I knew when I read The Winter Queen that Boris Akunin was an author of rare talent. I raved about his ability to transport the reader to the Russia of the Czars in a wonderfully florid style. The Winter Queen was the first of the Erast Fandorin series of mysteries. Akunin has decided that there are 16 different genres of mysteries, and 16 different personality types according to an interview he gave the San Diego Reader. The Winter Queen was the international conspiracy novel. The second book in the series, but for some reason the third published in the US, was the Turkish Gambit, a spy novel. The third book was Murder on the Leviathan, a good old-fashioned cozy mystery. Not only is the structure of Murder on the Leviathan different from the Winter Queen, but the prose is as well.The 1878 Paris murder of English Lord Littleby was particularly heinous, resulting in not only his death, but also the strange deaths of seven members of his household staff, and two children related to them. There was no sign of violence on the bodies of the staff members, and most of them were found sitting around a table in the kitchen, but Lord Littleby had been beaten around the head with a blunt instrument.Although he possessed a large collection of valuable antiquities, only a single statue of Shiva was stolen, along with a silk scarf perhaps used to conceal it. But the statue was fished out of the Seine almost immediately, leaving Gustave Gauche, the Investigator for Especially Important Cases with few clues to follow.Gauche is well named, and reminded me of Agatha Christie's description of her own character, Hercule Poirot as a "bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep." Having found a whale shaped golden pin in Littleby's clenched fist, presumably ripped from the murderer's clothing, Gauche determined that is was used to identify the first class passengers and officers of the Leviathan's maiden voyage from Southampton to Bombay. Detecting the single passenger or senior officer lacking this golden bauble seemed an easy task to Gauche and so he boarded the ship at Southampton, sure he would have his criminal by the the time the ship reached LeHarve.And so we begin our cruise on the largest ship of the day, offering first class accommodations so lavish and comfort so great that passengers would have no need to bring their own valets and/or maids. Nor would they be expected to take meals in a large dining hall, but in small salons of about ten people. It was in the Windsor salon that Gauche, with the assistance of the ship's Captain, was able to assemble his most likely suspects. They included the Englishman, Sir Reginald Midford-Stokes, an erratic baronet, scion of a wealthy family, travelling to some "god forsaken Oceania," Mme. Renate Kleber, a young, pregnant wife of a Swiss banker traveling to join her husband in Calcutta, M. Gintaro Aono, a Japanese nobleman who claimed to be an officer in the Imperial Army of Japan, a Mlle. Clarissa Stamp, a "typical Englishwoman, no longer young, with dull colorless hair and rather sedate manners," a specialist in Indian archeology, Anthony F. Sweetchild and the ship's chief physician, the Italian M. Truffo and his English wife of two weeks. Also at the table was the first officer of the Leviathan, M. Charles Renier. When the Leviathan reached Port Said, a Russian diplomat, with a shock of white hair and a slight stammer joined the party, eventually informing Gauche in response to his unsubtle questioning about the absence of his whale emblem, "I do not wear it because I do not wish to resemble a janitor with a name tag, not even a golden one."Soon items turn up missing, and then passengers turn up dead. It is clear that the murderer is among our party in the Windsor salon. But who? And how many will die before the murderer is uncovered?The story is told in the alternating voices of the passengers, through their diaries, letters and private thoughts as each chapter is written from a different point of view. None of them from the perspective of our intrepid Russian diplomat, Erast Fandorin; we only see him through the lenses of the other travelers. But he is essential to the solution of the mystery.Clearly written in the style of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, Murder on the Leviathan is a cozy mystery reminiscent of Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express. But it is ingeniously updated, as Akunin exposes the national and racial bigotry of that era and those writers and handily refutes it. It is the kind of book I had to occasionally put down, just to marvel at how well he was handling this genre and how much he was improving it all while poking gentle fun at its conventions.The characters are beautifully drawn, the plotting is almost perfect and although it seems to slow a little in the middle, the mystery is resolved just when one can no longer stand the suspense. For we all know that there is another shoe to drop somewhere, we just aren't sure whose shoe it will be and how far it will fall.If you enjoy an intelligently written, complex, cozy mystery, Murder on the Leviathan is one you should not miss. Whether you consider it a parody of the genre or a simple cozy, it is a pleasurable read.
