Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our Sept/Oct 25 buddy read of Special Assignments: Erast Fandorin 5: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin The fifth book in the Erast Fandorin series was first published in 2007.

Two new adventures for Boris Akunin's well-loved, inimitable hero in which Erast Fandorin faces two very different adversaries: one, a deft, comedic swindler and master of disguise, whose machinations send ripples spreading through the carefully maintained calm of Moscow in 1886, and the other a brutal serial killer, driven by an insane, maniacal obsession, who strikes terror into the heart of the Moscow slums in 1889 - and who may have more in common with London's own Jack the Ripper than simply a taste for women of easy virtue. Peopled by a cast of eccentric characters, and with plots that are as surprising as they are inventive, Fandorin's 'Special Assignments' will delight Akunin's many thousands of fans, while testing their gentleman sleuth's powers of detection to the limit.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

Is anyone else reading this? It's actually a really good addition to the series.

I enjoyed the first novella a lot, and read it almost straight off - a lot of humour and it's fun seeing how the 'Jack of Spades' swindler and Fandorin try to outwit each other with a series of far-fetched scams.

I've decided not to read the second novella though - I started it and saw that it was very gory, and I'm not really in the mood for that after just reading The Peepshow, a true-crime book about the murders at Rillington Place, so thought I would give it a miss.

Ah, so do you want me to tell you the big spoiler from this novella then?

Thank you Susan, I did take a look at the Wikipedia plot summary though I didn't take it in very well - I saw that a character from a previous book returns from the dead, is that it?

I also saw from the Wikipedia page about this book that it was the big bestseller that made the series a hit, after the first few hadn't done especially well.

The main thing in the second novella relevant to your reading is that the killer first kills Tulipov's sister, and the servant that looks after her and then Tulipov himself. A bit of a sad end, all in all, even though Fandorin does solve the case.

Oh no, that's a shame. I enjoyed his character in the first novella. Thank you for that.

I liked him too :(

Yes, Fandorin is back to having only his Japanese sidekick for company. That has seemed to be his destiny since book one. His mistress from the second half probably made the right decision.

I rather skimmed the second novella, not liking gory details nor cryptic messages from deranged killers. I think we learned somewhere that the author wrote in a different style for each book. This one obviously his Jack the Ripper take-off.

Surprised that this is the book that established the series!

Yes, although the Jack the Ripper link seemed somewhat unrelated to fact!