Rating: 
Summary: Slow to start but wonderful finish
Review: Akunin builds his story by deconstucting the psyches of his characters. I found the narrative style reminscent at times to Crime and Punishment though neither as complex and sadly not always as compelling as Dostoevsky's classic. Once Fandorin goes to London the plot picks up, revealing layers of intrigue and world wide plots.
Rating:
Summary: Excellant debut of a series...
Review: Akunin's "Winter Queen" is a wonderful addition to the mystery genre. We meet Erast Fandorin in 1876 Moscow, as he attempts to solve a mysterious suicide. Soon, while he is investigating, a murder is committed, and Erast knows he is on to something. Frankly, Erast is quite lucky here, as fate prevents him from dying at least three times. That is why this book is only 4 stars instead of five. Good background on "Russian" roulette, and on the moody fatalism of Russians. I really liked how the conspiracy was found, and its purpose. The book should have kept its "Azazel" title for America, as it is much more relevant to the story. Count Hippolyte is an intriguing sidekick type, and I hope to see him again in an another Fandorin novel. Great shocker of an ending. Goes out literally in a bang.
Rating:
Summary: Excellant debut of a series...
Review: Akunin's "Winter Queen" is a wonderful addition to the mystery genre. We meet Erast Fandorin in 1876 Moscow, as he attempts to solve a mysterious suicide. Soon, while he is investigating, a murder is committed, and Erast knows he is on to something. Frankly, Erast is quite lucky here, as fate prevents him from dying at least three times. That is why this book is only 4 stars instead of five. Good background on "Russian" roulette, and on the moody fatalism of Russians. I really liked how the conspiracy was found, and its purpose. The book should have kept its "Azazel" title for America, as it is much more relevant to the story. Count Hippolyte is an intriguing sidekick type, and I hope to see him again in an another Fandorin novel. Great shocker of an ending. Goes out literally in a bang.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Summer Reading
Review: Boris Akunin's The Winter Queen was a very nice `read'. The first in a series, Akunin introduces us to Erast Fandorin, a young investigator newly hired by the Moscow police force. Erast comes to the police after his father's family fortune took a dramatic turn for the worse that jolted Erast out of a life of upper-income leisure into a career as a detective. Young, tenacious, intuitive, and more than a bit naïve, Erast is assigned to investigate a clear cut case of suicide. On its surface, an easy investigation designed to ease Erasts's entry into life as an investigator. Of course, all is not what it seems and Erast determines quickly that there is more to the case than a simple suicide. Erast (and Akunin) slowly peel away the layers of mystery and reveals in the process a world-wide conspiracy centered on a series of well run and maintained orphanages endowed by a rich, influential English noblewoman. Along the way Erast encounters love, lust, gambling, and avoids a series of death defying experiences. Standing alone the series of events described above sounds rather pedestrian. A well worn theme. However, the pleasure to be derived from this book is the setting, late 19th century Russia. Akunin has a keen eye for detail and atmospherics. He conveys (as does the excellent translation) a sense of what life must have been life in 19th century Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The book ends triumphantly but Fandorin's triumph turns bittersweet n the last few paragraphs. Although this made for a disconcerting jolt at the end of the book it is quite understandable when one considers that Winter Queen is the first in a long series of Fandorin mysteries. A happily ever after ending would not leave much room for drama in the next installment.Some have compared Fandorin to Sherlock Holmes with a bit of Inspector Clouseau thrown in for good measure. I think Fandorin's character stands on its own and needs no comparison to other literary detectives. If I had to provide any sort of comparison it would be to the protagonist in Caleb Carr's The Alienist. The characters and story lines are quite different of course. The comparison lies in the impact of the historic locale (19th century New York City and 19th century Moscow) that forms the atmospheric heart of each book. All in all this is a very entertaining piece of mystery writing set in an exotic locale. It is a perfect book to read on the beach, on a long plane ride, or sitting on a lawn chair in the back yard. I look forward to the next installment in the series.
