It is always interesting to read a book set in another country which has been written by somebody who is actually from there. Somehow the matter-of-fact brutality of Akunin’s Okhrana seems more chilling and realistic than the hand-rubbing sadism that a non-Russian would feel they had to put in. Akunin is a good hand at descriptions, and snowy, pre-Revolution Russia with all its grandeur, rules and injustices comes to tactile life.

Fandorin remains aloof, lacking Holmes’ obvious passion for his art although allowing himself some amorous adventures from time to time. Unfortunately Akunin does not manage to bring anything new to the familiar tale of bomb-tossing terrorists led by a psychopath, a misguided woman and other hangers-on. This, at times, made the tale seem unoriginal and a little repetitive because we’ve read it all before, many times. However, the masterly portrait of Russia just before it changed forever lingers in the mind after the minutiae of the plot has faded, and it is this which makes the price of admission worth it.