The Seagull by Boris Akunin. Short summary

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A sequel to Chekhov’s famous «Seagull» with a detective twist. Treplev did not commit suicide, he is murdered. Each of the characters is a possible murderer. Eight suspects, eight versions.

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A sequel to the fourth act of Chekhov’s «The Seagull.» The same dramatic conversation between Nina Zarechnaya and Konstantin Treplev. The rejected man walks away with a pistol in his hand. A shot is heard. Treplev is found dead.

Next, the detective begins. Dr. Dorn leads the investigation, suspecting one by one each of those present. Everyone had a motive and an opportunity to commit an atrocity, including Dorn himself. And all confess to the murder.

The first and most obvious suspect is Nina Zarechnaya. There is serious evidence — a dropped shawl. The motive is fears for Trigorin’s life.

Masha is driven to murder by unhappy love and her husband Semyon by burning jealousy. The Shamrayevs, Maria’s parents, take revenge for their daughter’s ruined life.

The landowner Sorin kills his blessed nephew out of pity. The mother sees her son as a rival who has captured Trigorin’s attention. Dorn takes revenge for the murdered animals. Trigorin experiments for a new novel.