Entry for the Dead Only

1946. In a mausoleum on one of the Tambov cemeteries, the body of a young woman is found. Investigators learn that the victim is Olga Filatova, an employee of the local hospital and the widow of a frontline soldier. She has a three-year-old daughter, but after her mother’s death the child vanishes without a trace. Several people immediately come under suspicion: Filatova’s partner, with whom she began living after her husband’s death; a hospital patient—an invalid; and also a local simpleton who had been paying her attention for a long time. The operatives check one version after another, but there is no clarity. Soon, a new terrible piece of news arrives: in a river, another murdered woman is discovered—and her child is missing as well. Could it be that a maniac is at large in the city? The investigation is almost ready to accept this horrifying conclusion, when a young junior detective, Ilya Zhuravlev, turns up an unexpected explanation for what is happening…

The chance to be again in one of the most striking periods of Soviet history—the first postwar years. Real prototypes, authentic criminal stories, tense intrigue, and sharp plot twists.

Characters reminiscent of iconic images from the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed.” The atmosphere of the time, carefully preserved by family memory. Truthfully and unusually portrayed is the “inner kitchen” of the everyday work of Soviet police.