Earlier, Akunin wanted to call this collection “The Adventures of Erast Fandorin in the 19th Century.” The collection contains 10 works: 7 short stories and 3 novellas. The stories and novellas shift the action from Moscow to Siberia, from England to America—and even to Rio de Janeiro. Of course, Moscow has a special status—with its colorful bandit life, two-faced aristocrats, and other plutocrats: in general, the very “Russia” that, as it turns out, isn’t so hard to lose.