First, I must say that I'm again disappointed by Croatian publishers who publish one book from series, than skip next one, than publish third etc. That's why I didn't read The Turkish Gambit, because it's not translated in Croatian, and libraries often do not have English editions. I'll try to find the 2nd novel from series in English, but probably won't succeed. So far, I've read the first and sixth novel from Fandorin series.In comparison to the previous book, this is obvious advance. It's written in Agatha Christie style. We see few third-person POV of suspects, also few chapters are written from POV of French detective Gauche, also in third-person. There's also that A. Christie-style setting, big steamer on its first trip, characters of different nationalities, sloppy law-officer and off course, main hero, Fandorin himself.I like that style, I liked how Akunin parodied stereotypes, how he showed colonial prejudices of Great Britain, France, Imperial Japan, although he spared Russian Empire there. It's easy-to-read novel, reader has all the clues available to connect the puzzle, even without the full back story. That's also a small minus, as I feel that Akunin oversimplified it, making it too easy for readers to grasp it. I like that suspense when you get some hints, have your pick of murderer and his/her motives, but still have your doubts. Nonetheless, this is great detective story with solid setting, and comparing Akunin to Christie (or A. C. Doyle) is already a great compliment. Story starts with murder of Lord Littleby and his servants, and their children. In total - murder of ten victims. Only lead for Paris detective Gauche is badge of newly-built steamer "Leviathan", that will soon start its first journey. Gauche boards the boat, and from there the story really starts as we're introduced to colorful palette of suspects, including Fandorin.My rating is just shy of 5 stars, because although I liked humor, I felt that author sometimes oversimplified and made it too easy for reader. Atmosphere is nice, but not as in Статский советник. Still, I liked it more than the first book in series, and I'm looking forward to reading the next Fandorin book I can get. It probably won't be the next in series, as I've already complained in my first sentence, but books are good read as standalone novels too. For now, I've covered three books in series, that are three of sixteen "types" of detective fiction Akunin recognizes, so I'm curious in which style next book will be written.
What do You think about Murder On The Leviathan (2005)?
It’s the late 19th century, and there has been a most grizzly murder in Paris. One major clue has been left behind, and it points to a small group of first class passengers travelling on the enormous luxury cruiser, the Leviathan. A detective is on board and on the case, and has narrowed the list of suspects down to a few - but finding the murderer proves to be much more complicated than he imagined.This book has everything a good armchair mystery needs – a shortlist of eccentric and suspicious characters (with even more suspicious pasts), an eager detective with his own set of shortcomings, strange circumstances, an impressive bounty on the line and more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. The story is paced wonderfully, and there is a real sense of escalation and tension in the second half (which I read in one sitting). Ridiculous national stereotypes abound – the English and the French missing no opportunity to take underhanded jabs at each other, the Japanese samurai rushing to commit harakiri with every calamity, the prim Englishwoman, the Swiss banker’s wife. As it is set in the 19th century, there is no shortage of shameless racism and hilariously un-PC remarks. Yet, all the characters are portrayed with empathy as the story is told from the point of view of each. Akunin gives you just enough information to keep you guessing, and just when you think you’ve figured it out – think again. There are so many plot twists that there will be a thrilling surprise (or several) in store for anyone who chooses to come on board the Leviathan. 3.5 stars.
—Katja
A couple of years ago I read Akunin's Sister Pelagia & the White Bulldog, and rather enjoyed it -- enough, anyway, to give him another try. I really had no idea of the treat I had in store: this is a splendid piece, by turns poignant, mystifying and (often gloriously) funny.In 1878 there's a ghastly mass murder in a Paris home, and a sacred gold statue and a shawl, both treasures from British-conquered India, are stolen. The statue is dredged up from the bottom of the Seine not long after. The only clue the cops have is that the murderer left behind a distinctive golden badge; shaped like a whale, this is one of a limited edition made specially for the maiden voyage of a new cruise liner, the Leviathan, due soon to make the run from London to Calcutta. Accordingly, a senior Parisian detective, the pompous Inspecteur Gauche, is put aboard the vessel to see if he can sniff out the killer. When the ship reaches Port Said a new passenger boards; he proves to be Akunin's series detective, the stammering young Russian diplomat Erast Fandorin.The route to the revelation of more than a single murderer is tortuous, and I'll not detail it here. The viewpoint character changes from one chapter to the next (two of those characters are first-person narrators, one being a diarist and the other a letter-writer), a device that could have been off-putting but here works with a lovely ease. And the personalities of the various central characters are beautifully unfolded, in all their humor and horror. The tale is a very tall one, but then so are many of those told by Akunin's precursors in this particular style of detective story: Wilkie Collins, Margery Allingham, Ellery Queen, John Dickson Carr . . .And now, dammit, I have to go find myself some more of Akunin's novels.
—John
In search of the perpetrator of a multiple murder in Paris, a French detective pursues his quarry aboard the steamer Leviathan which is traveling to India in about 1878. Erast Fandorin, a young Russian diplomat/detective on his way to Japan meets the ship along the way. The mystery is fine though not very original. Fandorin has the advantage of the frenchman at every step. He's a bit of a cross between Holmes and Poirot.Parts of the story are related by several of the eclectic, international group of passengers. This is what gets the book 4 stars from me. Their suspicions of each other are related in terms of ironic and humorous prejudices. The mutual distaste between english, french, japanese and other nationalities creates a comedy of manners that makes the book a pleasure to read. Whether the translator was entirely true to the original Russian, I cannot say, but the English is fluid and natural.
—Craig Shier
