Praise for Boris Akunin and the Fandorin mysteries:
“Mr. Akunin’s idiosyncratic page-turner is stuffed with action and laced with humor. In certain ways, it is reminiscent of discursive Russian novels of the 19th century and the social-satirical suspense classics of Wilkie Collins. But comparisons cannot suffice for an author who is a virtuoso in his own right.”—Wall Street Journal, on The Coronation
“Akunin keeps the action fast-paced, and the logical twists head-spinning, without sacrificing humor or depth of characterization.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review of The Coronation
“Droll, incisive, and fiendishly clever, The Coronation is part ripping adventure story, part Downton Abbey-ish comedy of manners, and all fun.”—Seattle Times, on The Coronation
“Just when you think you know what's coming next, Akunin, the most audacious author of historical mysteries in the business, shows that he's way ahead of you.”—Kirkus Reviews, on The Coronation
“I look forward to reading more Fandorin, as translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield, in this mystery series that defies expectations even as it thrills with its intelligence and surprises.”—Criminal Element, on The Coronation
“Brimming with adventure and extraordinary vitality, a sweeping journey through a unique time and place, yet with a humanity that touches us all.”—Anne Perry, on The State Counsellor
“Fandorin delights with his silken ironies and smart manoeuvres ... This latest case shows a crime star of all the Russias still blazing bright.”—Independent (UK), on The State Counsellor
“Akunin’s descriptions of characters’ appearances and temperaments, as well as the time period, call to mind Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes adventures. Narrative sleights of hand and copious red herrings will keep readers guessing until the end.”—Publishers Weekly, on The State Counsellor
“Through every twist and turn, both Akunin and his hero maintain an imperturbable decorum that makes this the most ceremonious tale of terrorism and counterterrorism you're ever likely to read.”—Kirkus Reviews, on The State Counsellor
“A wondrous strange and appealing novel ... Elaborate, intricate, profoundly czarist, and Russian to its bones, as though Tolstoy had sat down to write a murder mystery. Not quite like anything you've ever read before.”—Alan Furst, on The Winter Queen
“Delightful romps through a stylized late nineteenth century.”—New Yorker
“The Russian Ian Fleming ... Akunin's accomplished writing is a treat.”—Ruth Rendell, on The Winter Queen
“If Pushkin had tried his hand at detective fiction, it might have turned out something like this .. A saucy and insouciant tale of derringers and derring-do.”—New York Times Book Review, on The Winter Queen
“Sophisticated ... A marvel of misdirection.”—Boston Globe, on The Turkish Gambit
“[Akunin's) novels feature a Slavic Sherlock Holmes who speaks Japanese and English, is skilled at martial arts and has ladykiller good looks .... Millions of readers have been seduced.”—Wall Street Journal, on The Death of Achilles
“Fandorin ... is a delightful character like no other in crime fiction.”—Times (UK), on The Turkish Gambit
“Akunin writes like a hybrid of Caleb Carr, Agatha Christie, and Elizabeth Peters.”—Publishers Weekly, on Murder on the Leviathan
2019-12-23
Akunin returns to 1900 Moscow, where a suicide club's numbers threaten to diminish to the vanishing point unless evergreen investigator Erast Petrovich Fandorin (The Coronation, 2019, etc.) can put an end to its distressing trend.
Masha Mironova arrives in Moscow with a modest inheritance, a strong aversion to her native Irkutsk, and a starry-eyed determination to be reunited with Petya Lileiko, a carelessly attractive swain from the big city who'd wooed her as Harlequin during his visit to her hometown. What she finds is a little different from what she'd expected. At first the suitor who'd effortlessly pried her away from her designated fiance seems hardly to recall her; when he does, he whisks her off to a club hosting the Lovers of Death, where the cultish leader Blagovolsky, who's dubbed himself Prospero, lords it over an ill-assorted gathering that includes Prospero's assistant, Ophelia; noted poet Lorelei Rubinstein; seductive Kriton; medical dissector Horatio; accountant Caliban; twins Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; grammar school student Gdlevsky; Petya's fellow university student Avaddon; and Petya himself, who's known to the group as Cherubino. All of them share a consuming interest in suicide. Ophelia, a medium, calls on the spirits of the group's late members to inform the group which among them has been nominated for self-slaughter. But soon after Masha, who adopts the sobriquet Columbine, is admitted to the Lovers of Death, Ophelia's demise leaves the group casting about for an alternative way to decide which candidates should be moved to the head of the queue. Meantime, alarmed by the rash of suicides and suspecting that the club may be linked to anti-czarist terrorists, Lt. Col. Besikov arranges for Fandorin, operating under his own pseudonym, to infiltrate the group. The results, including the alter ego that conceals Fandorin, are creepily entertaining though never exactly mysterious in the ways you might expect.
Akunin continues to notch the most consistently varied approaches to the adventures of the Great Detective on record.
