The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

This is a brilliant book. The plot is clever and full of those "no way!" moments that I love in mysteries. I laughed out loud more than once - Fandorin is such a silly and unassuming hero, and his use of the "male corset" was absolutely divine. I did see a few things coming - but the writing was such fun to read, that it didn't spoil the book for me.

I appreciate it as a work of Russian literature (excellently translated) - of course, the ending was incredibly Russian (we can't have things be TOO happy, can we?), as well as the banter between characters about famous Russian novelists and poets - even reciting some Russian poetry. I liked getting a feel for Russia and Europe during the late 19th century - and how different detective work stretching across nations must've been before the telephone and internet. This book was a pleasure on many different levels, I'd read Akunin again.