Dead Mountaineer's Hotel
Encyclopedia
Dead Mountaineer's Hotel (Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Отель "У Погибшего Альпиниста", Transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

: Otel "U Pogibshego Al'pinista") is a 1970 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 detective novel written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
The brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are Soviet Jewish-Russian science fiction authors who collaborated on their fiction.-Life and work:...

. It is known as Inspector Glebsky's Puzzle in the English translation, published in 1988 by Richardson, Steirman & Black.

Plot summary

The novel begins with Peter Glebsky, a policeman by profession, going on a holiday to the Dead Mountaineer's Hotel, a small resort located in a secluded valley in the Alps.

He meets the other guests: Mr. Moses, a rich old man with highly eccenteric manners, and his stunningly beautiful wife; Mr. du Barnstocre, an illusionist who is accompanied by Brun, his niece (portrayed throughout the novel as an adolescent of unidentifiable sex); Mr. Simonet, the obsessed physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

; Mr. Hinckus, a custodial attorney; and Olaf Andvarafors.

Not long after Mr. Glebsky's arrival, an avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...

 blocks the entrance to the valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

, thus cutting the protagonists off from outside world. At the same time, Olaf Andvarafors is found dead in his room, his door locked and his neck impossibly twisted.

Glebsky is forced to start an investigation, but the more he searches for a logical explanation for the murder, the more he realises that the guests are not who they appear to be.

Adaptions

The story has been adapted into the film "Hukkunud Alpinisti" hotell by Grigori Kromanov at Tallinnfilm
Tallinnfilm
Tallinnfilm is the oldest still functional film studio in Estonia. Originally founded as Estonian Culture Film in 1931, the studio was nationalized in 1940 after Estonia was forced into Soviet Union. During the first year of Soviet Occupation Eesti Kultuurfilm was taken over by the Communist Party...

 in 1979.

The story has been used in a video game also known as Dead Mountaineer's Hotel by the Russian software company Akella
Akella
Akella is a Russian software company specializing in the development, publishing and distribution of computer games and multimedia products. The founders of Akella met in 1993 and decided to start a company together, and in 1995 formed Akella...

.
It was to be released for North America and Western Europe by the now defunct publisher Lighthouse Interactive
Lighthouse Interactive
SilverBirch, Inc. was a video game publisher located in the Netherlands and was Acquired by Lighthouse Interactive in 2008. The company "Lighthouse interactive" had offices in Toronto and Montreal, Canada, Haarlem, The Netherlands and London, England....

.
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