Eva Rossmann’s Mystery Novel «Russen kommen» The Russians Are Coming: New Crimes, Old Fears, and Intercultural Alliances

Eva Rossmann’s mystery novel Russen kommen, the tenth in a popular series, takes up a hot topic in Austria’s tourism industry: the tensions surrounding the recent influx of newly rich Russian visitors. This article uses Rossmann’s mystery as a case study to examine the impact of global culture and transnational investments on Austrian society. Trapped between provincialism and globalization, Austrians are forced to revisit old fears and find new ways of dealing with contemporary challenges. Due to its wide appeal, popular culture can lead the way in these negotiations. In 2008, 240,000 Russians visited Austria, accounting for 1.1 million overnight stays, mainly in Vienna and Tirol. They came to ski and shop, and they spent on average more than double the amount German tourists spent. While the Austria Tourism Marketing Agency actively courted these newly rich Russian visitors, many locals complained about their supposedly bad manners and also their large-scale investments. In 2007, after seeing property prices increase 50% over a two-year period, the town of Kitzbühel even went so far as to debate a quota for Russian tourists (Harms). Ironically, the proposed quota of 10% was higher than the total estimated number of Russian visitors the town hosted that year. Only in January, the time of the Russian-Orthodox Christmas, Russian guests account for approximately 10% of visitors in Kitzbühel («Immer mehr Russen»). Eva Rossmann’s mystery novel Russen kommen, the tenth in her popular Mira Valensky series, takes up this hot topic in Austria’s tourism industry. Her 2008 novel starts with four rich Russians fleeing through the kitchen of a skiing lodge after drinking some very expensive wine. It then moves