Adamov’s The Case of the Motley Crew

The Soviet Police Procedural – Parallel Patterns and Divergent Ideologies

Abstract

This paper analyses Arkadij Adamov’s The Case of the Motley Crew (Delo “pëstryh”, 1956) as a distinct Soviet variant of the police procedural. Adopting a comparative genre approach and close structural reading, it examines how the novel incorporates core features such as a collective protagonist, methodical investigation, multiple criminal threads, procedural realism, and bureaucratic language. However, it departs significantly from Western models by framing investigation as an ideological mission. The miliciâ is portrayed not only as an institution responsible for maintaining order but also as a pedagogical force dedicated to re-education and the reinforcement of socialist values. Adamov structures policing across three concentric spheres: the professional investigative team, civic collaborators who emulate miliciâ methods, and a broader ideological collective whose vigilance legitimises law enforcement and blurs the boundary between civic duty and policing. Criminality is presented as a systemic threat linked to historical forces such as bourgeois opportunism and foreign subversion. By merging procedural conventions with socialist pedagogy, the novel transforms criminal investigation into a struggle over moral and political allegiance and demonstrates the genre’s potential to shape visions of collective identity and social order.