The Winter Queen – Boris Akunin

Recommended and lent by Peter, The Winter Queen introduces young Erast Fandorin at the start of his career as a detective in the Moscow police force. Fandorin’s initially amateur investigations into a series of apparently nihilistic suicides take him into wealthy social circles, a society from which his family fell from grace after his father lost his fortune.

We find plenty of drama and characters in 19th century Imperial Russia, and there’s even a brief encounter with the ne’er do wells of the East London docks.

Amazon.co.uk link: The Winter Queen – Boris Akunin