Summary

The novel opens in the Hotel Zamenhof in the Jewish settlement of Sitka, which is located in Alaska. Detective Meyer Landsman of the Sitka Central Police Department has taken up residence in the decrepit Zamenhof, and one night, the night manager wakes Landsman to tell him that a dead body was found in one of the other rooms. Landsman inspects the room. A man’s body lies in the bed; there is a bullet hole in the man’s head, and he apparently injected a dose of heroin shortly before being killed. There is a chessboard set up in the room with a particular arrangement of pieces. There is also a chess strategy book. In Chapter 2, Landsman searches in the basement of the hotel for evidence and finds a suspicious-looking tunnel. However, he does not explore it due to his phobia about dark...