The new novel by Islam Khanipaev is an action-packed psychological detective story, which is distinguished by bright characters and masterfully built intrigue. A young journalist from Makhachkala ends up in a Dagestan mountain village where a brutal murder has just taken place. At first fascinated by the investigation of a terrible crime, he is increasingly aware of how he is immersed in the gloomy, cold and hostile atmosphere of the village of N, as if covering the killer. This story does not let the hero go for many years, forcing not only to finally get to the bottom of the truth and unravel the name of the criminal, but also to understand himself and his life, in which much has gone wrong.