I’m a big fan of Russians, and of historical fiction, so I was pretty excited when I realized that this book was set in 19th century Russia. And, as it turns out, the main character was awesome, and I promptly ordered a bunch of other books in the series as soon as I finished this one. I loved the style in which the book was written, the way the characters developed, and the story, which was international in scope.

I don’t want to go giving things away, in case you read this book, but I have to say that I really liked the structure, and the way it ended. The main character was a sort of bumbling detective who somehow managed to stay out of trouble with the assistance of sheer luck, which caused me to muse about what it is that we love bumbling detectives so very much. It was also quite fun to see him come to realizations many pages after I did.

Apparently this author is a big hit in Russia, and I can see why. I’m glad that his works are filtering over to us in translation, because I haven’t read much modern Russian fiction, and there’s a distinctive character and flavor about his work which is simply delicious.

Demographics:

The Winter Queen, by Boris Akunin. Translated by Andrew Bromfield. Published 2003, 244 pages. Fiction.