This dryly humorous historical mystery was a bestseller in Russia. Lord Littleby and nine members of his Parisian household were brutally murdered and Littlebys gold image of Shiva stolen. The killers trail leads over the water to the posh British liner Leviathan. Commissioner Gustave Gauche and the Russian diplomat Erast P. Fandorin vie to be the one to finger the killer amongst the first-class passengers.