The Charming Woman. Notes of a Judicial Investigator

In 1904, the book «The Charming Woman. Twenty-Four Criminal Stories» was published. These «criminal stories» — easily and cleverly written detective novellas — were based on real cases from the St. Petersburg Detective Police of the early 20th century. Their author, well-acquainted with the criminal life of Petersburg at that time, was none other than Mikhail Frolovich Chulitsky (1840–1921), the head of the Detective Police.

«Observing the diverse personalities of criminals, among whom stand out remarkable characters, I often marveled at the complexity and elusive uniqueness of the combination of the most disparate influences that shape their fateful destiny and cast them out of society.» Thus begins the author's preface to this collection of true detective stories, which even today will surprise the discerning connoisseur of the genre: life sometimes invents plots that the most sophisticated writer's mind would envy.