A quiet town is shaken by a series of monstrous crimes. The killer does not merely murder his victims. Taking on the roles of judge and executioner at once, the maniac challenges society as an adherent of medieval methods of punishment. The skills of provincial detectives prove insufficient to fight such an opponent, but St. Petersburg detective Natalya Serebryanskaya is a figure of an entirely different caliber. A determined, experienced, and cool-headed investigator who has become a private detective, she is capable of deciphering the terrifying messages left by the self-proclaimed inquisitor.
Natalya leads the manhunt, but soon learns in the course of her work that far from all the residents are interested in identifying the killer. In addition to the official authorities, shadow authorities operate quite effectively in the small town, and Natalya will have to reckon with them as well.
