Akhsharumov has always gravitated towards depicting unusual people, paradoxical situations and extraordinary actions. He sought to capture the inconsistency of the human psyche, its “secrets” and “depths,” which naturally attracted him to parables, science fiction and detective stories. But the closest to this genre is one of his best novels, “Ends in the Water,” first published in 1872 in Otechestvennye zapiski (No. 10-12). A skillfully constructed detective plot is combined here (as in “Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky, to whom Akhsharumov was in many ways close in the direction of his work) with a deep penetration into the psychology of the criminal. This novel to some extent anticipates the composition of the modern Western “thriller”, since here the crime is investigated not by an outside observer, but by a person involved in the action and personally involved in what is happening. An interesting technique is used in the final part of the story - a presentation of events from the point of view of two main characters. Thanks to all this, Akhsharumov’s novel, written more than a hundred years ago, is still read with unflagging interest today.