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A richly drawn picture of tsarist Russia, populated with intriguing characters whose descriptions of appearance and temperament are suited to the period. Akunin has been propelled into the ranks of Russia's most widely read contemporary novelists. The first new Fandorin novel to be available to an English speaking audience in a decade, the novel tests the handsome diplomat-detective's guile and integrity like no mystery before. Russia 1891. The new governor-general of Siberia has been secreted away on a train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. A blizzard rages outside as a moustachioed official climbs aboard just outside the city. With his trademark stutter, he introduces himself as State Counsellor Erast Fandorin. He then thrusts a dagger inscribed with the initials CG into the governor-general's heart and, tearing off his moustache, escapes out the carriage window. The head of the Department of Security soon shows up at the real Fandorin's door and arrests him for murder. The only way to save his reputation is to find the leader of the dangerous group that goes by those initials, and the government mole who is feeding CG information. Enlisting the help of an earnest young lieutenant and his own nimble Japanese valet, Fandorin's first stop is the dark apartment of a perpetually veiled female informant who is on the payroll of both of Moscow's competing police departments. Can Fandorin survive corruption among his fellow officials, the fearlessness of an unknown enemy, and the advances of a sultry young nihilist with his morals intact? A sly historical romp. 300 pages.