Fandorin on the Leviathan

Just finished Boris Akunin's entertaining romp Murder on the Leviathan . It's a quick read, a fun homage to Agatha Christie. Here Fandorin, travelling as a Russian diplomat, matches wits with the French Inspector Gauche, no doubt based on Hercule Poirot, to solve a grisly series of murders. Suspects are a veritable United Nations of characters, enabling Akunin to play games with national character issues, as well as literary genres. Not to mention the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. For example, the Japanese gentleman, a Samurai warrior, writes Haiku poetry...