Farewell, Byzantium

A curse seems to pursue the large Abakanov family—of several brothers and sisters, three have already been killed. They were murdered brutally and unexpectedly. And it seems this won’t be the end. For what kind of punishment is this honorable and apparently prosperous family to blame? They are all descendants of the ominously legendary general Abakanov—the “Stalinist satrap” who sent hundreds and hundreds of people to the GULAG. Is this some belated revenge against the general?

The head of the homicide department, Nikita Kolosov, is convinced of it. And Katya Petrovska, a staff member of the press office, is tormented by vague doubts. The cause, seemingly, is trivial—an ancient Byzantine coin found at the scene of one of the crimes. In that dull gold light, Katya can’t stop feeling that suddenly the truth will gleam…