“The tradition of British detective fiction, allusions to Russian classics, recollections of the past, a proliferation of double identities, and unreliable, alternating narrators—everything points in the same direction: to the place where consciousness and reason diverge, to the realm of the soul. Here, the invisible state of things is more compelling than their visible form; the author looks back at the past only to catch a glimpse of—and come to terms with—the present.”
—Lisa Berg, in “Blueprint.”

“It is an ode to wordplay, metaphor, adjectives, and allegory—qualities that hold the very soul of the text, qualities that artificial intelligence cannot replicate, just as it cannot become human.”
—Writer Yulia Suslova

“Vodolazkin has created a novel that transcends genre (a genre that literary scholarship may not yet have even defined). For readers who enjoy savoring each sentence and immersing themselves in reflection, this work is nothing short of perfect.”
—Reader review

★This is a philosophical detective quest in search of the “soul,” not a crime-solving game focused on the “killer.”
★Artificial intelligence can simulate everything, yet it cannot replicate those “meaningless” everyday moments—precisely the realm where the soul resides.
★Written as a detective novel, this book blends philosophical reflections on life, death, the soul, and artificial intelligence. In the age of AI, it reexamines the final bulwark that defines what it means to be human.
★The latest work by Evgeny Vodolazkin, a towering figure in Russian literature, a hallmark of Eastern European writing, and an undisputed master of contemporary Russian letters—a winner of the Big Book Award and the Yasnaya Polyana Prize!
★Vodolazkin’s works have been translated into 36 languages! Several of his novels, including Lavr, The Pilot, and Chagin, have already been licensed for publication in China!
★When you read his books, you are never simply following a story; you are witnessing how a modern literary giant uses the oldest narrative techniques to explore the most pressing philosophical questions of our time.

On Barmaleyev Street in contemporary St. Petersburg, a seemingly ordinary murder sets the stage for this philosophical journey. Georgy Litvin, a neurophysiologist who studies artificial intelligence, is found dead in his apartment, a neat bullet hole in his forehead. In charge of the case is Major Kaspar Chistov, a 41-year-old investigator—plump, self-deprecating, and recently plunged into an existential spiral after a skull X-ray: he has begun to see living skeletons and obsessively asks a question hardly relevant to solving the crime—“Why do we only look for bodies, and never seek souls?”

His partner is Lieutenant Yegor Vedernikov, a lover of literature. From the very start, this chronicler and narrator of the case intends to turn the investigation into a work of fiction. As a result, the detective process becomes something more than mere fact‑finding: a parade of suspects emerges—the victim’s twin brother Grigory, Galina, grief‑stricken yet not a widow, Zhanna, who compensates her neighbors with love, the shrewd squatter “Lelyek,” and even Ivan Ivanovich Barmaleyev, the humanoid robot created by the victim himself. This machine, capable of brewing coffee and endowed with “personality,” serves as both witness and suspect.

Yet the truth of the case seems far from Chistov’s real destination. As the investigation deepens, the classic “clue‑gathering by the fireside” scene does not fail to appear; but what truly preoccupies the major are those “gaps”—the everyday memories that escape history’s record and events’ definitions, yet precisely constitute a person’s uniqueness: a meaningless trip to the bathroom, a pointless idle chat. The book poses a central question: if artificial intelligence attempts to seize these “gaps” in order to simulate humanity, can it truly reach the soul?

Thus, the novel tears open the shell of the detective genre, dividing itself into two distinct acts. The first half reads like a self‑deprecating, wittily subversive TV detective drama, driven by the narrator‑lieutenant’s literary ambitions and brimming with parodies and deconstructions of generic conventions; the second half slips into quieter philosophical dialogue, almost becoming a Platonic debate on life and death, memory and existence. Here, Vodolazkin (author of *Lavr* and *The Pilot*) is not writing a thriller, but rather, under the guise of a detective story, seriously exploring the fundamental boundary between humans and machines—and ultimately arguing that AI can mimic logic and language, yet can never possess those meaningless, irrational “interstices” of life unique to human beings; and it is there that the soul resides.

This book offers no adrenaline‑fueled thrill of solving a mystery, but instead presents readers with a prism: when we gaze upon the experiments in “humanizing” AI, we are in fact reexamining ourselves—what, after all, defines our being as human? Is it the grand events, or those trivial, forgotten moments lodged in the cracks of time? For readers who cherish speculative literature, the Russian literary tradition, and anyone daring to walk the edges of genre, *Major Chistov’s Last Case* will be a spiritual wander through terrain both sharp and tender.

[Author] Evgeny Vodolazkin
One of the most influential writers on the contemporary Russian literary scene, recipient of numerous prestigious literary awards both in Russia and abroad, his works have been licensed for publication in over 30 countries. Critics have hailed him as an “encyclopedic, scholarly novelist.” As a renowned contemporary Russian writer, Doctor of Philology, and expert in Old Russian literature and culture at the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Evgeny Vodolazkin’s main research interests lie in medieval literature, particularly the conceptualization of history within ancient texts.

