"Investigation in Riga" by Nikolai Svechin, summary Automatic translate

This book is a historical detective story written in 2016. The plot unfolds in the Russian Empire in the spring of 1898. The protagonist, Alexei Lykov, a court councilor at the Police Department, travels to the Livonian province to investigate an unspecified murder. The author describes the criminal underworld of Riga at the time, where the interests of street gangs, political radicals, and foreign spies intersect.

In 2016, the novel was nominated for the Aunt Agatha award from Dilettante magazine as the best historical detective novel of the year. The series about Alexei Lykov served as the basis for the television series "Evil People."

April 1898 was a difficult month for St. Petersburg detective Alexei Lykov. Sent to the south of the country, he helped the Yekaterinoslav governor track down a brazen gang of robbers. Lykov set an ambush at the estate of landowner Savelyev. The criminals came under heavy fire. After a short trip to Warsaw to apprehend the dangerous robber Springfeder, Lykov returned home. He took a two-week vacation.

A vacation is ruined. Jaan Titus, the manager of the Lykov forest estate, delivers extremely unpleasant news. His older brother, Jāzeps, has been brutally murdered in Riga. Local law enforcement is sabotaging the investigation. The deceased was a known swindler, informant, and fence. Riga detectives consider his death a blessing for the city. Lykov decides to help his old friend. They travel together to Livonia.

Upon arrival, the St. Petersburg official encounters the authorities’ utter indifference. Acting Police Chief Voitov and Detective Chief Knaut refuse to assist their guests. Riga operates under special laws. The German diaspora reigns supreme. Russian administrators often find themselves powerless against pressure from local merchants. The city’s outskirts — the suburbs — are divided among ethnic groups. The Moscow suburb is ruled by disparate Russian gangs. The Zadvinye region is controlled by Latvians.

Lykov and Titus hire former police inspector Alexander Nikiforov. He left the force due to threats from German crime boss Theodor Zweiberg. For a generous cash reward, the retired officer agrees to gather information. Active detective Rastegaev also secretly assists the newcomers. An important detail is revealed: Yazep Titus pocketed the rich spoils of a burglary. He hid the money from Ivan Yaryshkin’s gang. With these funds, the con man secretly purchased a tavern in Zadvinye. He paid the left bank boss of the Dvina, Dead August, to protect the establishment.

The murdered man’s lover, Liza Eglit, hands Lykov her partner’s personal papers. They contain a passport in a false name and a letter from the brokerage firm "Dune." Yazep had briefly worked as a lathe operator at the Phoenix plant. The director of the plant informs the detectives of the reason for Titus’s dismissal. The worker was fired for attempting to steal blueprints for secret military railcars.

Alexey and Jaan break into the broken-in Dune office at night. There they find a pistol with a glowing phosphorus front sight. Nearby lie the numbered rings of military carrier pigeons from the Baranovichi station. Lykov realizes what’s going on. Dune is a front for foreign intelligence. Spies are intercepting pigeon mail and collecting data on military orders from Riga factories. Jazep was listed as their secret agent.

Alexei urgently travels to St. Petersburg. He reports his findings to his friend, military intelligence colonel Viktor Taube. Minister of War Kuropatkin agrees to a joint covert operation. Lykov returns to Riga with an official assignment from the Minister of Internal Affairs. He is tasked with training Riga police officers in athletic defense techniques. This cover gives him the legal right to remain in the city and openly interrogate suspects.

Riga’s gangster intrigues

Lykov begins pressuring the leaders of Riga’s criminal underworld. He meets with Vova Reitar, a leading figure in the Moscow suburb. He then pays a visit to his rival, Ivan Yaryshkin. The detective threatens the criminals with harsh penal servitude and deliberately sets them against each other. He tries to get Riga’s most influential shady businessman, the German Theodor Zweiberg, to talk. Zweiberg maintains an arrogant demeanor and threatens Lykov with his connections at the imperial court. The businessman is selling toxic ether and counterfeit cognac en masse in collusion with local aristocrats. Lykov understands that Zweiberg cannot be reached legally.

Soon, the situation spirals out of control. Unknown assailants kill Vovka Reitar and Ivan Yaryshkin. The Moscow suburb descends into chaos and street fighting. Dead August’s men kidnap Liza Eglit. They are trying to learn the name of the tavern owner, Yazep, so they can take over the establishment. Lykov locates the bandit hangout. He single-handedly knocks out the guards and rescues the woman. The detective hides her in a safe house.

Military intelligence dismantles the Dune agency. The spies are forced to leave the country. It turns out the station belonged to the British, not the Germans. However, the foreigners didn’t kill Yazep.

Capturing the killers

City detectives find Titus’s silver cigarette case. Lykov uses a ruse to get the detained thief Feonent Lakomkin to talk. He finds a piece of paper hidden on the prisoner with a magical incantation to prevent him from going to court. The thief realizes the spell will no longer work and falls into despair. He confesses to having bought the item from a young, blond Latvian. A young man in a black railroad coat was hanging around the seller.

Lykov discovers the affiliation of these people. They are political radicals who call each other "comrades." The leader of the group answers to the name Martin. His two young fighters, Axel and Emil, are fanatical believers in Marxist dogma and hate state authority.

Comrade Martin decided to use Titus’s death as a provocation. Aksel and Emil spread false rumors in the taverns, convincing the drunks that Vova Reitar had killed Jāzep. Thus, the radicals pitted the Russian gangs against each other. The Marxists began methodically killing criminal bosses, hoping to provoke chaos and incite the Riga workers to armed rebellion.

Lykov survives a sudden assassination attempt on a dark street. Axel tries to throw tobacco in his eyes and stab him with a knife. Emil fires a revolver. Alexei narrowly escapes thanks to his excellent reflexes.

Soon, the police identify Aksel. Lykov arrests the militant in a rented apartment. During interrogation, the detective bribes the young man with a large sum. Alexey promises to officially add the money to Aksel’s prison payroll to ensure a comfortable life for him in prison. When Aksel hears the deal, he asks, "How about a thousand?" Having received the desired sum, Skrastyn breaks down and betrays his partner.

He tells the real truth. Emil Karklin stabbed Yazep to death over a cigarette case. There was no ideological motive behind the murder. Martin simply used a banal criminal stabbing for political disinformation.

Lykov, Titus, and Riga police officer Vilboa ambush Emil in Zadvinye. During a brief shootout, Vilboa is shot in the leg. Lykov and Titus disarm the young fanatic. The killers are sent to pretrial detention. The cunning radical leader, Martin, manages to escape just in time.

The investigation is successfully completed. Riga police recognize the high professionalism of the St. Petersburg detective. Alexey Lykov and Jaan Titus pay for Lisa Eglit’s expensive ship ticket to the Far East. She leaves for Vladivostok, where she quickly marries an artillery captain. Lykov returns to the capital. His superiors, represented by Director Zvolyansky, refuse to compensate him for his ruined vacation, citing Alexey’s high income from his estate.

In the epilogues, the author describes the historical consequences of the emergence of the radical underground. During the upheavals of 1905, Latvian extremists unleashed an unprecedented, bloody terror in the Baltics. Martin’s students became professional militants. They later actively participated in the Red Terror and laid the foundations for the Soviet punitive organs.