Russia’s most famous detective solves his final case

Russia’s best-selling contemporary author Boris Akunin, the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, will no longer write detective novels, spending time on a series of books on the history of the Russian state instead. Akunin found worldwide fame with Erast Fandorin, the hero of a 13 detective novels, set in 19th century Moscow. His books have been translated into 35 languages and have sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

Announcing the decision on his LiveJournal blog, Akunin said: “I’m no longer a detective writer. I will of course finish the Fandorin series, but the focus of my work has become a multi-volume project, The History of the Russian State ... I myself, in spite of an education in history, do not fully understand our history. This is the main reason why I took up this task. I want to understand how our government was formed, how it evolved and why it has become what it is today.”