The Sign of the Salamander

"Harry Potter" in a Russian setting—with its Ministry of Magic, dragon-catchers, and dragons. Magical Russia. The near future.

Katya Platonova works at the Department for Licensing dragon-catchers, and her life is full of office routine and loneliness. After all, the girl has a secret that pushes away everyone who is dear to her. But one day someone learns her secret and cruelly sets her up: Katya is accused of killing a new employee, Alena—something only she could have done.

To figure out this dark story, Katya’s colleague calls in a Salamander—a magical creature that can see the truth. The Salamander frees the girl from confinement and tasks her with investigating Alena’s death herself in order to prove her own innocence.

It turns out that the death of the Department’s employee is only one link in a chain of murders…

— "A captivating mixture of everyday life and magic, routine and adventure, omnipotence of magical forces and human weaknesses. An atmospheric story about how to investigate a murder, file a report on time, and raise a pet dragon."
— Sofya Bayun, writer and author of the book "Mechanical Birds Don’t Sing"