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 Moscows Alexander Gardens. Fandorin is put on the case to find out what drove him to it. 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 Moscows 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, its difficult to keep your mind on a case when the new Dostoyevsky novel has just hit the shops.