These sincere, documentarily accurate stories were written by simple provincial detectives of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. And then they were lovingly selected by the best authors of a modern historical detective story. They amaze the imagination, immerse themselves in the atmosphere of antiquity and admire the amazing powers of observation, knowledge of psychology, ingenuity and personal courage of detectives of bygone days.In February 1903, the wife of a mill mechanic's assistant was brutally murdered in the Ilmen estate near Novokhopersk. Her decapitated corpse was discovered by her husband, who returned from work at midnight. Money and valuables totaling about twenty rubles were stolen from the apartment. Suspecting that one of the workers had committed the murder, police officer Nikolai Voyutsky decided to examine their clothes - fresh traces of blood were supposed to expose the perpetrators. However, it turned out that flour dust often causes nosebleeds among mill workers.…The book contains more than 50 unique photographs, including previously unpublished portraits of the famous Sonka Zolotoy Ruchka and members of her gang. Read more…