Publisher's Synopsis
This is the first book featuring Erast Fandorin, a gentleman sleuth who solves murders and mysteries in tsarist Russia.
A 23-year-old law student commits suicide in broad daylight in Moscow's Alexander Gardens. Fandorin is put on the case to find out what drove him to it, a case that deepens as he discovers that the young man was the son of a rich and influential factory owner.
The story is enhanced by its authentic backdrop of nineteenth-century Russia. After all, it's difficult to keep your mind on a case when the new Dostoyevsky novel has just hit the shops.
