Boris Akunin — The Winter Queen; Leviathan

London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2003-2004. First edition. Cloth. A wonderful pair of signed Erast Fanorin mystery novels from Boris Akunin. Signed by the author to the title pages. This set includes the first and third instalments to the Erast Fandorin series of mystery novels, written by Grigori Chkhartishvili (known by his pen name Boris Akunin). The first UK editions, first impressions. Complete with the publisher's original unclipped dust wrappers. The creation of this series was inspired by a growing popularity of "trashy" detective novels after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which were commonly read in private or shame for their gore or sexual contents. Akunin therefore strived to create a detective novel which nobody would be ashamed to be caught reading. This set includes the debut Fandorin novel 'The Winter Queen' (2003) and the third novel, 'Leviathan' (2004). Featuring 19th-century Russian detective Erast Fandorin, with each instalment uniquely exploring a different subgenre of the detective novel, from spies to serial killers.  In the original cloth bindings. With the original unclipped dust wrappers. Externally, lovely, as are the dust wrappers. Internally, firmly bound, with bright and clean pages. Author's signature to the title pages. Fine . Ill.: None. Fine/Fine.