Moscow 1876. A young law student commits suicide in broad daylight in Moscow's Alexander Gardens. But this is no ordinary death, for the young man was the son of an influential industrialist, and has left a considerable fortune.

Erast Fandorin, a hotheaded new recruit to the Criminal Investigation Department, is assigned to the case. Brilliant, young and sophisticated, Fandorin embarks on an investigation that will take him from the palatial mansions of Moscow to the seedy backstreets of London in his hunt for the conspirators behind this mysterious death.

Listen to an exclusive interview in which Paul Blezard talks to the author about the nature of the detective story, the genesis of Erast Fandorin, and- as a translator from Japanese to Russian himself how he feels about having his own work translated. 

Think Tolstoy writing James Bond with the logical rigour of Sherlock Holmes. A hoot. ' — Guardian

William Hootkins made his feature film debut in StarWars . Other major films include Batman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, A River Runs Through, Funny Bones, Hear My Song, The Omega Code and The Magnificent Ambersons . Stage work includes a season at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and amongst his many other audio books is Moby Dick .