The Tavern on Pyatnitskaya. Agony. Omega Variant

The name of Nikolai Leonov is well known to fans of the detective genre. In the 1950s-1960s, the future writer worked in the Moscow criminal investigation department, and after leaving the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the rank of captain, he took up literary creativity. He is the author of many novels and stories recognized as classics of domestic detective fiction and which became a "school" for the next generation of writers. "The Tavern on Pyatnitskaya" and "Omega Variant" ("Operation Viking") are perhaps his most famous works. The first one unfolds an exciting story set during the New Economic Policy. An officer from the MUR infiltrates a gang of repeat criminals, but it turns out that there is a criminal agent among the police officers as well... The plot of the second novel (co-authored with Yu. Kostrov) relates to the time of the Great Patriotic War and is based on documentary materials about the work of Soviet spies. These works are familiar to many from their adaptations, in which brilliant actors starred: Alexander Galibin (the charming Pashka Amerika), Nikolai Yeremenko, and Lev Prygunov in the film "The Tavern on Pyatnitskaya"; Oleg Dahl, Irina Pechernikova, and Alexander Kalyagin in the film "Omega Variant". The book also includes the detective-adventure stories "Agony", "Ring", and "Knockout". A master of the detective genre, Leonov virtuously constructs the plot in each of them and maintains intrigue until the very end.