The Case of the Arrogant Novelist

A private party to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of renowned prose writer Rostislav Hora is underway. Several of his friends and acquaintances have gathered at his villa by the Úhlava river near Štěnovice, close to Pilsen. During the evening, however, the writer is found dead in the garden behind the house. Initially, everything points to a heart attack, but it soon becomes clear that he was poisoned with a high dose of digitalin—and, what's more, stabbed in the back with a long, sharp instrument.