A summary of "Life Under a Foreign Sun" by Elena Mikhalkova

This book is a detective novel published in 2008. A routine trip to a Turkish resort unexpectedly turns into a series of deadly dangers for the protagonist, forcing her to take on the role of an investigator. In 2020, director Ilya Khotinenko made a two-part television film of the same name. This work opens the author’s "Dasha Pronina’s Investigations" series, becoming the first book in the series. This detective series also includes the novels "Fox Tracks on Stones," "The Hunt for the Winged Lion," and other works.

Getting to know each other and the first days of vacation

Dasha worked as a technical translator at a Moscow company. The director summoned her to his office and fired her amid a scandal. The reason was Dasha’s scathing review of new corporate standards. Her mother advised the distraught young woman to go to the seaside. Dasha found a travel companion online, Alina Vinnitskaya, to avoid the lonely vacation and save on accommodation.

Alina turned out to be a beautiful, elegant, and self-assured resident of St. Petersburg. She adored expensive things, disdained service staff, and skimped on tips. The girls arrived at the Turkish hotel "Safira." Check-in was problematic. The tour guides, Masha and Leva, had trouble accommodating the tourists for a long time due to complications. The Russian-speaking group of vacationers turned out to be quite diverse.

On her very first day, Dasha met a handsome lawyer, Maxim, on the beach. He was relaxing with his friend Volodya. Also in the group were brothers Nikita and Boris. Boris arrived with his wife, Alla, a petite blonde with cat-like eyes. They were followed everywhere by two chatty girls, Zhenechka and Sonya. Dasha also noticed Inna, the Russian wife of a handsome Turk, Halim. Inna liked to sit in the shade with a book.

A series of mysterious events

That evening, Dasha was strolling near the pier. She encountered Nikolai, an entertainer. He complained of a cramp in his leg. Nikolai told Dasha about an upcoming date with a blonde woman. The entertainer was arguing with the hotel owner about late payments. A female voice was heard in the bushes, and Nikolai disappeared into the darkness. In the morning, it was discovered that the entertainer had drowned. The police ruled the death an accident.

Dasha suspected something was wrong. Nikolai was an excellent swimmer and had been complaining about his leg, so he wouldn’t have gone swimming at night voluntarily. She shared her doubts with Alina. Her fellow traveler laughed at Dasha. Alina convinced her not to go to the police. She threatened Dasha with legal action from the hotel owner for tarnishing the resort’s reputation.

The tourists went rafting on a mountain river. The trip was going smoothly until their raft hit a boulder. Everyone plunged into the frigid water. Alla hit her temple on a rock and lost consciousness. Upon reaching the shore, they discovered that a black opal pendant on a chain had disappeared from her neck. The stone was worth around forty thousand dollars. Nikita, who had given the pendant to his brother for his wedding, caused a huge uproar and demanded that the local police be called.

The police refused to search the tourists. Alina offered Nikita the opportunity to draft an official statement in English for a generous fee. She spent half a day in her room, working on a draft. Dasha went to the beach, where Maxim actively courted her. Returning to the room before lunch, Dasha found Alina dead. Alina’s naked body lay in the bathtub. A hairdryer, plugged in, was right in the water.

The police again closed the case, citing negligence as the cause of death. But Dasha knew the truth. Alina was incredibly squeamish. She would never have used a public bath in a Turkish hotel. Furthermore, Alina made a point of not using a hairdryer, so as not to ruin her beautiful hair. Dasha realized her fellow traveler had been brutally murdered.

Dangerous investigation

Fear overwhelmed the girl. She began to suspect all the vacationers. Dasha found a notebook among the dead woman’s belongings. Inside the cover was an empty plastic baggie with traces of white powder. Next to the draft of the statement, Alina had written the capital letter "N" repeatedly. Dasha suspected Nikita. However, the motive remained completely unclear. Dasha shared her suspicions with Maxim. He advised her to be more careful.

On the beach, Dasha was diving for a piece of stained glass. Zhenechka swam up to her. The girl attacked Dasha and tried to drown her. Zhenechka held Dasha underwater, shouting curses. Dasha miraculously escaped, and Inna, who arrived just in time, scared off the aggressive tourist. Maxim later explained the attacker’s behavior to Dasha. Zhenechka suffered from kleptomania and bouts of mental illness. Dasha had taken her purse the day before, suspecting her of stealing the opal. Zhenechka became enraged and decided to take revenge. Sonya was assigned to look after the sick girl as a nurse.

Dasha wasn’t allowed to sleep that night. Someone had filled her room lock with glue and then persistently pounded on the door. Dasha sat on her bed, clutching a wooden cat figurine she’d bought that afternoon at the Kemer market. In the morning, she decided to leave early. But not before finding the missing black opal. The stone was lying at the bottom of the hotel pool. Dasha returned it to Alla and Nikita. She realized Boris had snatched the pendant when he fell off the raft. Her husband had long been angry with Alla for her excessive spending. Boris had hidden the stone in the pool, sticking it to the tiles with chewing gum.

Solving the mystery

Dasha pieced together all the facts. Alina was on the beach the night the entertainer died. Nikolai was having an argument with the guide, Masha. Masha and Leva were distributing cocaine among the tourists. They pushed Nikolai into the water, and he drowned. Alina witnessed it and found an empty drug bag. Alla bought the drugs just before the rafting trip. Alina demanded hush money from the guides. She filed a report about the theft of the pendant as a cover. Masha and Leva came to the room, stunned Alina with a taser, and threw a hairdryer into the bathtub.

The killers realized Dasha had figured out the crime. That evening, she went for a walk along the beach. An Italian couple blocked her path. Dasha, panicked, fled to the grounds of a hotel under construction. In the darkness, she heard the footsteps of her pursuers. The girl raced through the concrete labyrinth of the construction site. Masha cornered her near an open stairwell. A stun gun was ready in Masha’s hand.

Dasha jumped forward and pushed the killer. Masha fell to her death. Leva appeared, pistol in hand. He prepared to shoot Dasha. A shot rang out, but the bullet struck Leva himself. He was wounded by an Italian tourist, Mark. Mark and his companion, Joy, turned out to be undercover police officers. They had been tracking drug dealers for a long time.

Dasha returned to the hotel. Inna came to her room, pretending to be sympathetic. She asked for details of the police interrogation. Inna wanted to know if Lev had given up the names of his suppliers. Dasha guessed that the Turk’s good-natured wife was in charge of all drug trafficking on the coast. She was frightened and didn’t call the police.

Returning home

Before flying to Moscow, Dasha learned about Maxim. The guides told her that Maxim was Alina’s ex-husband. They had acrimoniously divorced long ago. A chance meeting in Turkey came as a surprise to both. Alina pretended they didn’t know each other. Maxim tried to protect Dasha, fearing for her life. Dasha was offended by the lie and flew to Moscow, cutting off contact with her boyfriend.

Two months later, Dasha was living with her mother. She couldn’t recover from the stress she’d experienced. She was having nightmares. Her mother persuaded Dasha to see a psychologist. The day before the appointment, the phone rang in the apartment. Maxim had flown to Moscow. He asked Dasha to dictate her home address. Hearing his voice, Dasha felt safe. All her fears vanished without a trace.