This book is the memoirs of one of Russia’s best criminal investigators of the early 20th century, who once oversaw all criminal investigation work of the Russian Empire. The book describes the loudest and most scandalous cases from his practice: abductions of valuables and the secret of the pink diamond, robber attacks and the millions of a monk, murders of famous officials and merchants, marriage fraud schemes and large-scale swindles; the psychology of hunters of “blue blood”; the secrets of card hustlers and the tricks of the red-haired undertaker.
From the pages of the book, the entire dark side of pre-revolutionary Russia appears openly and impartially, and “lost souls of Russia” are also portrayed. And all of it is the true story.