Molody died from a stroke on a mushroom picking expedition in a suburban forest in October 1970; at the age of 48. Konon's youth friend and retired KGB intelligence agent Leonid Kolosov co-authored "The Dead Season: End of the Legend". He maintained that Konon was healthy upon his return from the UK but began complaining about KGB doctors giving him injections against high blood pressure. Konon had headaches he never had before but the doctors said he should expect to "feel worse before he felt better".