From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Winter Queen (Erast Fandorin Mysteries, #1)

Boris Akunin,

Andrew Bromfield (Translator)

Start date: May 15, 2024

Finish date: June 7, 2024

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: We're trying the first book in this popular historical mystery series.…more
[close] We're trying the first book in this popular historical mystery series.

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What Members Thought

Jan 09, 2020 BrokenTune rated it it was ok

2.5*

Not bad, but just not for me.

I'm not keen on pastiche and this was very ... unoriginal. It felt like a story cobbled together with bits and pieces of other books: Sherlock Holmes, Conrad's The Secret Agent, some Chekhov...and possibly some early James Bond.

The writing was consistently good and there was certainly lots of fun to be had and lots of atmosphere to be enjoyed, but I just couldn't get excited about the story or the characters. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2021 Jill rated it liked it

Shelves: jill-s-seventh-years-aty-challenge, boris-akunin

This is certainly an action-packed book. Fandorin defies death throughout, although having said that, he does not come across as being particularly bright, just extremely lucky. His ability does however become recognized and he manages to get promoted. The plot was a good one and the telling of it was well done, although I did have suspicions about one character. I had to smile at the phrase American Roulette instead of Russian. I would probably have awarded this 4 stars but I was irritated by t ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 08, 2017 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rread-2024, series-dropped, mystery-historical, rread-2017

I added a star after my reread of this book, probably because I wasn't expecting a realistic mystery the second time around. There are lots of twists and turns to this adventure and the hero is incredibly lucky to survive for book two. ...more

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May 01, 2014 Ann rated it liked it

Erast Fandorin is a young police investigator on the the Moscow police force. Erast is assigned to investigate a case of suicide and he determines quickly that there is more to the case. The mystery centers on a series of well run and maintained orphanages endowed by a rich, influential English noblewoman. Erast is a young Sherlock Holmes with great intuition and the ability to see beyond average events. The mystery itself has many twists and the plot is very intricate but very well done. This w ...more

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