Born in Kyiv in 1964, he graduated from Kyiv University in 1986 and then entered the Department of Old Russian Literature at the Institute of Russian Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he conducted academic research under the guidance of the eminent Russian cultural scholar Dmitry Likhachev. Since 1990, he has worked in the Department of Old Russian Literature at the Pushkin House Museum (the Institute of Russian Literature located in St. Petersburg), and since 2012 has served as the chief editor of the museum’s annual journal, “Word and Tradition.” He is the author of numerous scholarly books and articles, and has held fellowships and lecturing positions at the Topfer Foundation and the Humboldt Foundation.

Vodolazkin began writing fiction in his thirties, excelling at using literature as a tool to engage with history, fiercely combating what he calls the modern world’s “amnesia” by interweaving the past with the present. In 2010, his debut novel, Solovyov and Larionov, was nominated for the Big Book Award and shortlisted for the Andrei Bely Prize. His second novel, Laurel/Lavr, won the Big Book Award and the Yasnaya Polyana Prize in 2013! It was named one of the ten best books about God by The Guardian, licensed for publication in over 30 countries, and took first place in the Big Book Award and third place in the Readers’ Choice Award in 2013. It was also shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize in 2013 and nominated for the New Literature Prize. In 2015, it received Serbia’s Milovan Vidaković Award, and in 2016, the Italy–Russia Gorky Prize (Sorrento). His work The Hibernated Pilot has been licensed for publication in nearly 15 countries, shortlisted for both the Big Book Award and the Booker Prize, became a hot topic in South Korea, and earned him an invitation to the 2021 Seoul International Writers’ Festival. In 2022, it was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The World Without Time—Brisbane, though still unpublished, has already been licensed in multiple languages. The Defense of the Island was shortlisted for the Big Book Award in 2021, one of Russia’s most prestigious literary honors. His latest book, The Life of Chagin, went on to win the Grand Prix of the Big Book Award in 2023!

[Awards]
2010 — Novel Solovyov and Larionov shortlisted for the Big Book Award and the Andrei Bely Prize.
2013 — Won the Big Book Award (First Prize) for Laurel/Lavr.
2013 — Won the Yasnaya Polyana Prize for Laurel/Lavr.
2013 — Received the Portal Conference Prize for Laurel/Lavr.
2013 — Shortlisted for the National Bestseller Award, the Russian Booker Prize, and the NOS Prize (for Laurel/Lavr).
2015 — Serbian Milovan Vidaković Award.
2016 — Won the Italy–Russia Gorky Prize (Sorrento) for Laurel/Lavr.
2016 — Won the Big Book Award (Second Prize) for The Hibernated Pilot.
2016 — Shortlisted for the NOS Prize, the Writer of the 21st Century Award, and the Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Prize for The Hibernated Pilot.
2017 — Russian Roman Literature Prize.
2018 — Won the Klio History and Literature Prize for The Hibernated Pilot.
2018 — National awards “Russian Rhythm” and “Russian Word” (nomination: “For Contribution to Cultural Development”).
2019 — Alexander Solzhenitsyn Literary Prize — “In recognition of his masterful integration of deep traditions of Russian spiritual and psychological prose with high linguistic culture; in recognition of his inspired artistic style.”
2019 — “Pet of St. Petersburg” award (State Hermitage Museum, “Russian Patrons,” “Republic of Cats”).
2019 — Shortlisted for the Big Book Award for Brisbane/World Without Time.
2019 — Won the national annual book competition in the prose category for Brisbane/World Without Time.
2019 — Won the BookStar-2019 Literary Prize (Skopje, Macedonia) for The Hibernated Pilot.
2021 — Longlisted for the ABS Prize for The Defense of the Island.
2021 — Longlisted for the Big Book Award for The Defense of the Island.
2021 — Longlisted for the Alexander Pyatigorsky Literary Prize for The Defense of the Island.
2021 — Shortlisted for the Big Book Award for The Defense of the Island.
2022 — Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award.
2022 — Nominated for the Ivo Andrić International Grand Prize for Best Novel for Brisbane/World Without Time.
2023 — Won the Big Book Award (First Prize) for Chagin/The Life of Chagin.
2024 — Tsarskoye Selo Arts Prize.
2024 — Order of Saint Prince Daniel of Moscow, Third Class (Russian Orthodox Church).

[Media Commentary]
“Time is a central character in all of Evgeny Vodolazkin’s novels. In Laurel/Lavr, it is indispensable…; in The Hibernated Pilot, time flows like water in two directions; in The Defense of the Island, time is so unconventional that it permeates the entire narrative…” — Galina Yuzefovich

“Although it’s hard to say now whether we’ll reread his works in 10 or 20 years, he certainly holds a unique place in Russian literature.” — Alexey Balakin

“After achieving unprecedented success, each of Evgeny Vodolazkin’s novels is read with eager anticipation and reverent attention. The author is mastering new genres and diverse styles, creating protagonists unlike any seen before.” — Olga Timofeeva

“Frankness and sincerity are common traits among Vodolazkin’s characters. They are not prophets, but rather vessels of knowledge gradually revealed through time, with time itself serving as the generator of inner discovery.” — Maria Bashmakova