A terrorist at the Moscow Film Festival plots an international incident Built in the twilight of the Tsarist state, Moscow's Metropole Hotel is a poignant reminder of the decadence of the last regime. But today its corridors are musty, its rooms are dank, and now its restaurant is the scene of a quadruple murder. Four men-one American, one Japanese, and two citizens of Mother Russia-share a meal of smoked salmon, caviar, and two bottles of vodka....

In post–Cold War Moscow, business is booming and crime pays Capitalism has come to Russia, and money is raining from the sky. As the trickle of cash turns to a torrent, bureaucrats become oligarchs, and the brutal Russian mafia consolidates its power. In the center of this madness is police inspector Porfiry Rostnikov, a thoughtful detective who is struggling to adjust to life in these turbulent times.   A prominent businessman is kidnapped in...

The world is a strange, sad, and wonderful place. And Moscow is at its center. Killers are running through the city - some on two legs, some on four. To lower the body count, Porfiry Rosmikov, the Moscow Police's one-legged inspector, will have to move faster than anybody. Stalwarts of the Russian Mafia who live by the sword are finally dying by it. One is found naked and shot in the Moscow River, others floating in pools at the city's poshest hotels....

A century-old mystery takes Rostnikov halfway around the world In the waning days of the Russian Empire, the Czar inked a secret treaty with Japan that was stolen en route by one of the workmen on the Trans-Siberian Railway. More than a one hundred years later, the Soviet Union has gone the way of the Czardom, and police inspector Porfiry Rostnikov is trying to find his way in the Russia of Vladimir Putin. A large amount of money is being sent from...