Bloody awful. Ugh.

The average chapter of this book reads: "I hate all the strange foreigners on this boat, but the Russian guy (despite being Russian) seems alright. Here is a story about him, told by me in the style of a third-person narrator. Now let me explain something that people in the 19th century would already understand, but readers in the 21st century wouldn't. No one must ever discover my dreadful secret (which I will explain, but not until the final third of the book)."

I thought the first Fandorin book (Winter Queen/Azazel) was the best so far, and I think it's largely to do with the narration actually following Fandorin and not regarding him tangentially from some other less interesting character(s). All in all, this book had a nice little mystery, very much in homage to Christie.

No wonder everyone in the books falls for Fandorin.... I am no exception

Sort of more of a standard mystery (all the murder suspects are on the same boat!) than The Winter Queen or The Turkish Gambit, it still provides the pleasures that Akunin is known for.

Bloody awful. Ugh.

Excellent story! I liked this one more than the second mystery in the series.

„Astăzi, 16 martie, Parisul nu vorbeşte decât despre crima înfiorătoare care a tulburat liniştea decentă a aristocratei rue de Grenelle. Corespondentul ziarului La Revue Parisienne s-a grăbit să ajungă la locul tragediei şi este gata să satisfacă legitima curiozitate a cititorilor noştri. (...)
Enormitatea nelegiuirii şi cinismul cu care a fost înfăptuit asasinatul în masă de pe rue de Grenelle depăşesc orice imaginaţie. Cât dispreţ pentru viaţa omului! Ce cruzime monstruoasă! Şi pentru ce? Pentru un idol din aur, care acum nici măcar nu mai poate fi vândut! Iar dacă va fi topit, Shiva se va transforma într-un banal lingou de două kilograme. Două sute de grame de metal galben, iată valoarea pe care a avut-o în ochii criminalului fiecare dintre cele zece suflete trimise pe lumea cealaltă. O tempora, o mores! Vom exclama, asemenea lui Cicero.”

This was a bit of a strange duck. It's a locked-room mystery set on a ship ("Death on the Nile" anyone?), although the crime happened in Paris weeks earlier. It is told from the viewpoints of each of the characters, chapter by chapter (including one by the person who ends up being "It"). It features a bumbling inspector from Paris who is smart, but not as smart as he thinks he is. It is set in the 1870s, although it feels more like it should be set in the pre-World War I era (1910s). And the person who actually figures it all out? A stuttering Russian man who is apparently quite attractive to women while being completely a cold fish on the page.

Still, the whole set-up is an interesting concept. I may have to look into more by Akunin. I'm curious is this was an unusual set-up or if each of the books in the series are similar.

Good characterizations, but a bit "between the wars"-ish for me. If you love Dame Agatha, you'll like this.