The Kingdom of Flora

Wonderful flowers and inexplicable murders—what do they have in common?.. And yet there is one thing in common: in the fatal wounds of their victims, the killer places exotic flowers. It’s a serial maniac—no one doubts it: the head of the “homicide” department Nikita Kolosov and an employee of the press office of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Katya Petrovska. And he clearly wants to say something by performing this strange and terrifying ritual. The evidence points to the floriculture company “Flora’s Kingdom.” But here it’s quiet and peaceful—florists calmly work with their colorful, aromatic goods, arrange bouquets, compositions, panels… And only a tapestry on the office wall causes a vague unease: it has crocuses, smilaxes, anemones, hyacinths… The very flowers that are found on the bodies of the murdered. To uncover the mystery of the tapestry means to understand the logic of the criminal. And Nikita and Katya find the answer. But is it too late? After all, farewell flowers have already been chosen and prepared for Kolosov…

The novels of the hereditary investigator Tatyana Stepanova allow the reader to visit the literary “room of fear.” Mysterious murders, a nearly tangible atmosphere of the crime, a long, anxious wait for something unknown and frightening—Tatyana Stepanova manages to reproduce all of this brilliantly. Random encounters, everyday matters, minor details are depicted in her detective stories in a special, dramatic light—as if an innocent spring meadow were stretching before an approaching thunderstorm.