A Purely Russian Crime. The Loudest and Most Mysterious Criminal Cases of the 18th – 20th Centuries

In the new book by the famous human rights activist and journalist Eva Merkacheva, author of the bestsellers "Loud Cases", "The City of the Doomed", and "Who is Well Off in Russia", interesting criminal cases are discussed – from those that resonated throughout Russia to those kept secret (until recently). It includes judicial proceedings from the tsarist era, including trials of witches and poisoners. For the first time, unique court materials related to Leo Tolstoy – a world judge, juror, and... accused of murder – are published. You will learn about the trial of the executioner of Lieutenant Schmidt and the notorious case of the inventor of the theremin, Termen, and read about justice in besieged and post-siege Leningrad, as well as high-profile post-war legal proceedings.
The author meticulously collected materials about murders that shocked the entire country – such as the Raskin case, the terrorist attack at Kotlyakovsky Cemetery, and the mysterious death of the Dyatlov Pass expedition. The book includes the high-profile case of Joseph Brodsky on parasitism and the large family of Ovechkins for hijacking a plane in the 1980s.
The book is written in the genre of judicial sketches and contains unique archival materials, including illustrative ones, many of which have not been published before.