Book recommendations.

[Herlock Sholmes]

One of the most baffling of all mysteries has to be The Dyatlov Pass Mystery. I’d never read a book on the case before so I was looking for a really good book on the case and imo I found just the one. It’s called Death Of Nine: The Dyatlov Pass Mystery by Launton Anderson. I have nothing to compare it to of course but I’d say that if you want a good introduction to the case, background on the victims, the journey itself, diary entries, autopsy reports, unanswered questions, strange unexplained facts, unbiased evidence and loads of photographs then this is the one. It’s such a complex case that it’s an achievement to get it into just 280 pages. Check out the website and forum on the case - there are some real experts on this case going into minute details. The author also reviews the theories (a paragraph on each one) and then gives the one that he favours (which I’m not totally sold on but I can see his point of view) I’m convinced that it was a murder and not the result of some natural phenomenon or some kind of animal (certainly not a Yeti!) Who did it though? I have a feeling that there’ll never be an answer to that one although it may be locked away somewhere in Russia. When an official enquiry comes up with one of the stupidest theories of all you tend to get the impression that this is a subject that they are no longer willing to discuss.

Recommended.

[c.d.]

The latest theory appears to be that the deaths were due to a slab avalanche, which is a special type of deadly snowslide that can strike on low-angled slopes. Could be but does that explain all of the very bizarre occurrences?

https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vwg8/the-dyatlov-pass-mystery-may-have-just-been-solved-by-new-video-evidence

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

The latest theory appears to be that the deaths were due to a slab avalanche, which is a special type of deadly snowslide that can strike on low-angled slopes. Could be but does that explain all of the very bizarre occurrences?

https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vwg8/the-dyatlov-pass-mystery-may-have-just-been-solved-by-new-video-evidence

c.d.

Admittedly this is after reading just one book on the subject but I just can’t see how it possibly could c.d. According to the medical evidence in the book 2 of the hikers had their eyes gouged out while they were still alive. Some of them were badly burned. 2 of them had double the normal radiation levels on their clothing which dropped when their clothing was put in water by investigators, so they can’t know how high it was originally because both of those bodies were actually found in water. Some of them had each other’s clothing on. Then there was the many cuts on the tent. As mysteries go c.d. this one has to be near the top of the tree imo.

[Ms Diddles]

Admittedly this is after reading just one book on the subject but I just can’t see how it possibly could c.d. According to the medical evidence in the book 2 of the hikers had their eyes gouged out while they were still alive. Some of them were badly burned. 2 of them had double the normal radiation levels on their clothing which dropped when their clothing was put in water by investigators, so they can’t know how high it was originally because both of those bodies were actually found in water. Some of them had each other’s clothing on. Then there was the many cuts on the tent. As mysteries go c.d. this one has to be near the top of the tree imo.

Hi Herlock!

Yep! This one keeps me awake at night too!!

I've read pretty much all the available literature, and from what I recall some of the evidence mentioned above (the radiation levels / eyes and tongue removal pre mortem) is very much open to debate.

You'll see it contested in other books.

The autopsy reports are woefully vague too.

Then there's the intriguing detail of the missing person report pre-dating anyone knowing the hikers were missing.

I recall quite liking Donnie Eichar's book "Dead Mountain" although I'm not convinced by his conclusions (avoiding spoilers here!!).

There was also quite a good documentary released recently (2019 / 2020?), which I saw at a friends house through a haze of festive booze.

I can't recall the details (!), but I can find out if you're interested?

I was initially convinced that there was some kind of KGB conspiracy thing going on, but I now lean towards avalanche as the likeliest explanation.

Initially the thinking was that an avalanche was unlikely to have occurred at the location, but recent research has overturned that pretty convincingly.

It doesn't exactly explain all of the weird facets of the case, but simply playing the odds, I see it as the likeliest (if rather mundane) explanation.

If you decide to read a bit more about the case, please do post your thoughts.

I'd be interested to see what you think.....

