The Left Hand of the Angel

Investigating a series of murders with severed hands in Moscow in 1952, an MGB major discovers an ominous notebook belonging to a Nazi doctor—and realizes that he is not hunting a maniac, but someone who creates maniacs.
July 1951. On the banks of the Yauza, a bald man unties a bag. A severed left hand falls to the ground. A moment later, he drives a screwdriver into his own neck. There will be no explanations.
Autumn 1952. Rain, slush, a summer house on the outskirts. A high-ranking engineer from the defense sector has been murdered. His face is disfigured. His left hand is missing…
The name that was tried to be avoided is returning to the city: Ruchechnik.
The nightmare reigning in the streets of the city pulls the disgraced investigator Major Ivan Shipov out of his prolonged depression. Together with his assistants—Captain Kitaev and psychologist Zabotskin—he takes on the case and soon finds a strange notebook in a leather cover, once owned by a sadistic camp doctor.
Witnesses are silent. Suspects vanish. The evidence leads to a dead end. And the murders continue. The closer Shipov gets to the truth, the more pressing the question arises before him: what if this notebook is not evidence? What if it is a manual? And someone is working by it today?