The Long Shadow of Time: A Detective Novel

A dark detective story from the '60s.

Pavel Nauman gained fame as the author of the legendary Fairy Tales about Machines. Its immediate success led children's book publishers to pressure the author to produce a sequel or another children's title. But his plan was different. He wanted to write a similarly successful title in a different genre. He did not achieve such success with his vast historical saga, book of short stories or detective story. Still, The Long Shadow of Time has found a firm place in the libraries of all detective fans.

The noirish story features a recent law graduate who graduated only out of compulsion. With the idea of handing his diploma over to his happy parents and pursuing his beloved music. But right at graduation his father announces that he has a job for him at the Prague police station. Disappointed and bored, the detective starts solving senseless cases of petty theft and neighbourhood quarrels. The next one looks like a banal embezzlement. But as more evidence piles up, a strange octopus is set in motion, leading the protagonist to a family tragedy and the solution of the legendary Otýlia Vranská case.

The recording includes the final track Blues for Otýlia Vranská. Written, recorded and sung by Raven.