The Coronation (Erast Fandorin 7) [Paperback]

The Coronation is the most recent entry in Akunin's superb Erast Fandorin series, one of the few series of foreign crime novels that are actually being translated in their original order. Each one is a pastiche of a particular sub-genre of the crime novel: we've had spy stories, classic Christie-esque mysteries, political thrillers, battlefield adventures, heist-romps and serial killers. This one is a hostage thriller. It concerns The Coronation of Russia's new tsar following the death of the old one, and as you might imagine it is definitely an Event, and everyone's coming to the party. Including master-criminal Doctor Lind (an uninvited presence, of course), and that means Erast Fandorin, who has long been on the Doctor's trouble-making trail, is along as well.

At first, it's a walk in the park. The new tsar's young nephew and teenage niece are taking a stroll in pleasant grounds with their governess and butler when, out of nowhere, a carriage disperses some scoundrels who attempt to kidnap the niece. The governess dashes into the bushes with the young boy, whilst butler stands by shocked as a Japanese pedlar and a another man set to the kidnappers, foiling their attempt and killing the three men. In the aftermath, the other man unveils himself to be Fandorin, and the Japanese pedlar his devoted manservant Masa. But when the party reconvenes after the drama, the young boy is gone. Fandorin explains that he has been tracking the notorious Doctor Lind for a great number of months, and has come to Moscow suspecting that he will pull some significant scheme during the coronation festivities. And his worst fears are further confirmed when a ransom note for the young boy arrives, threatening that the boy will be killed if Doctor Lind is not presented with The Count Orlov, a beautiful Russian diamond from the imperial collection. However, The Count Orlov is contained within a regal sceptre that simply MUST be present for the coronation ceremony to take place...

Every single one of these Fandorin books are supreme fun, and this is no exception. They indeed get better and better with each one. Akunin's writing is sprightly, very witty, and supremely literate. The novels are exciting, hilarious, full of adventure, and very, very clever. As one of the policemen says, "we need no help from any Sherlock Holmeses, thank you" (or something to that effect), and he's on the money there: Fandorin is the Russian Sherlock Holmes, but with much more humour and a bit more action. Indeed, this novel has something of Holmes' "last" case to it, where in the prologue we see a glimpse of the final pages: Fandorin struggles with nemesis Lind, is shot, and tumbles from a bridge onto the rocks and waters below, much like Holmes over the Reichenbach Falls. Of course (and this is giving nothing away, as we know there are further books in the series), there is a twist in the tail and Fandorin does not meet his end quite yet.

There's another intra-textual reference to The Coronation, too: this novel with a political eye is narrated by the aforementioned butler, a supremely dignified individual, who considers it the highest honour to serve the imperial Romanov family. I can't decide if this is intended to reference Kazuo Ishiguro's superb The Remains of the Day or not, but it is very, very reminiscent of it. As with that novel, allowing a butler to provide the narrative allows for social comment, political comment, psycholgical comment and more. There's a similar restrainedness to the two butler-narrators, a similar humour arising from the butlers sometime-inability to get at the right end of the practical stick, and a very similar outlook that the two character's share: devotedness, dignity, supressed emotion, a personal feeling of privilege. Both also share an ineptitude to deal in actual personal relationships with people which do not extend anywhere outside the circle of the professional responsibilities. I dearly hope Akunin had that novel at least at part in mind when writing this, because if so it is a superbly accomplished homage. And, as we know from pervious entries, Akunin loves homage, and also judges them perfectly.

Akunin has a superbly enjoyable style: it's idiosyncratic in the same way that Camilleri's style is. Completely unique, yet it fits the form perfectly, and brings another kind of humour to the genre. As such, The Coronation is very highly recommended indeed. As are all his books. They're great fun, full of excitement and adventure, wonderful characters, and are highly intellectually engaging as well. What more could you want?

The Coronation is Akunin's attempt at the high-society detective (recall that he writes each novel according to some stereotype of the genre), and in this novel, Erast Fandorin is as high-society as high-society can be - beloved of a Russian princess and investigating the kidnapping of a cousin of the newly crowned Czar. Nicholas II is a weak man and needs his coronation to complete without a hitch, but the kidnappers promise to deliver pieces of the little boy if their demands are not acceded to, and the Czar finds himself torn between regal duty (the Imperial diamonds absolutely should be present during the ceremony) and love for family. The story is related by a family retainer, a butler, and the story is deeply reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, wherein loyalty to the family is the man's creed, and he is willing to sacrifice everything at the altar of duty, including his happiness and the happiness of the princes and princesses he has taken care of since their childhood. This is a reflective novel, elegiac in tone - Nicholas II is, after all, the last of the Czars, although nobody knew this at the time he acceded to the throne. It is quite different from the humorous and over-the-top and bombastic tone of the earlier episodes in Fandorin's career; it is clear that a coldness has entered Russia's heart, and Fandorin feels it, and even if he saves the Romanovs, it is at terrible cost and can end in tragedy for everyone concerned. Excellent stuff.

The former State Counsellor Erast Fandorin becomes involved once again in official affairs of the highest order when Mikhail, the son of Grand Duke Georgii Alexandrovich, one of the eminent members of the Russian Royal family, is abducted in broad daylight in Moscow only days before the coronation of Nicholas II. The abduction has been carried out by Dr Lind, a ruthless and highly dangerous criminal that Fandorin has been trailing for a number of years across Europe. Even though he is at the scene of the crime with his faithful Japanese servant Masa, Fandorin is once again unable to prevent Lind from carrying out his nefarious activities. The stakes are high in this Fandorin adventure. Not only is the life of a young Prince in grave danger (Lind is not usually inclined to let his hostages live), but worse, the ransom demanded, a precious stone from the royal sceptre, threatens to derail the imminent coronation and tarnish the reputation and international standing of the Romanov Royal Family.

Despite the setting, The Coronation is in essence little more than a regular hostage drama, Fandorin contriving to draw out the handing over of the ultimate ransom, thus keeping Mika alive until the Coronation has taken place, by which time he hopes to have enough information and preparation to make an assault on Dr Lind. A regular historical adventure and crime thriller, the novel however takes on another level through the brilliance of Akunin's writing, pacing, characterisation and historical research. Written from the perspective of the rather stuffy, protocol-insistent Royal Major-domo Afanassi Zioukine, Akunin is able to contrast the sentiments and behaviour of the period with the astounding methods of Fandorin, bringing authenticity to the setting as well as a great dynamic and humour in all the intrigue of the Royal Court's romances, rivalries and scandals. Nothing new for an Akunin Fandorin novel, but as hugely entertaining as any of the others.