much grief and suffering in life—and so little love and happiness? Why are Russian people ready to pity a criminal and murderer, but may not even notice how a helpless veteran is dying next door?

First published in 1986, “A Sad Detective” caused a real sensation. The novel was translated into major European languages, and for more than thirty years its adaptation ran successfully on the stage of the Mossovet Theatre.

This edition also includes stories: “Without the Last,” “To Live Life,” “Born by Me,” “From a Quiet Light.”