Paris, 1878: Eccentric antiquarian Lord Littleby and his ten servants are found murdered in Littleby’s mansion on the rue de Grenelle, and a priceless Indian shawl is missing. Police commissioner “Papa” Gauche recovers only one piece of evidence from the crime scene: a golden key shaped like a whale. Gauche soon deduces that the key is in fact a ticket of passage for the Leviathan, a gigantic steamship soon to depart Southampton on its maiden voyage to Calcutta. The murderer must be among its passengers.In Cairo, the ship is boarded by a young Russian diplomat with a shock of white hair—none other than Erast Fandorin, the celebrated detective of Boris Akunin’s The Winter Queen. The sleuth joins forces with Gauche to determine which of ten unticketed passengers on the Leviathan is the rue de Grenelle killer.Tipping his hat to Agatha Christie, Akunin assembles a colorful cast of suspects—including a secretive Japanese doctor, a professor who specializes in rare Indian artifacts, a pregnant Swiss woman, and an English aristocrat with an appetite for collecting Asian treasures—all of whom are con?ned together until the crime is solved. As the Leviathan steams toward Calcutta, will Fandorin be able to out-investigate Gauche and discover who the killer is, even as the ship’s passengers are murdered, one by one? Already an international sensation, Boris Akunin’s latest page-turner transports the reader back to the glamorous, dangerous past in a richly atmospheric tale of suspense on the high seas.From the Hardcover edition.
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"Third book after The Winter Queen and The Turkish Gambit from Erast Fandorin series. Boris Akunin showed 19th century Russia and Europe. It's 1878. Paris is shaken by unusual and cruel crime of the century - unknown murderer killed collectioner of antics from India, nine of his servants (seven servants and two kids of servants) and stole a golden statuette of Shiva along with old Indian shawl. the case is in hands of French detective Gauche. Trace leads to exclusive ship Leviathan going to Calcutta. And Erast Pietrovitch, Russian diplomat, is also on the board... Detective story other than classics - where we have middle-aged man as a detective." — Anna (4 out of 5 stars)
"Third book after The Winter Queen and The Turkish Gambit from Erast Fandorin series. Boris Akunin showed 19th century Russia and Europe. It's 1878. Paris is shaken by unusual and cruel crime of the century - unknown murderer killed collectioner of antics from India, nine of his servants (seven servants and two kids of servants) and stole a golden statuette of Shiva along with old Indian shawl. the case is in hands of French detective Gauche. Trace leads to exclusive ship Leviathan going to Calcutta. And Erast Pietrovitch, Russian diplomat, is also on the board... Detective story other than classics - where we have middle-aged man as a detective."
[Akunin’s Erast Fandorin] novels feature a Slavic Sherlock Holmes who speaks Japanese and English, is skilled at martial arts and has lady-killer good looks....Millions of readers have been seduced by the books’ elegant style and classy, retro feel.
[Akunin is] the Russian Ian Fleming....[The Winter Queen] features abduction, villains, beautiful women and, of course, espionage....Akunin’s accomplished writing is a treat.
Akunin’s prose is clean and swift, pausing only to set a scene with a few well-chosen details before resuming the hairpin curves of the action. If Pushkin had tried his hand at detective ?ction, it might have turned out something like this.
A warning to readers: after ?nishing this novel you will need more novels featuring Erast Fandorin....Akunin succeeds in transporting us completely into nineteenth-century Russia, yet the novel is a de?nitively modern mystery.
A tasty dish...There are secret panels, hidden tunnels, a false mustache, intercepted letters, gun?ghts, and a glamorous female villain....Akunin knows how to build suspense, but he also enjoys himself; he shows the reader a good time.
Marries old-fashioned manners to a nonstop array of plot twists to rival the best detective tales. The Winter Queen is an energetic hands-down winner.
" Good who-dunnit elements. Interesting (though sometimes misleading) perspectives from the suspects. "
" Another great installment from the detective Fandorin. I'm liking how removed Fandorin is from the narrative, but unites all the elements. "
" An excellent mystery. Opens with a bang then slowly builds back up. Suffers some in translation, I fear. "
" Entirely reminiscent of Agatha Christie. Good twists, and a great way of unfolding the tale. "
" Don't often read translated books, but this one was a great story. I'm not really a fan of the Agatha Christie "whodunit" genre, but I really enjoyed the plot development of this one and could pick up the parody. "
" Very entertaining, Erast Fandorin is my favorite new detective. "
" This was better than the second installment, but that might be because I love Agatha Christie and this book draws heavily on her tradition :-) "
" The second in the Fandorin series, and every bit as good as The Winter Queen. This was a quick, entertaining read - great character development, amusing, well-written, and absorbing mystery. "
" Great book in the tradition of Agatha Christie. He uses a shifting point of view to tell this tale. "
" A huge improvement on the previous book, interesting premise with a good cast of characters but even I worked out who was responsible too far in advance! "
" Erast Fandorin. Set in historic Paris. "
" An excellent mystery featuring Erastus Fandorin. This series seems to be hit or miss,this one is definitely a hit. "
" Enjoyable pastiche of Agatha Christie. Lightweight but with a solid historical background and lots of splendid stereotypical characters borrowed from adventure and mystery novels of the Victorian era. "
" Though I missed the voice of the lead character/detective of the first book in the series, it was a good plot. "
" One of the better and more cleverly written Akunin books, very easy to read and has a nice plot. The story unravels without making the reader feel sort of going "duuh", which is the main issue with other Akunin books. Entertaining and easy to read. "
" This, the third is the Erast Fandorin series of mysteries, is a clever pastiche of Wilkie Collins's "The Moonstone," Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express," and Arthur Conan Doyle "The Sign of Four" that offers up old-fashioned detective fiction fun. "
" Love the Fandorin stuff!!!! Great murder mysteries combined with historical fiction - which is my absolute fav! "
" This mystery is great fun. The writing style is a treat as the perspectives keep changing as our hero strolls in and out of scenes. I love how Erast doesn't show up until some 30 pages into the book. Akunin always gives a good read. "
" Unlikable characters and surreal plot. No, seriously: THE SECRET, MYTHICAL JEWELS OF A RAJA? :O Ugh. "
" Los personajes son interesantes, los diálogos son muy entretenidos, y es difícil anticipar el giro que toma la historia. A veces pienso que el personaje de Erast Fandorin es demasiado perfecto, pero bah. "
" My least favourite of the series so far, but still creative and fun to read. I especially liked how the plot was told through the rotating eyes of the different characters. "
" "November's chill breath trimmed her braids with silver, Whispering that youth and love were lost forever." "
" Russian version of Sherlock Holmes. Not very well developed suspects, which can kill a mystery... There are a couple of twists here and there, but at the end of it, it didn't seem that surprising at all when you don't feel like you've gotten to know anyone. "
" Third in the Erast Fandorin mystery series by Boris Akunin. Each book in the series takes on a specific mystery genre and this one reads like an Agatha Christie novel with all of the suspects assembled in one place while slowly being dispatched one by one. "
Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili, a Russian writer of Georgian origin. He is best known as writer of detective and historical fiction, but he is also an essayist and literary translator. The author of the Erast Fandorin mystery series and several others series, he has become one of the most widely read authors in Russia.
Campbell Scott has, in addition to his numerous stage and film credits, narrated more than forty audiobooks, including This Boy’s Life and Into Thin Air, and won seven AudioFile Earphones Awards.
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