[Ms Diddles]

The Keith McCloskey book "Mountain of the Dead" is a good one too.

I just checked with my friend, the documentary which we watched was called "An Unknown Compelling Force".

[Ms Diddles]

One of the most baffling of all mysteries has to be The Dyatlov Pass Mystery. I’d never read a book on the case before so I was looking for a really good book on the case and imo I found just the one. It’s called Death Of Nine: The Dyatlov Pass Mystery by Launton Anderson. I have nothing to compare it to of course but I’d say that if you want a good introduction to the case, background on the victims, the journey itself, diary entries, autopsy reports, unanswered questions, strange unexplained facts, unbiased evidence and loads of photographs then this is the one. It’s such a complex case that it’s an achievement to get it into just 280 pages. Check out the website and forum on the case - there are some real experts on this case going into minute details. The author also reviews the theories (a paragraph on each one) and then gives the one that he favours (which I’m not totally sold on but I can see his point of view) I’m convinced that it was a murder and not the result of some natural phenomenon or some kind of animal (certainly not a Yeti!) Who did it though? I have a feeling that there’ll never be an answer to that one although it may be locked away somewhere in Russia. When an official enquiry comes up with one of the stupidest theories of all you tend to get the impression that this is a subject that they are no longer willing to discuss.

Recommended.

Ps I think Launton Anderson is a woman, Herlock.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Ps I think Launton Anderson is a woman, Herlock.

[Herlock Sholmes]

The Keith McCloskey book "Mountain of the Dead" is a good one too.

I just checked with my friend, the documentary which we watched was called "An Unknown Compelling Force".

Thanks for that Ms D.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hi Herlock!

Yep! This one keeps me awake at night too!!

I've read pretty much all the available literature, and from what I recall some of the evidence mentioned above (the radiation levels / eyes and tongue removal pre mortem) is very much open to debate.

You'll see it contested in other books.

The autopsy reports are woefully vague too.

Then there's the intriguing detail of the missing person report pre-dating anyone knowing the hikers were missing.

I recall quite liking Donnie Eichar's book "Dead Mountain" although I'm not convinced by his conclusions (avoiding spoilers here!!).

There was also quite a good documentary released recently (2019 / 2020?), which I saw at a friends house through a haze of festive booze.

I can't recall the details (!), but I can find out if you're interested?

I was initially convinced that there was some kind of KGB conspiracy thing going on, but I now lean towards avalanche as the likeliest explanation.

Initially the thinking was that an avalanche was unlikely to have occurred at the location, but recent research has overturned that pretty convincingly.

It doesn't exactly explain all of the weird facets of the case, but simply playing the odds, I see it as the likeliest (if rather mundane) explanation.

If you decide to read a bit more about the case, please do post your thoughts.

I'd be interested to see what you think.....

Thanks Ms D. This is the problem with reading just one book on a subject as complex as this one. The avalanche theory just sounded totally unfeasible to me; more than a bit like the ‘official’ version but that opinion was based on things like the eyes (which the author didn’t question) and the wounds which appear to point to an attack by a human as opposed to an animal (or a Yeti) The author goes for the theory that one of the hikers was possibly giving away secrets so a small team was sent. The wounds pointed to torture. She doesn’t propose the theory as a ‘case solved’ at least but as one that she believed best explained the evidence.

Its easy to see how people get hooked on this case. It’s just so strange.

……

Ms D I’ve looked at the few books available and I’m considering getting Don’t Go There: True Mystery Of The Dyatlov Pass (2020) by Svetlana Oss which gets some good reviews. The problem is that when I clicked for the kindle version it comes up as Don’t Go There: The Post Mortem. The reviews are the same as for the paperback though. Do you know anything about this book? I’d prefer the kindle version but this made me wonder if the Kindle book is a different version?