Rating:
Summary: great character! formulaic ending
Review: Erast Fandorin is part Inspcector Cluseau, part Hercule Poirot in a somewhat predictable, but thoroughly enjoyable mystery. The intrepid slueth is a young detective working in Moscow in the late 19th century solving his first murder. The murder, as it happens, grows into a much wider (and deeper) conspiracy that reaches to the pinnalce of political power on an international scale.
The earnest Fandorin is somewhat a bumbler, with average intelligence who manages to stumble his way across, into (and out of) a number of comic - and serious - situations. This was enjoyable to read. Yet I can only give it four stars because of the cliched ending. (No, the butler did not do it.) Those who are avid mystery readers should be able to piece the plot together mid-way through the book - but will keep on reading out of the sheer joy of witnessing Fandorin work.
Rating: 
Summary: Rarely, a Modern Russian Book Worth Western Readers.
Review: Having read all of the original Fandorin novels, I was a bit skeptical about the first installment translated into English. Having great use of Russian language as one of his strongest assets, Akunin did an excellent job presenting a good view into the late 19th century Russian literature and the life of the late 19th century Moscow "Beaumont" - money, love, lust, dirty secrets - and a hero who has never lost a gamble! All that rendered in English could be, I was afraid, like a bad Rambo movie -- a bunch of pseudo "Russian"-dressed people who speak gibberish and look as fake as a seven-rouble bill. Andrew Bromfield, however, did an excellent job of bringing the tale of Fandorin to the English-speaking crowd. A great story in conjunction with a good writing style, it kept the feel of the "Leo Tolstoy"-style writing with frequent though not exuberant foreign quotations and footnotes. Although knowledge of Russian is not required for this reading, if you're not a fluent Russian reader - keep a dictionary (or a Russian-speaking buddy) handy - some terms, probably to accentuate the feeling of true Russian writing, were left transliterated rather than translated, so dacha was used instead of an easier to understand yet less eclectic "summer house".
Rating:
Summary: Erast Fandorin series
Review: I agree with all the fans of Akunin's series about Fandorin, and have only comment to add. Author is not writing just a mystery novel, Akunin sets a field for character development, which will continue throughout the series. In the first book Fandorin is an unexperienced detective, where some readers may guess who is the actual villain way before the main hero does. In every consecutive story his character is maturing and it becomes more and more difficult to predict the end... With the maturity of Fandorin, it almost feels like author matures at the same time by adding more and more interesting and complicated twists to the stories. I personally have read all of the books out of order (in Russian) and after reading all of them, sat down to go through the books in the chronological order, which made a lot of difference. Last advice: if you absolutely hated "The winter queen" don't give up. Read another book or two from this series and then decide that it is not worth the time. As for myself, I can't wait to get my hands on the next book that came out three days ago in Russia.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I thought this was a good read and I look forward to more of this authors books being translated into english. I recommend it without reservation.
Rating:
Summary: Good addition to your collection of Russian classics
Review: If I hadn't known that the author of this novel is a contemporary writer, I would have absolutely believed that he lived at the time this book is set in, which is 1876. Akunin's knowledge of the Tsarist Russian culture is remarkable. The language, the style, and the very tone of the book are exactly what you would expect to see in a classic Russian novel of that time period. On to the story. Meet Erast Fandorin, a handsome young police investigator, poor, unknown, naive, and somewhat shy, but eager to be the best sleuth and catch all those villains out there. His chance comes when he is assigned to work on the investigation of a rather unusual, public suicide of a rich university student. Things speed up from there, introducing new leads and new characters. What first looks like a tragic love story turns out to be an international conspiracy, and you will never guess who is the master mind. Well, maybe you will, but right where the author wants you to. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: "Perfect atomosphere, rewarding twists ... a delight"
Review: Set in Moscow in 1876, this crime mystery is the first in a series about the young Erast Fandorin, a sort of Russian Sherlock Homes with emotions. And it is fabulous, and Akunin's Erast Fandorin series have been a huge hit in Russian for years and this is the debut in English. The characters are so realized, the atmosphere so perfect and the twists of the plot so rewarding, you can hardly wait for more. What begins as the mystery of why a wealthy, talented student from a rich family would shoot himself in public turns evolves into a larger tale of worldwide anarchist conspiracy. This book is a delight.
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