The Ghost of Rataskaevu Street

What links a prostitute, a Flemish painter and a tower watchman? All three claim to have seen a ghost on the same street in fifteenth-century Tallinn. And all of them have been found dead soon after.Melchior Wakenstede, apothecary, is charged with unearthing the truth behind these seemingly-supernatural murders. But when a pious and powerful merchant dies, along with a castrated and disfigured tramp, Melchior perceives a more medical connection between the deaths.Melchior must rise above the competing interests of merchant guilds, religious orders and Teutonic knights, to get to the bottom of the mystery.



Indrek Hargla is one of Estonia's best-known and most prolific crime writers. Hargla's Apothecary Melchior Mysteries, set in fifteenth-century Tallinn and starring a detective pharmacist named Melchior Wakenstede, have been translated into five languages, adapted for stage and were the basis for a popular Estonian film trilogy. He is also a screenwriter and an award-winning writer of science fiction and fantasy. Originally a senior lawyer in the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hargla has been a full-time writer since 2012. Adam Cullen is a freelance translator of Estonian prose, poetry, and drama. His translations include The Cavemen Chronicle by Mikhel Mutt, The Brother and the Reconstruction by Rein Raud (both titles nominated for the Cultural Endowment of Estonia's Prize for Literary Translation), Burning Cities by Kai Aareleid, and Radio by Tonu Onnepalu. Originally from Minnesota he has resided in Estonia since 2007.