With Shield and Sword

In the eighteenth century, crimes were committed no less than in our time. But, as is well known, law and order in a country is determined not by the presence of thieves, but by the ability of the authorities to neutralize them.

These two handle the job brilliantly: brothers Ivan and Pyotr Eliseyev, detectives of the Secret Chancellery.

The year is 1736. A church superior is murdered in a modest provincial monastery. By the personal order of Empress Anna Ioannovna, the Eliseyev brothers are sent to investigate the murder. Who could have known that a case that looks routine at first would touch many different circles of society—from highway robbers to influential noblemen? What’s more: the future of the empire is also at stake…