The October Revolution hadn't happened, and the Bolsheviks had never risen to power. The year is 2023, and the rule over the Russian Empire is divided between tzar Nikolai III and a forward-thinking PM, Dmitry Orlov. Erast Fandorin, a 20-year-old police servant, has just been hired in the criminal investigations unit at the Petrograd Metro. His job is not that exciting, but the latest news is: right at the heart of the capital, a young and wealthy oil company tycoon has just shot himself in front of dozens of men. His suicide was captured on the patrol robot cameras. Fandorin can't help but suspect that this case is far more complicated than it looks and takes on his very first major investigation

Moscow, present day. The city of big money, passion, gorgeous women and wealthy men, receptions and dangerous intrigue. Dasha, an art historian from the province, who came to the capital, dreams of a new, better life, but a mysterious and cruel incident will change everything.

About what leads to sex, and what happens immediately after it. In one of the novels, a guy agrees to have a child with his best friend, unaware of her insidious plan. In another, a casual acquaintance makes a vegan wonder if sex contradicts her beliefs. And the dispute between two strangers about feminism is resolved in bed, where a woman is not going to remain in debt to a man. The heroes of the stories tell not about sex, but about what surrounds it.

An ambitious professor of psychiatry, Viktor Meshchersky, conducts a dangerous psychological experiment in which, under false pretenses, he locks victims and their abusers in the basement, hiding his true goals. The subsequent investigation will reveal the real motives of the professor, and will tie together the confusing stories of all participants in the cruel experiment.

1911, A graduate of the Institute of Noble Maidens, Sasha Meshcherskaya returns to a small provincial town. The well-being of her family is based on her relationship with her loving uncle, the owner of the arms factory Nikolai Shumilov. Sashenka's parents: Prince Ivan Sergeevich Meshchersky and Maria Ilyinichna dream of their daughter's early marriage, and she herself dreams of a brilliant career as an architect. Wanting to please her parents, Sasha makes new acquaintances and instantly plunges into a whirlpool of intrigue, where political interests are at stake above personal passions. Cold-blooded murders and blackmail, intricacies of conspiracies, daring provocateurs eluding detection - all this captivates the enthusiastic schoolgirl, who experiences mortal melancholy from the paucity of life prospects. Without noticing it, Sasha becomes an ideal target for terrorist hypnosis.