Hippo under mayonnaise

Of course, it is unpleasant to learn that a colleague has come up with the insulting nickname “Hippo in Mayonnaise” for you, but Tatyana Sergeeva has no time to get upset over such nonsense. Professor Alexey Burkin has contacted the special squad’s office: it seems that someone in his family is spiking the doctor’s drinks with a powerful laxative. At first glance, the situation seems utterly ridiculous, and it is most likely someone’s prank. According to the professor, everyone in his family is kind to one another, and yet he needs to unmask the culprit. The detectives decide to send Tanya to the Burkin household disguised as one of Alexey’s relatives from the Russian Far East, Louisa. She is supposedly in Moscow on business. As it turns out, relations in the professor’s household are anything but harmonious. His daughter-in-law Irina is vicious to everyone, while the other daughter-in-law, the pastry chef Lyuba, is sickeningly sweet. And Sergeeva begins her investigation. Timofey Volynov, a search specialist, arrives at the Burkin household. After drinking some compote made for Alexey, he loses consciousness. Who could have poisoned him, and why? The special squad’s detectives discover that one of Alexey’s wives had a dark secret in her childhood. This revelation allows them to identify the culprit. But… suddenly everything turns out to be completely different! The seemingly solid and logical pyramid of evidence instantly collapses and turns to rubble.Darya Dontsova is the most popular and sought-after author in our country, a favorite of millions of readers. More than 200 million copies of her books have been sold in Russia.Her work fills hearts and souls with light, optimism, joy, and confidence in the future!“Dontsova is an incredible workaholic! I don’t know of any other writer who works so hard. I respect her as a model of literary diligence. Women need psychological support, and they get it from Dontsova. I read several of Dontsova’s novels myself at one point. Her books are read by all kinds of people: very busy businesswomen who want to switch off for a while, and housewives who have a 15–20-minute break between dropping off and picking up their children.” — Galina Yuzefovich, literary critic