Critics give high praise to the latest Erast Fandorin mystery to be published in the U.S. – see below!
The Wall Street Journal calls Fandorin “a worthy rival to Sherlock Holmes,” and praises Grove/Atlantic’s new edition of Boris Akunin’s historical thriller: “Translated by Andrew Bromfield, Mr. Akunin’s idiosyncratic page-turner is stuffed with action and laced with humor. In certain ways, it is reminiscent of discursive Russian novels of the 19th century and the social-satirical suspense classics of Wilkie Collins. But comparisons cannot suffice for an author who is a virtuoso in his own right.”
And the Washington Post lauds Afanasii Stepanovich Ziukun, the narrator of THE CORONATION, suggesting that he be added to the list of iconic fictional butlers from Jeeves to Downton Abbey‘s Carson. The Post also praises Bromfield’s translation: “The mystery is a good one, the villain meets the least-likely-suspect challenge flung down so often by Agatha Christie, and Andrew Bromfield translates Akunin with his customary brio…Adding poignancy to the story is the doom we know awaits the czar and the rest of his immediate family two decades in the future. As for Fandorin, the handsome, athletic, extraordinarily clever detective with a slight stutter, he dominates this, the seventh of his adventures to be published in the States, as he always does — with Sherlockian elan.”
THE CORONATION has also landed a spot on CrimeReads’ list of “Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2019”, and on the New York Times’ roundup of international books coming in 2019.