[Ms Diddles]

Thanks Ms D. This is the problem with reading just one book on a subject as complex as this one. The avalanche theory just sounded totally unfeasible to me; more than a bit like the ‘official’ version but that opinion was based on things like the eyes (which the author didn’t question) and the wounds which appear to point to an attack by a human as opposed to an animal (or a Yeti) The author goes for the theory that one of the hikers was possibly giving away secrets so a small team was sent. The wounds pointed to torture. She doesn’t propose the theory as a ‘case solved’ at least but as one that she believed best explained the evidence.

Its easy to see how people get hooked on this case. It’s just so strange.

……

Ms D I’ve looked at the few books available and I’m considering getting Don’t Go There: True Mystery Of The Dyatlov Pass (2020) by Svetlana Oss which gets some good reviews. The problem is that when I clicked for the kindle version it comes up as Don’t Go There: The Post Mortem. The reviews are the same as for the paperback though. Do you know anything about this book? I’d prefer the kindle version but this made me wonder if the Kindle book is a different version?

Hi Herlock!

IIRC Svetlana Oss has published two books; One is Don't go There and the second is just a transcription of the autopsy reports.

I have them both somewhere.

The autopsy reports are interesting, largely for what they don't include, and probably should!

I'd say that one is worth having.

Re Don't go There. I remember thinking it was OK, but I personally preferred the McCloskey and Eichar accounts by a mile.

It's a while since I read any of them though, so I can't recall what brought me to that conclusion.

When I get time I'll have a poke around among my Dyatlov books and try to refresh my memory and get back to you!

[c.d.]

Thanks for this, Herlock.

So apparently the rescue team covered up what they found at the scene. Is that correct?

c.d.

[Ms Diddles]

Thanks for that Ms D.

Herlock,

I seem to recall you warning me about the highly addictive and obsession inducing nature of the Wallace case.


The same applies here.

Be careful or before you know it you'll have remortgaged your house and be cutting about the Urals on a snow mobile, clutching a bottle of Russian vodka and rambling about "menk" and "mansi" and the KGB to anyone who'll listen.

Just saying.....!

[barnflatwyngarde]

Herlock,

I seem to recall you warning me about the highly addictive and obsession inducing nature of the Wallace case.


The same applies here.

Be careful or before you know it you'll have remortgaged your house and be cutting about the Urals on a snow mobile, clutching a bottle of Russian vodka and rambling about "menk" and "mansi" and the KGB to anyone who'll listen.

Just saying.....!

You're right Miss D, it's a case that just keeps on confusing me.

Here is an an interesting link from the Igor Pavlov book.

Lot's of photographs and other source material.

1079 (dyatlovpass.com)

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thanks for this, Herlock.

So apparently the rescue team covered up what they found at the scene. Is that correct?

c.d.

I don’t know if anything was actually covered up at the scene c.d. Ms D knows far more about this than I do and would probably know if any such suggestions have been made. I believe though that the people that discovered the bodies were, at least in part, volunteers. So just ordinary hikers like those that died, so I think that it might have been difficult to cover things up at the scene with them around? It would be easy for me to fall into the trap of assuming that everything written in the book that I read was correct which, to an extent, is unavoidable. The author for example states it as a fact that the eyes of two of the hikers were removed whilst they were still alive but, from reading other books, Ms D says that this is questioned and might not be the case. A natural disaster explanation is counter-intuitive and sounds close to insane on my very brief reading but many knowledgeable do think that it best covers the known facts. I also recall something about the government closing off a wide area around the site sometime after the investigation which naturally leads to accusations of some kind of governmental cover up (especially in Soviet-era Russia) but this might have a much less sinister explanation.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Herlock,

I seem to recall you warning me about the highly addictive and obsession inducing nature of the Wallace case.


The same applies here.

Be careful or before you know it you'll have remortgaged your house and be cutting about the Urals on a snow mobile, clutching a bottle of Russian vodka and rambling about "menk" and "mansi" and the KGB to anyone who'll listen.

Just saying.....!

I don’t think I could cope with another case Ms D even though all’s quiet on the Wallace front (thankfully) I’ve now transferred to the murder of Carrie Brown with Howard over on JTRForums. Another intriguing case imo.