“The Kyiv Mysteries provide timely lessons for anyone living under an oppressive regime.” —The Atlantic In this riveting installment in the Kyiv Mysteries series, detective Samson investigates the sudden disappearance of a troop of Red Army soldiers from a bathhouse. Fresh from the case of the stolen heart, one that shattered his belief in the regime he works for, Samson Kolechko is confronted by a new mystery that borders on the impossible. A troop of Red Army soldiers has disappeared without a trace while visiting a banya, a traditional Ukrainian bathhouse, in the heart of Kyiv. Their abandoned boots and uniforms are the only proof that they ever existed. Faced with such a fantastical conundrum, Samson must resort to a fantastical investigation method: stitching his operative severed ear into a bathhouse worker's jacket, he is able to eavesdrop on his every move. But he discovers far more than he bargained for, further complicating matters when he uncovers human remains in the stoves and the presence of a sinister religious cult in the city. With his quick-witted new wife Nadezhda at his side, Samson must not only solve the case but navigate the political turmoil that still grips Kyiv as civil war looms and trust between neighbors and comrades is eroded day by day. In this third volume, Andrey Kurkov, Ukraine's greatest living novelist, and a true master of absurd storytelling, vividly depicts a city filled with political turbulence and eccentric characters—and draws playful parallels with the present day. Translated from the Ukrainian by Boris Dralyuk

現代ウクライナの巨匠クルコフが放つ本作は、不条理とリアリズムが交錯する極上のミステリです。兵士の消失という謎を通じ、内戦下のキエフに漂う混沌を鮮烈に描写。切り落とされた耳で盗聴を行うという超現実的な手法は、監視社会の不気味さと真実が霧散する時代の危うさを象徴し、読者を物語の深淵へと一気に引き込みます。 体制への疑念を抱くサムソンと妻ナデジダが立ち向かうのは、単なる事件ではなく、崩壊しつつある社会そのものです。隣人への不信が渦巻く中、本作は抑圧下での人間性の在り方を鋭く問いかけます。過去を描きながら現代にも通じる痛烈なメッセージを秘めたこの傑作は、魂を揺さぶる至高の文学的体験を約束してくれるでしょう。