Boris Akunin:The White Queen

[abecedarian]

Set in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and London in 1876, The Winter Queen is the first in Boris Akunin's Ernst Fandorin mystery series. Fandorin investigates the suicide of a wealthy student in Moscow's Alexander Gardens and discovers that it is much more than an open-and-shut case. He uncovers evidence of a complex conspiracy with deadly and far-reaching implications.
I highly reccomend The White Queen and will certainly be reading the rest of the series myself. I found myself laughing at Akunin's labeling the suicide game the students played "American Roulette." He said it originate in the gold fields of the American west..which made me rush to google it and make sure of the facts..the article on wikipedia even mentioned The White Queen's reference, saying perhaps it was Akunin's idea of a joke...it was clever anyway.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Not much time to add more than I did in the 'Olympic Challange' thread.

I've read all the Boris Akunin books translated into english so far. The four 'Erast Fandorin' books, of which 'Turkish Gambit' is the best. Also the first of the Sister Pelagia Mysteries, 'Pelagia and the White Bulldog'.

The Fandorin's are a good old fashioned read, a little bit of Sherlock Holmes, and little of Agatha Christie, and a touch of James Bond. The main character doesn't say too much, so you get to know him at a slower pace than you normally expect, and that's no bad thing at all.
If memory serves me right, there a quite a few more Fandorin books waiting to be translated, plus one or two about his great-grandson, a detective in modern day Russia.

The Pelagia book was also good, although her character was even slower to emerge, as she says even less, and is absent for large parts of the story. I'll proably have a better handle on her by the end of the next book. Speaking of which...

There is another Fandorin & another Pelagia book coming out next spring.

K-S

 

[abecedarian]

It did have the feel of a cozy mystery, but the action and plot twists were not very cozy at all.

 

[GERBAM]

Akunin

I Too Read Him And Highly Recommend His Work