A summary of "The Falcon and the Swallow" by Boris Akunin

This adventure novel was published in 2009. The story unfolds across two time periods, separated by 300 years and linked by the mystery of a pirate’s treasure. The historical portion is told from the perspective of an immortal Japanese parrot gifted with the gift of reading human souls. The novel is part of the "Adventures of the Master" series. It is the fourth book in the series, continuing the story of Nicholas Fandorin after the events of "Altyn-tolobas," "Extracurricular Reading," and "F.M."

Traveling on a liner

In the spring of 2009, history major Nicholas Fandorin is going through hard times. His consulting firm, "Country of Soviets," is scraping by, and his wife, Altyn, is in danger of losing her lucrative job as editor-in-chief of a glossy magazine. Under pressure from his pragmatic wife, Nicholas embarks on a Caribbean cruise on the luxurious thirteen-deck cruise ship, "Sokol." Accompanying him is his eccentric, paralyzed aunt, Cynthia Borsched, whose multimillion-dollar inheritance the Fandorin family is counting on. The old lady shows her nephew fragments of letters from 1702, acquired at auction along with the archives of Theofels Castle. The letters were written by a certain Appin, addressed to Bettina Menchle of the von Dorhn family, and contain an incomprehensible nursery rhyme.

Cynthia confesses to having entered into a partnership with two treasure hunters sailing on the same vessel — a French notary named Mignon and a Jersey merchant named Deloney. The partners intend to recover the pirate treasure of the legendary English privateer Jeremy Pratt on the Caribbean island of St. Maurice. Nicholas is forced to join the adventure. The trio remain discreet, suspecting surveillance. Fandorin soon discovers a hidden electronic listening device in his aunt’s wheelchair.

The Mysterious Healer

The historical section takes the reader to the French port of Saint-Malo in the early 18th century. The narrator is an unusual bird — a purple-and-black Japanese parrot named Andoku. Raised by a wise monk on a sacred kofune island, the parrot possesses the gift of eternal life and the ability to penetrate people’s consciousness through a mystical physical contact called "niji." After changing many owners and names, the feathered vagabond ends up in the port of Saint-Malo. A tall, red-haired German woman named Letitia von Dorn rescues the bird from a cruel boy. The girl disguises herself as a man, takes the name Lucienne Épin, and hires herself out as a doctor on the privateer frigate "Swallow." She must reach the port city of Salé in Morocco to ransom her father, the Bavarian diplomat Ferdinand, from pirate captivity.

The parrot uses a Japanese technique of physical contact and reads the girl’s past. The bird develops a boundless affection for Letitia and becomes her inseparable companion, nicknamed Clara. On board the frigate, the girl is forced to carefully conceal her gender. The ship’s chaplain, Astolfo, a former skilled surgeon, quickly unravels the mystery of the fake doctor. The kind monk takes Letitia under his wing and teaches her the basics of medicine, including bloodless surgery and anesthesia. The girl successfully fulfills her medical duties, earning the sincere respect of the rough crew.

Change of course

It soon becomes clear that the frigate’s captain, Jean-François Desessart, and the cunning Irish navigator, Harry Logan, have cruelly deceived Letitia. The girl’s father is long dead, and the officers deliberately steered the ship to the West Indies instead of Africa. Their destination: the uninhabited island of St. Maurice, where untold riches are hidden. Privateer Jeremy Pratt seized the loot during a raid on the city of San Diego, but then lost his ship in a storm. Logan, who served as Pratt’s navigator, remained the sole keeper of the gold’s secret.

Along the way, the Swallow witnesses a naval battle. The English frigate Mermaid, commanded by the fearless Lord Navigator Rupert Grey, engages in an unequal battle with three Spanish warships. Grey uses an incendiary "Chinese mixture" and sinks the enemy, but his own beautiful ship with scarlet sails is blown up by a spark in the powder magazine. Desessart pulls the wounded lord from the water, hoping to obtain a huge ransom for the aristocrat. Letizia carefully nurses the noble Englishman back to health and falls passionately in love with him. The captive reciprocates her feelings.

The Black Queen

On the island of Martinique, Logan buys four slaves to give to the savages guarding a cache on Saint-Maurice. Among the slaves is the mighty warrior Shasha, the Black Queen. Several years ago, rebellious Africans seized a French slave ship but were wrecked off the coast of Saint-Maurice. Since then, a feral tribe has lived on the island. Out of pure compassion, Letitia frees the captives by lowering them into the longboat at night.

Having landed on Treasure Island, Logan, Letitia, Midshipman Sneaky, and the scribe Tick penetrate the mountain labyrinth. The Irishman lulls the savages with a powerful sedative. The companions then discover a hidden Spanish mine. Using Pratt’s rhyme, they open a secret stone door and enter the shaft, where gold and silver ingots lie. Logan and Letitia retrieve a chest containing the most precious gems.

On the return journey, the calculating navigator plied the midshipman and the scribe with poisoned rum, cold-bloodedly disposing of unwanted witnesses. Logan justifies his crimes with a peculiar bargain with God: for every life taken, he pledges to sire another child. The Irishman also attempts to kill Letitia by pushing her into a deep swamp. The girl is saved from certain death by the Black Queen, who has recovered from the effects of the sedative. An enraged Shasha stuns Logan and takes him captive.

Letitia and Rupert Grey decide to remain together on the neighboring, inaccessible island of Inaccessible, preferring absolute solitude to the harshness of the civilized world. Captain Desessard takes the chest of precious stones and hastily leaves Saint-Maurice, leaving the bulk of the treasure in a cave. Shasha forces the chained Logan to steer the schooner to return to his native Africa. Clara the parrot decides to stay with her savior, Letitia.

End of search

The action shifts back to the spring of 2009. Nicholas Fandorin contacts his wife via satellite phone and learns terrifying news: Altyn has been fired without severance pay, and their children, Lastik and Gela, have mysteriously disappeared from their hotel in Barbados. The Master is in despair, but is forced to see the matter through.

Fandorin, his aunt, and his companions arrive in Saint-Maurice. A local named Freddo takes them to the mountain range. Using the text of an ancient counting rhyme, the master successfully finds a hidden entrance behind a waterfall and opens a stone slab. The treasure hunters descend into the mine to a depth of 28 meters, but discover only empty chests. It turns out that Freddo is a direct descendant of navigator Logan. The mulatto threatens his partners with a revolver, showing them an ancient deed to the island’s mineral wealth, but quickly cools down, convinced there is no gold. Freddo’s ancestors had removed all the treasure from the cave many decades ago.

The disappointed treasure hunters cancel their contract. Miss Borshead forgives her companions their share of the expenses, but upon learning of Delaunay’s listening device, she attacks the merchant and drives him away. The expedition returns to Martinique empty-handed.

Fandorin is sailing on the motorboat "Fifth Column" with his son Freddo, heading for Barbados. Perched on the Master’s shoulder is the ship’s parrot, Captain Flint — the very same immortal bird from the 18th century that accidentally ended up on the liner. His feathered friend hops across the sail and stops near the embroidered crown emblem, precisely mimicking the movements of the nursery rhyme: "Hop-hop, jump-hop, And head on the ceiling." Fandorin suddenly realizes the true meaning of the last lines of the nursery rhyme. He remembers the Spanish crown carved into stone, which he saw exactly halfway down the vertical shaft. The real hiding place is located there, 14 meters above the empty chests. The Master orders the helmsman to immediately turn the boat around and return to St. Maurice to retrieve the treasure.