Thoughts on The Winter Queen

 

The Winter Queen / Boris Akunin / 249 pages

Fair warning, this one's a re-read: I wanted to look at the book with fresh eyes before continuing with the rest of the series.

My rating is an easy 4 of 5 red herrings.

The plot is, of course, simple at first. Erast Fandorin, an earnest and intelligent policeman who at various points really puts the 'blush' in the phrase 'in the blush of youth', is set to investigate a bizarre and theatrical suicide that takes place in the opening scene. Of course, our young detective soon finds himself embroiled in a full-fledged conspiracy that takes him from the streets of Moscow to the watery depths of the Thames, and back to Russia, a journey that involves traitors, murderers, a femme fatale par excellence, an intriguing villain and... however you'd call Zurov. Oh, and let's not forget the brief appearance of the mad(-ish) scientist!

We see Fandorin's character deepen over the course of the book, and learn where some of his later mannerisms come from. That might sound a bit odd coming from someone who's only read this book, but a certain review always stuck in my mind; it said that the Fandorin we get in this novel is not the same Fandorin we'll see in Book 2, and The Winter Queen is more a prequel than a true Book 1 because of it. I can't say if I agree or disagree yet, but it did influence how I read it, despite my best efforts.

The first thing you'll notice with this book is the author's style, witty and evocative, and with an occasional wink to the reader as Akunin toys with this or that - American roulette being the earliest example. Honestly, the way he writes scenes and scenes and characters is so vivid you feel somehow charmed into reading on.

Of course, there are bad points as well, scenes I thought could have used a bit of trimming or some spice to keep the eyes from skimming, but that's all individual interpretation anyway. A couple of things did bother me about the plot*

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Winter Queen very much. It's a well-written book with a lively and often charming style, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series with The Turkish Gambit.

Best quote: "... Then I take a stab at you: 'Fandorin,' I say, 'Fandorin, moov yoor ass.' And then - mind you, don't take offence, now - then he opens his eyes wide in amazement. Your name obviously means something indecent in English. ..."

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* SPOILERS for what bothered me:

1. Bezhetskaya's little club. How does one woman inspire such keen obsession? And... why the group? Gonna be honest, when I first read it, I thought, 'Oh, it's a suicide club and she's taking advantage of these two suicidal men who adore her', and I'm honestly still convinced this would be more believable than one woman forming a social club of all her admirers, including three alarmingly obsessed men, and... well, you get the point.

2. Bezhetskaya's whole 'haunting' gambit. Sorry, why? If you're going to bust in and get what you want anyway, why bother with make-up and knocking on the window and whatnot? You could have had him drugged, just to the point of drowsiness, and bust in while he's still dealing with the effects. Is terrifying him really worth the waste of time? ... hmm, you know, this book would have been a lot shorter if he'd just shot at the 'spectre' outside his window...

3. The twist with Brilling was too clearly laid out, at least for my tastes. Are we supposed to feel like he's a red herring? Am I too suspicious? (Hey, someone has to be, Fandorin was doing a terrible job of it himself!). It's worth noting that Brilling would have had to be displaced anyway - if he'd kept on as Fandorin's direct superior, his competency and efficiency would have made any future book a lot shorter.

4. The ending, very On Her Majesty's Secret Service. WHY. I am honestly flabbergasted.

a) Fandorin speaks to Liza twice in the entire book and spends far more time thinking about/being tempted by Bezhetskaya, and... and now they're getting married? What. This even puts Indiana Jones to shame!

b) Why did Lady Astair send a bomb? Sure, forced closure of her Houses and the ruin of everything she's worked for, for decades, but... this is a character with the resources to do something personal and nasty, and she picked the impersonal, stereotypical 'end it with a big boom' option. I don't deny it played out well, but it's still disappointing coming from such an interesting, unusual villain.