The Mysterious Bride

"The Mysterious Bride" is the second novel in a new cycle of detective stories by Yulia Yakovleva, set in the early 19th century. The author brings the chosen era closer to the atmosphere of a modern "cool" detective: a Russian rotmistr of 1812, who unwittingly becomes a sleuth, uncovers a crime that appears contemporary — yet is possible in any era.

In the spring of 1813, the war is already over. Murin returns to his estate to find that it has been destroyed and burned. The provincial society excitedly sees Murin as a "bridegroom" and discusses their news: who has gained weight, whose dog has given birth, and the landowner Yukh Novaja has died under strange circumstances. Murin decides to take a closer look at this death, which means examining the family of the deceased landowner. Everyone has a motive. The three adult children of Yukh Novaja (Arkady, Tatyana, and Yegor, who went to war) desperately need money. But the most suspicious appears to be the wife of the elder son, who died at Borodino, Elena Karlovna. Is she really who she claims to be?