 Russian edition | |
| Author | Boris Akunin |
|---|---|
| Original title | Любовница смерти |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Series | Erast Fandorin |
| Genre | Historical detective |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Coronation |
| Followed by | He Lover of Death |
She Lover of Death is a novel by Russian author Boris Akunin. The book is the eighth historical detective novel featuring the fictional character Erast Fandorin.
A naive young woman, Masha Mironova, travels from provincial Russia to Moscow, where she changes her name to Columbine and joins the Lovers of Death, a small group of bohemian poets, each of them eagerly waiting their turn to die a romantic fin de siècle death by suicide. Once one member dies, their replacement is found by the leader of the group, the Doge. Another newcomer to the society appears to be a Japanese prince, although this turns out to be Erast Fandorin acting undercover. Fandorin is not the only person to have connected the suicides and the group: a newspaper reporter, Zhemailo, has also done so and he also dies a mysterious death. A police informer, Horatio, is also part of the group. Fandorin uncovers that many of the suicides are murders, some committed by a young member known as Caliban. These turn out to be a convenient smoke-screen for the real murderer, the Doge, whose full crimes are eventually discovered after he drives Columbine into suicide, which she fortunately survives.
She Lover of Death was published in the UK in October 2009 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson; the hardback copy was 272 pages. [1] In September 2010 Weidenfeld & Nicolson published a paperback version of the novel in the UK, which also ran to 272 pages. [2]
She Lover of Death achieved generally favourable reviews. Marcel Berlins, writing in The Times noted that " Akunin is not out to achieve verisimilitude. What he delivers is an absurdly imaginative story, surreal and comic. His characters are outrageous and thoroughly unbelievable. Fandorin is an impossibly heroic figure. The combination is irresistible." [3] John Thornhill, reviewing the novel in the Financial Times thought the book to be "conventional and self-indulgently enjoyable" [4] Thornhill considers that the story is "steeped in the classics of Russian literature", [4] whilst he considers that Akunin "toys with the styles and conventions of Russia’s illustrious late-19th-century writers." [4] Overall, Thornhill saw She Lover of Death to be an "artfully constructed novel [which] also nods in the direction of Arthur Conan Doyle". [4]
The Reviewer for The Sunday Times wrote that the Fandorin was an "engagingly original series" [5] which was "a fascinating mixture of pathos and pastiche; his characters are larger than life but never absurd." [5] they went on to say that She Lover of Death "is as ingenious as the earlier Fandorin novels, and full of clever and unexpected twists." [5]
Reviewing for the Australian newspaper The Courier-Mail , Cheryl Jorgensen considered that, with Akunin has a "tone throughout is light, as though he doesn't take himself too seriously and this gives the tale its appeal"; [6] overall she considered the book to be "an absorbing tale from Imperial Russia that is sure to delight". [6]
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and prior to his death was also known as Lady Antonia Pinter.
Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH, usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer.
Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigori Chkhartishvili, a Georgian-Russian writer residing in United Kingdom. He is best known as a writer of historical fiction. He is also an essayist and literary translator. Grigory Chkhartishvili has also written under pen names Anatoly Brusnikin, Anna Borisova, and Akunin-Chkhartishvili. His characters include Erast Fandorin, Nicholas Fandorin and Sister Pelagia.
Erast Petrovich Fandorin is a fictional 19th-century Russian detective and the hero of a series of Russian historical detective novels by Boris Akunin.
Arsène Lupin is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine Je sais tout. The first story, "The Arrest of Arsène Lupin", was published on 15 July 1905.
Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It begun in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent, who continue to publish Everyman Paperbacks.
The first recorded landing of Russians in Japan was in 1739 in Kamogawa, Chiba during the times of Japanese seclusion of the Edo period, not counting landings in Hokkaidō, which was not under Japanese administration at these times.
The Tristan Betrayal is a novel by Robert Ludlum, published posthumously in 2003. Ludlum wrote an outline shortly before his death. The novel itself was written by a ghostwriter.
The Velo-Dog was a pocket revolver originally created in France by René Galand, son of Charles-François Galand in the late 19th-century as a defense for cyclists against dog attacks. The name is a compound word composed of "velocipede" and "dog".
Murder on the Leviathan is the third novel in the Erast Fandorin historical detective series by Boris Akunin, although it was the second book in the series to be translated into English. Its subtitle is герметический детектив. Akunin conceived of the Fandorin series as a summary of all the genres of detective fiction, with each novel representing a different genre. Leviathan is his nod to Agatha Christie's style, with an exotic setting, a cast of unusual characters who each have secrets of their own, and a strange murder to start the action.
The Winter Queen is the first novel from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels, written by Russian author Boris Akunin. It was subtitled конспирологический детектив.
The Turkish Gambit is the second novel from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels by Russian author Boris Akunin. It was published in Russia in 1998. The English translation by Andrew Bromfield was published in 2005 as third of Fandorin novels, after Murder on the Leviathan which follows it in the internal chronology.
The Death of Achilles is the fourth novel in the Erast Fandorin historical detective series by Boris Akunin. Its subtitle is детектив о наемном убийце. It was originally published in Russian in 1998; the English translation was released in 2006.
Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin is a book by Russian author Boris Akunin, published in 2007. The book contains two historical detective novellas featuring his character Erast Fandorin: The Jack of Spades and The Decorator. Special Assignments was originally published in Russian in 1999.
Azazel is a Russian made for TV adaptation of Boris Akunin's introductory 'Erast Fandorin' novel The Winter Queen.
Ying and Yan is a play by Boris Akunin written for the director Alexey Borodin, edited by Zaharov in 2006. This play features Akunin's character, the Russian detective Erast Fandorin, along with his Japanese manservant Masahiro "Masa" Sibata and is placed shortly after Fandorin's return from Japan. The printed edition features two versions of the play, the "White Version" and the "Black Version". As Boris Akunin writes in the editorial by which the book begins, these versions have the same plot, but belong to two different worlds.
Katharine McMahon is an historical novelist who, since 1990, has published ten books.
The State Counseller is a 2005 Russian historical thriller film, an adaptation of Boris Akunin's novel of the same name featuring detective Erast Fandorin. Directed by Filipp Yankovsky, it was one of the most expensive films ever made in Russia.
Azazel, a demon from Jewish mythology, has been developed into characters in popular culture.
He Lover of Death is a novel by Russian author Boris Akunin. The book is a historical detective novel featuring the fictional character Erast Fandorin. The book was initially published in Russia in 2001. This is the ninth novel in the Erast Fandorin series The book was released in English by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 2010.