The Yiddish Policemen's Union

The novel is set in 2007 in the District of Sitka, a settlement created to shelter European Jewish refugees fleeing World War II and the destruction of Israel in 1948. However, on January 1, 2008, Sitka’s territory will revert to the sovereignty of the Alaskan state, where it is located. Once Reversion takes effect, all Jewish government offices, including the District Police, will be dissolved.

In late 2007, a Jewish man named Emanuel Lasker is found murdered in Room 208 of the Hotel Zamenhof. The night manager, Tenenboym, asks Detective Meyer Landsman, who lives in Room 505, to examine the crime scene. Landsman is a hard-boiled detective who has solved many crimes in the past. Despite his alcoholism, he retains a strong memory.

Lasker’s room does not show any signs of forced entry. Tenenboym describes Lasker as a “broken man,” though he came to this description by intuition rather than by personal acquaintance. Landsman finds a cheap chessboard with an ongoing game—White with the advantage over Black. Landsman regrets never having played chess with Lasker, even though he is bad at chess. He finds proof that the killer used a pillow to suppress the gunshot, making the murder an execution.