In her new novels “The Crime of Count Neuville” and “Rike with the Tuft,” the queen of the European bestseller Amelie Nothomb masterfully balances between a fairy tale and Greek tragedy, between Agatha Christie and Woody Allen. Count Neuville is in an extremely difficult situation: his youngest daughter is ready to commit suicide with life; you will have to part with the family estate; and finally, the fortune teller predicts to the count that during a festive reception in the castle garden he will kill one of the guests. The situation is clear, but what will prevail in such a situation – fateful destiny or fabulous luck? The heroes of another Nothomb novel “Rike with a Tuft” are a stupid beauty and an ugly smart guy. What is this - a frankly re-imagined story from Charles Perrault? Not everything is so simple, because the beautiful Malva is not stupid at all, she is a miracle! – she is silent. And an ugly young man named Deodat is not only extremely smart, he is also incredibly charming. From the very beginning we understand that the heroes will inevitably meet. But whether love alchemy will work and what role the Parisian birds play in this story - only Baroness Nothomb knows about this!