by Boris Akunin (Author)
International intrigue, professional rivalry, the criminal underworld of nineteenth-century Moscow, and an irresistible femme fatale: if Erast Fandorin was hoping for a quiet homecoming, he is about to be disappointed. Erast Fandorin returns to Moscow after an absence of six years, only to find himself instantly embroiled in court politics and scandal. His old friend General Sobolev - the famous 'Russian Achilles' - has been found dead in a hotel room, and Fandorin suspects foul play. Using his now-famous powers of detection - powers that belie his twenty-six years - Fandorin embarks on an investigation, during which the political and the personal may become dangerously blurred. With the assistance of some formidable martial arts skills, acquired whilst Fandorin was in Japan, our eccentric and ingenious hero must endeavour to discover not so much whodunit, as why ...
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Publisher: W&N
Published: 11 Aug 2005
ISBN 10: 0297645536
ISBN 13: 9780297645535
Book Overview: 'Erast Fandorin had been called a 19th-century James Bond, and there are similarities ... but Fandorin is more human than Bond, and Akunin more witty than Fleming.' Daily Telegraph 'It is all written with splendid style, panache, inventiveness, humour and self-awareness ... perfect examples of escapist literature.' Allan Massie 'High-spirited and more than a little camp, Akunin blends Murder on the Orient Express with And Then There Were None and adds a dash of A Study in Scarlet.' Scotland on Sunday 'Gloriously tongue-in-cheek' Daily Express 'A thoroughly enjoyable read' The Independent on Sunday