Erast Fandorin MysteriesBy Boris Akunin
Review By Jess
I love a good series. Sometimes the library is overwhelming, so I like the chance to return to familiar characters and a trusted author, but still get a different plot each time. Agatha Christie is good for that. And I have now found the Erast Fandorin books, created by Boris Akunin and set in Russia at the end of the Tsarist era. Erast Petrovich Fandorin is a gentleman who has a sort of polite sex appeal, Hercule Poirot powers of deduction, ninja skills, is a cunning master of disguise, and has a stutter. And he solves crime.
I don't find the plots always very easy to follow, sometimes because the Russian names confuse me. Murder on the Leviathan is a good book because it's on a cruise ship full of rich Westerners who are easy to remember, rather than a battlefield full of Russian officers all with 4 syllable names. But I still like them. They are generally not gory or rude, have a few good plot twists, and the social and political setting is quite different. Books worth investigating if you like mystery serieses.
Thanks, Jess!
2 comments:
Ooh, yes, I like these books. Boris Akunin is apparently s kind of Russian J.K. Rowling - His books sell by the zillion in Russia. I have to say, though, further along in the series there are some incredibly gory bits & don't expect too many happy endings!! He has another series about a crime sleuth nun called Sister Pelagia which I enjoyed except for the last one which includes a time travelling Jesus and a lot of mystical hoo-hah.
Yes, I did forget the bit of gore in the Jack the Ripper story. That was one of the better plots though so I wasn't put off. I'm starting Pelagia and the Black Monk this week, it's a bit slower to get into.
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