When Inspector Peter Glebsky arrives at a remote ski chalet, he intends to ski, drink brandy, and loaf around in blissful solitude. But the chalet’s other vacationers—a famous hypnotist, a physicist with a penchant for gymnastic feats, and a large handful of others—are a nuisance, and so is the avalanche that soon cuts the inn off from civilization. And then there’s the dead body, which may not...