She Lover of Death: A Fandorin Mystery

Written by Boris Akunin

Narrated by Nigel Patterson

Naive young Masha Mironova arrives in Moscow at the turn of the century with a modest inheritance and a determination to shed her provincial Siberian upbringing. As soon as she alights in Moscow, she becomes Columbine, a reckless and daring young woman with eccentric outfits and a pet snake worn as a necklace. In her quest for danger and passion, Columbine soon discovers the Lovers of Death—a small group of poets enraptured by death who gather nightly at the home of their leader, the Doge, and conduct séances to determine death’s next chosen lover. Once named at a séance, the chosen member must await three signs from death before taking his own life. The string of suicides resulting from the group have drawn attention, becoming fodder for extensive media coverage and widespread hysteria in Moscow. As the group's numbers dwindle, a mysterious newcomer appears. Revealed to the listener as Erast Fandorin thanks to the presence of his trusty Japanese sidekick, Fandorin begins to investigate the suicides while also trying to convince the members that death is neither beautiful nor poetic and should not be sought out.



But will the gentleman detective be able to stop Columbine from taking action when she receives her three unmistakable signs?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Mar 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781681686288

Boris Akunin

BORIS AKUNIN is the pseudonym of Grigory Chkhartishvili. He has been compared to Gogol, Tolstoy and Arthur Conan Doyle, and his Erast Fandorin books have sold over forty million copies around the world. He lives in London and was awarded the Freedom to Publish award at the 2024 British Book Awards.

Reviews for She Lover of Death

[ffortsa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a strange mystery, a sort of mock Sherlock Holmes adventure with a little Chesterton mixed in. Someone is convincing people to commit suicide, and Fandorin decides to find out how this could be. A bit more hysterical than most of the series. I wonder where Akunin is going?

[darushawehm-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was the first Erast Fandorin novel I've read, and maybe it would have helped to read them in order. As it was, I wonder if the translation was off a little, as the word choices were often pretty strange. I could tell that the author was going for a 1900 feel to the language, but I don't think it came across well in translation. As for the plot - it was pretty thin.

Between the strange stylization and less than engaging story, I'll not be likely to try the other Akunin books.

[nicky_too_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book on the ferry from the UK to the Netherlands, bit of a spontaneous thing. No regrets whatsoever.
It's a strange story, but I enjoyed it. The characters are interesting. Also, the switching between someone's diary, the newspapers and someone's letters keeps things interesting. You see the whole thing from various angles and it keeps you on your toes.