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Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin (view source)
Revision as of 16:19, 29 August 2020
, 16:19, 29 August 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Murder on the Leviathan
|author=Boris Akunin
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crime(Historical)
|summary=One of the few detective novels that I've read that's laugh-out-loud funny on occasions. Characterisation is shallow but then it's meant to be pastiche. The plot is excellent with a suitable twist to the ending. It's probably not a book to reread so borrowing rather than buying might be the better option.
|rating=4
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=256
|publisher=Phoenix mass market p/bk|date=October 21, 2004
|isbn=0753818434
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0753818434</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=0753818434|aznus=<amazonus>0753818434</amazonus>
}}
My daughter visited me recently and seemed unable to take her nose out of the book she'd brought with her. Before she left she passed it to me with the suggestion that I might enjoy it.
This is a classic "closed room" murder mystery and as is usual with such books a convincing case can be made for any one of the limited number of suspects to have committed the murder. In this case the policeman, Papa Gauche, eliminates all but ten passengers on the Leviathan and they are forced to eat every meal together on the voyage to India. I thought there was a weakness in the plot when the ten suspects were chosen as the selection seemed to be only little better than random. That's me being picky though. It is pastiche after all and there were moments of laugh-out-loud humour in the course of the selection.
One of the suspects is Erast Fandorin, a Russian diplomat. Fandorin has appeared as an investigator in an earlier Akunin novel, "The Winter Queen". I suspect that I might have understood more about Fandorin's character if I'd read The Winter Queen first but the omission didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. The French policeman, an "Investigator for Especially Important Crimes", is a cross between Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther fame and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. None of the characters are rounded - they're all extremes of their type, including the mad baronet, the aging ageing spinster, a rather secretive Japanese army officer and the pregnant and garrulous wife of a Swiss banker.
The telling of the story is done from the viewpoint of the individual passengers. We read the daily letters written by the baronet to his wife. The Japanese officer writes in his diary; you've got to turn the book on its side to read the entries and we're shown newspaper clippings which describe the original murder scene. I began by finding the changes slightly irritating, but quickly found that they added to the atmosphere of the book. I felt as though I was there.
Would I recommend the book? Yes, I would, without hesitation. It's carefully researched, clever, well-written and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. I read it in two sittings and was sorry when I turned the last page. Mother and daughter can't both be wrong, now, can they?
{{amazontext|amazon=0753818434}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=38961440753818434}}
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