“A Bomb for the Countess” is the first novel by Marta Taro, opening an exciting cycle “Gallant Detective,” whose heroes and tangled plotlines seem to have stepped out of mysterious Tarot cards—historical detective fiction.
In 1826, Lady Vera Chernys(h)ova learned firsthand what it means to fall from the heights of prosperity into complete unknown: after the uprising on Senate Square, her brother was arrested, and then her family loses almost all of its property. However, that isn’t the end of the countess’s troubles—someone tries to blow up her carriage. Vera withdraws to her grandmother’s estate, but even in quiet Polesia they try to kill her again. Trying to unravel this deadly riddle and catch the murderer, Captain Sheglov takes on the investigation of the crimes.