The Death of Achilles - SPOILER Thread - (Erast Fandorin #4) (May/June 25)

[Susan]

Welcome to our May/June 25 buddy read of Death of Achilles by Boris Akunin The fourth book in the Erast Fandorin series was first published in 2005.

International intrigue, professional rivalry, the criminal underworld of nineteenth-century Moscow, and an irresistible femme fatale: if Erast Fandorin was hoping for a quiet homecoming, he is about to be disappointed. Erast Fandorin returns to Moscow after an absence of six years, only to find himself instantly embroiled in court politics and scandal. His old friend General Sobolev - the famous 'Russian Achilles' - has been found dead in a hotel room, and Fandorin suspects foul play. Using his now-famous powers of detection - powers that belie his twenty-six years - Fandorin embarks on an investigation, during which the political and the personal may become dangerously blurred. With the assistance of some formidable martial arts skills, acquired whilst Fandorin was in Japan, our eccentric and ingenious hero must endeavour to discover not so much whodunit, as why ...

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

[Sandy]

Part two, which told the story of Fandorin's arch rival, moved quickly. The last part of part two, which explained what the villain was doing during part one, I found fascinating. Then the two meet! Exciting.

Not unusual, but I was confused by the ending when Fandorin learns he is not being hunted. I assume the telegram was not from the prince, NN, but from the nice chief of police?

Hope his Japanese sidekick continues but he is not mentioned in the synopsis.

[Sandy]

Almost forgot to complain about the use of an unknown poison.

[Susan]

I finished this yesterday. I liked it, but I think I preferred the previous one more. The author often has quite experimental structure and I'm never sure that works in crime fiction.

[Sandy]

The reviews of the series say that the author writes in various crime genres. I haven't noticed the particulars, but each book is a bit different.

[Judy]

Interesting thoughts, Sandy and Susan. Must agree about the unknown poison being annoying! Re the different genres, this one isn't really a whodunnit , more of a battle between two opponents.

Interesting that we get so much background on what creates the ruthless assassin - I don't usually like it when we see from the viewpoint of characters like this, but I think it works well in this book.

[Susan]

Maybe I just like my crime novels to be a little boringly predictable...

[Judy]

Susan, I agree, a bit of predictability may help, especially with series!