Fandorin as portrayed by Oleg Menshikov in the 2005 Russian film, The State Counsellor
I started the Fandorin series with the second novel, The Turkish Gambit, and followed with this one, the first, The Winter Queen. There are currently thirteen published Fandorin novels with three more planned by the author. Akunin is actually a nom de plume; the author’s real name is Gregory Chkhartishvili and he is Georgian, not Russian. This minor point aside, Akunin is well steeped in Russian literary traditions, holding novelists like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in deep reverence. Like his predecessors, he has a deep interest in human character, in what ultimately makes people tick. This interest in fundamentals underpins and buttresses his detective fiction.
While I don’t want to disclose any spoilers, I don’t think it would ruin the novel for anyone to say that the story begins with an apparently pointless suicide of a fashionable, wealthy young college student by means of spinning the chamber of a revolver with only one bullet in it. This is, of course, the melodramatic cliche known in America as Russian roulette, which Akunin ironically refers to as American roulette. In the face of this senseless tragedy, it’s left to young Erast Fandorin to find out what lays behind the death, a bottom rung civil servant/detective with little to offer beyond a good education and charming manners. Despite this unpromising start, there’s more to Fandorin than meets the eye and the protagonist earns the reader’s admiration and liking with his dogged persistence, cool courage, and keen, observing intelligence. Mystery and intrigue abound as Fandorin tracks down and identifies members of a radical secret society with a dangerous journey to London that almost results in his death. The first novel comes to a dramatically satisfying conclusion on a tragic, typically Russian note that reminded me very strongly of a James Bond novel (I won’t reveal which one because, again, I don’t want to spoil things for any potential readers).
The Fandorin novels are immensely popular in Russia, having sold millions of copies and with several films made from them. This is understandable since they are intensely romantic, filled with larger than life characters while still being well grounded in historic fact. Cavalry officers are bold, ready to risk all on a turn of the cards or a duel at dawn. Like Tolstoy’s Natasha, women are proud, gracious Slavic beauties, so full of charm and kindness as to turn a man’s head upon first sight. The 19th century Russia of the Tsars, a subject of continuous, intense interest to Russians even during the Soviet era, comes to life in Akunin’s capable hands, an ancient, rigid, highly stratified culture with startling juxtapositions of progress and backwardness.
I recommend this book and the other Fandorin novels, most of which I still haven’t read. These novels should prove enjoyable reading to anyone interested in Russian history or literature or for those who simply enjoy a good, well thought out mystery.