The Cyclops and the Nymph

These crimes took place in the city of Bronnitsy, with a gap of one and a half hundred years… In old times, a sharp sabre killed beautiful lovers—Melania and Makar, the lady and her serf actor… A double murder is investigated by the world mediator Alexander Pushkin, the poet’s son, and his friend—landowner Claudius Mamon­tov. In our time, by means of poison, Savva Psaltyrnikov dies—a major official who managed to amass a huge fortune, build an estate, buy real estate abroad, and open accounts. And before he managed to transfer everything to his son… At the request of the police chief, an unofficial investigation is conducted by Ekaterina Petrovskaya, a criminal reporter from the Press Center of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs, and Claudius Mamon­tov—descendant of that very landowner and a full namesake. What drove the criminals—greed, revenge, passion? And is there a connection between the modern poisoning and the murder from one and a half centuries ago?..