2024
Jaak Kilmi

Juhan Liiv, a struggling poet and an unlikely detective, solves frightening murder cases in Estonia, the “wild west” of the Russian Empire in 1890s.

Against his will, Juhan gets drawn into several dangerous adventures. He becomes an unlikely detective helping to solve gruesome crimes.

The first signs of early schizophrenia make Juhan paranoid and distrusting towards his surroundings. He is able to notice details that elude everyone else. Liiv is restless, constantly searching for truth in situations and people.

Well-read and modern-thinking, the character of Liiv becomes our eyes and ears to the late 19th century Estonia and its curious habits of hygiene, sex, violence, superstition and social hierarchies.

Juhan forms a partnership with a village policeman Peeter. This veteran of a Russo-Turkish war makes use of poet’s sharp senses to solve crimes too complex for his own simple logic.

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