The State Counsellor (Erast Fandorin Mysteries #6) by Boris Akunin

Description

Since the publication of The Winter Queen, the first mystery featuring Erast Fandorin, Boris Akunins historical mystery series has become a worldwide sensation, selling millions of copies and propelling Akunin into the ranks of Russia’s most widely read contemporary novelists. The State Counsellor tests the handsome diplomat-detectives guile and integrity like no mystery before.

Moscow, 1891. The new Governor General of Siberia has been secreted away on a train from St. Petersburg to the former Russian capital. A blizzard rages outside as a mustachioed official climbs aboard just outside the city; with his trademark stutter, he introduces himself as State Counsellor Erast Fandorin. He then thrusts a dagger inscribed with the initials CG into the generals heart, and tearing off his mustache, escapes out the carriage window. The head of the Department of Security soon shows up at the real Fandorins door and arrests him for murder. The only way to save his reputation is to find CGand the mole within the government who is feeding the dangerous group information. Can Fandorin survive corruption among his fellow officials, the fearlessness of an unknown enemy, and the advances of a sultry young nihilist with his morals intact? The State Counsellor is a colorful entertainer from a master of the sly historical romp.