The Dead Mountaineer's Inn

One More Last Rite for the Detective Genre

By: Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky

Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

From the Russian masters of sci-fi comes The Dead Mountaineer's Inn, a hilarious spoof on the classic country-house murder mystery.

When Inspector Peter Glebsky arrives at a remote ski chalet on vacation, the last thing he intends to do is get involved in any police work. He's there to ski, drink brandy, and loaf around in blissful solitude. But he hadn't counted on the other vacationers, an eccentric bunch, including a famous hypnotist, a physicist with a penchant for gymnastic feats, a sulky teenager of indeterminate gender, and the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Moses. And as the chalet fills up, strange things start happening - things that seem to indicate the presence of another, unseen guest. Is there a ghost on the premises? A prankster? Something more sinister?

When an avalanche blocks the mountain pass and traps everyone in the chalet, the corpse is finally discovered. Glebsky's vacation is over, and he's embarked on the most unusual investigation he's ever been involved with. In fact the further he looks into it, the more Glebsky realizes that the victim may not even be human.

In this late novel from the legendary Russian sci-fi duo - here in its first-ever English translation - the Strugatskys gleefully upend the plot of many an Hercule Poirot mystery - and the result is much funnier and much stranger than anything Agatha Christie ever wrote.

©1970 Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Translation © 2015 by Josh Billings. Introduction © 2015 by Jeff VanderMeer (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

deus ex machina SF

come on a mystery that turns into a science fiction story at the end just to solve the mystery that's deus ex machina and a totally unsatisfactory ending to an interesting book all the way to that point

Confusing

This book is very confusing and most difficult to follow. I gave up near the end and still didn’t understand the plot or characters.

Out of this world mystery

I enjoy mystery books and this was a good one with quite a twist. Characters are fully exposed - at least by the end. Although I didn't necessarily like the main character it was his stubbornness that helped develop the plot. Narration was very good.

Amazingly well written.

I'm not really into mysteries, but from the earlier descriptions it was considered a humorous take on the detective genre. The humor is really applied nicely, it doesn't get whacky, which is a problem I've encountered when humor is applied into generally non humorous genres. Honestly I couldn't stop listening. It made driving for my job so much more fun.

fantastic narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes, interesting.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

no, but was engaging.

What does Keith Szarabajka bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

excellent character interpretation.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

no

Any additional comments?

it would have been a flop if narration was not excellent.

Pretty fun read.

I think that the introduction overplays the "abstract" nature of the story. It is strange, but doesn't dwell on its own strangeness very long. It's interesting how two Cold War Russian writers imagined aliens and detective novels.

wonderful well written story

once again the Strugatsky's have amazed me with their incredible emersive story telling. A recommendation for any lover of literature.

Guess It's OK

Not really what I expected from the story, which is OK I suppose, but can't say that I really enjoyed it. Perhaps something was lost in translation.

Engaging and timeless, but ultimately unsatisfactory

Great characters and plot for the first two thirds. If only the ending bought it all home Worth a listen for sure.

Worth a Listen

A decent story. It’s well paced and leaves you with a lot of clues about the conclusion. The odd fascination each character has about figuring out Brun’s gender is, creepy. I did not like the conclusion, it felt like a leap from where the story had been going.
The narration was great.
Would recommend to people who like detective novels or mystery novels.