Translated by Andrew Bromfield
The fourth Erast Fandorin mystery. The collegiate assessor, recently returned to Russia from Japan now with a fanatically loyal servant in tow, is immediately drawn into an investigation of the death of a military hero, General Sobolev, the “Achilles” of the title. Every new piece of information brings further mystery, however – the general’s retinue is hushing up the incident. It seems to be because he was in flagrante delicto with a lady when he died. But she had a bottle of poison! But she didn’t give it to him. A German spy seems to be involved, and then there’s the matter of a million rubles in a briefcase… Just as everything gets insanely tortuous, Akunin strains the tension to the breaking point as he abruptly shifts scenes in part two, and we are introduced to a killer for hire, and see the events all over again through his eyes. It’s utterly brilliant, totally captivating, pure literary magic.
five stars
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