August 1895 “Dead Ball” is a new dangerous case of a St. Petersburg police official, the charismatic detective Rodion Vanzarov. Quite young and inexperienced in everyday life, this time he must plunge into a whirlpool of deadly passions: thoroughly learn all the secrets of the gambling game of billiards, study to the smallest detail the life and customs of brothels in St. Petersburg, walk along the very edge of vice, like a dead ball suspended over the pocket. As soon as you touch it, it will fall, and all hell breaks loose. And at the same time, do not lose your own dignity and do not sacrifice your honor. Beautiful women die - seductive, cunning and risky, in love with the same man. Coincidence of circumstances or the subtle cold calculation of a maniac? Vanzarov never dreamed of such passions. His faithful friend and brilliant forensic expert Apollo Lebedev comes to the aid of the young hope of Russian detectives. A complex, exciting puzzle - from one of the most interesting authors of modern Russian literature, Anton Chizh! The next novel in the series of detective investigations by Rodion Vanzarov is “The Scent of Blood”!