The Dead Mountaineers Inn
(One More Last Rite for the Detective Genre)

From the Russian masters of sci-fi comes The Dead Mountaineers Inn, a hilarious spoof on the classic country-house murder mystery. When Inspector Peter Glebsky arrives at a remote ski chalet on vacation, the last thing he intends to do is get involved in any police work. Hes there to ski, drink brandy, and loaf around in blissful solitude. But he hadnt counted on the other vacationers, an eccentric bunch, including a famous hypnotist, a physicist with a penchant for gymnastic feats, a sulky teenager of indeterminate gender, and the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Moses. And as the chalet fills up, strange things start happeningthings that seem to indicate the presence of another, unseen guest. Is there a ghost on the premises? A prankster? Something more sinister? When an avalanche blocks the mountain pass and traps everyone in the chalet, the corpse is finally discovered. Glebskys vacation is over, and hes embarked on the most unusual investigation hes ever been involved with. In fact, the further he looks into it, the more Glebsky realizes that the victim may not even be human. In this late novel from the legendary Russian sci-fi duohere in its first-ever English translationthe Strugatskys gleefully upend the plot of many an Hercule Poirot mysteryand the result is much funnier and much stranger than anything Agatha Christie ever wrote.