Provincial Blaze

This fire illuminated the darkest corners. Judicial investigator Ivan Fyodorovich Volovtsov goes on vacation to Ryazan, to visit his beloved aunt. But instead of the long-awaited rest, he finds himself involved in tragic events. His aunt's friend, the harmless old lady Maria Kokoshina, was burned alive. The local police consider this an accident. However, Volovtsov perceives the incident differently. Neighbors saw a stranger entering the house through a back entrance on the night of the fire. Furthermore, the body of the deceased lies too neatly. Finally, valuable watches and bonds worth a large sum have disappeared from the old lady's room. Everything points to a criminal nature of the incident. Soon, the investigator's suspicions are reinforced by another strange event… A historical detective story about a crime from the early last century. The author immerses us in the atmosphere of that time so engagingly that we can literally hear the clatter of cobblestones, the noise of the city market, the ringing of bells, and the piercing whistles of the city guards…