She Lover Of Death
Erast Fandorin 8
-
-
3.7 • 7 Ratings
-
-
- £2.99
-
- £2.99
Publisher Description
Can Fandorin infiltrate a secret society to save Moscow's youth? A dark and decadent detective story from the master of Russian crime fiction.
There's been rising concern in Moscow over a wave of suicides among the city's young bohemians. An intrepid newspaper reporter, Zhemailo, begins to uncover the truth behind the phenomenon - that the victims are linked by a secret society, the Lovers of Death. But Zhemailo is not the only investigator hot on the heels of these disciples of the occult. Little do they realise that the latest 'convert' to their secret society, assuming the alias of a Japanese prince, is none other than Erast Fandorin.
But when a young and naïve provincial woman, Masha Mironova, becomes embroiled in the society, and Zhemalio dies a mysterious death, Fandorin must do more than merely infiltrate and observe. Especially when the spin of the Russian roulette wheel decrees that our dashing hero be the next to die by his own hand. Can Fandorin fake his own demise, all while outwitting the cult's dastardly leader?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Akunin's intriguing, if flawed, eighth mystery featuring investigator Erast Fandorin (after 2019's The Coronation) opens with a series of newspaper articles detailing several tragic deaths in 1900 Moscow. After a "latter-day Romeo and Juliet" take their own lives, a correspondent for the Moscow Courier speculates in print that his city has become the base for a suicide club, similar to ones that have existed in Berlin and London. The concept of a "secret society of death worshippers" who pledge to kill themselves is a promising one, and Akunin does a good job of bringing the reader into the mindset of a wannabe member of such a group, Marya Mironava, who arrives in the city in pursuit of a love-interest. An anonymous agent whom series fans will recognize as Fandorin goes undercover to infiltrate the society in an effort to destroy it, but newcomers may wonder why no one named Erast Fandorin appears in the book. This is not a good starting place for the uninitiated.
