by Boris Akunin
The fifth Inspector Fandorin mystery, this one is two chronologically
sequential novellas. In the first, a mysterious con artist nicknamed the
Jack of Spades is embarrassing the higher ups in Moscow, particularly
Prince Dologorukoi, who dispatches Fandorin to set an elaborate con of
his own to catch the swindler. This book also introduces a new assistant
for the inspector, the desperately eager to please Anisii Tulipov, a
sort of comic relief figure. With improbable disguises galore, full of
the twists and turns in fortune that are the hallmarks of this series,
this is a rather light-hearted episode in Fandorin's life.
The
next section, "The Decorator," takes a decidedly more grim turn, as Jack
the Ripper comes to Moscow, leaving brutal death in his wake. Not only
streetwalkers, but, as the police close in on him, police agents,
including poor Tulipov and his harmless family, are murdered in the
nastiest way possible. Akunin takes up narration from the Ripper's point
of view at times – he thinks of himself as the Decorator, for he makes
the beautiful ugly by revealing their God-given organs to the world –
and it is chilling how disturbed, how implacable in his own twisted
logic, Akunin makes him. The cat and mouse game of trying to catch the
killer is again full of the ups and downs, the nearly-there moments, and
the Pyrrhic victories that make this series so suspenseful and
exciting. It’s admirable, in fact, how Akunin is able to make his hero
preternaturally lucky, devilishly handsome, physically implacable, and
mentally superhuman, and yet match him with rogues and villains who
stymie him at nearly every turn. This series continues to be a joy to
read.
five stars
