The novel opens a new cycle, “The Adventures of the Magistrate.” Nicholas Fandorin, a British subject and a descendant of the famous Russian detective Erast Fandorin, travels to Russia. Ancient secrets of Moscow’s underground passages, the seventeenth century—and a modern hero in a good English suit… All of this is the new novel by Boris Akunin!
For now, Nicholas followed his father’s advice and kept well away from his ancestral homeland. After all, to love Russia from a distance and indeed seemed easier and more pleasant. His chosen specialty—nineteenth-century history—allowed the younger Fandorin to avoid putting that bright feeling through risky tests. The Russia of the past century, especially its second half, looked quite respectable. Of course, even then, under the double-headed eagle, plenty of filth was carried out—only these were “moderate” filths, fitting within the boundaries of European history and therefore excusable. And where respectability ended and the senseless Russian revolt took over, Nicholas Fandorin’s professional interests ended too. However, when, by the will of fate, the magistrate’s relationship with the history of Russia brought Nicholas to Russia, this is what happened…