"Heroes Are Not Killed" by Elena Topilskaya, summary Automatic translate

"Heroes Are Not Killed" is a detective novel by Elena Topilskaya, published in 2002. Topilskaya is an active investigator in the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office, and this professional experience lends the book a rare authenticity: the legal proceedings, the work of the investigators, detectives, and forensic experts are described without fictional embellishment. The book is part of the "Maria Shvetsova" series and is its fifth installment. The series also includes such novels as "Trap for Blondes," "Sheep’s Skin," "Vampire Hunt," "Investigative Mania," and others.

Investigator Maria Shvetsova

The main character is Maria Sergeyevna Shvetsova, an investigator with the St. Petersburg district prosecutor’s office. She works alongside investigator Alexei Gorchakov, an old friend and colleague with whom she has long since grown accustomed to understanding each other without unnecessary words. Masha’s son, Gosha (nicknamed Khryundik), is spending the summer at camp, and at home, only Vasilisa the toad awaits her. In her personal life, she experiences prolonged loneliness: her relationship with a certain Sashka has quietly fizzled out.

At the beginning of the novel, Masha is finishing the indictment against Rybnik, a former prosecutor who, after being convicted of bribery, disappeared for eight years. He then returned to St. Petersburg and, over the course of six months, committed five brazen robberies of currency exchange offices, killing a total of five security guards and stealing approximately three hundred thousand dollars. Rybnik was identified through computer databases of currency exchange offices: at each of the robbed offices, he had exchanged small amounts of money using his passport shortly before the robberies. He was arrested with a pistol at yet another currency exchange office. During the investigation, he remained aloof, refused to testify, and only mention of law school or former colleagues could upset him.

The kidnapping of Maslovsky’s wife

On Saturday morning, journalist Anton Staroseltsev, a longtime friend of Masha’s, takes her to Gosha’s camp for Parents’ Day. On the way, he tells her about a journalistic investigation into plans to renovate the Tsar’s palace in Strelna into a presidential summer residence. No funds are allocated in the budget, but pressure on oligarchs to make "voluntary" donations, according to Staroseltsev, is being orchestrated by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

On Sunday, all the media in St. Petersburg reported that the wife of fuel magnate Artemy Maslovsky was kidnapped on the Neva embankment the previous evening: her Audi was cut off by a white Lada, she was transferred to another car, and driven away.

On Monday, Masha’s boss, citing Article 108 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which stipulates that press publications are grounds for initiating a criminal case, assigns her the investigation. Masha goes to the police station, where, through the traffic police inspector on duty, she discovers that no violence took place on the embankment: one of the men politely offered the woman his hand, and she calmly moved into another car herself. Meanwhile, an unexpected visitor shows up in her office — the widow of Vostryakov, a gynecologist who died during an illegal abortion. The woman comes not so much on business as to share with relief that her husband was a "jealous homosexual" and that living with him was torture. She casually mentions that Maslovsky took his young wife to Vostryakov as a trusted doctor, and is convinced that no kidnapping took place — the woman staged the whole thing.

The Jewelry Store and Major Tsaritsyn

While the Maslovsky incident unfolds, another crime occurs in the area — an armed robbery at a jewelry store. Four people are killed, including the crime boss Asaturyan. Masha and Gorchakov arrive at the scene. Forensic experts Zadov and Panov examine the bodies, and Gorchakov describes the stolen valuables — gold and diamond jewelry worth approximately three hundred thousand rubles. FSB Major Tsaritsyn, a charming man with no distinguishing features, arrives at the scene and seamlessly joins the conversation, inquiring about the details of the attack. His presence is explained by the fact that the store manager is a friend of the wife of an FSB official, though Tsaritsyn himself admits this with a smile.

Business trip to England

The novel unfolds across several timelines: some of the events take place during Masha’s business trip to an international seminar in the UK (judging by the context, at a British university). There, she meets colleagues from different countries: Britons Ian Watkins and John Kelly, Polish participant Zbigniew, and Italian Pietro di Cara. The latter resembles Masha’s former lover, Dr. Stetsenko, and she is involuntarily drawn to him.

During the seminar, it turns out that fingerprints can be lifted from the shell casings from the jewelry store attack scene — a technology available to British specialists but not Russian ones. Watkins agrees to negotiate funding for this research from the seminar’s funds. Masha calls Gorchakov in St. Petersburg, asking him to collect the shell casings from the forensic facility before the ballistics analysis begins and find a way to transport them to England. Gorchakov initially resists, fearing violations in the handling of physical evidence, but Pietro di Cara offers assistance through his contacts at Interpol — they can arrange official shipment through the Moscow office.

The power structure and talk of justice

The novel’s detective narrative is woven through a discussion of the Russian state system. Detective Andrei Sintsov once drew a diagram of four "cubes" on a napkin for Masha: the echelons of power, oligarchs, security forces, and organized crime — all interconnected by arrows. Masha tried to include this diagram in a research article for a St. Petersburg publication, but the editors decided against publishing it. Staroseltsev also refuses to mention the "Tambov gang" in the newspaper, preferring the euphemism "business group." Masha is skeptical of journalistic exposés: she hasn’t seen a single "high-profile case" that resulted in a real conviction for someone from high places — and this disillusionment with justice resonates throughout the novel.