A summary of Boris Akunin’s "The State Counselor" Automatic translate

This book is a political detective novel published in 1999. The plot describes a brutal confrontation between radical terrorists and secret police agents, where both sides freely transgress the law and morality to achieve their goals. The novel was successfully adapted into a film in 2005. Directed by Filipp Yankovsky and starring Oleg Menshikov, Nikita Mikhalkov, and Konstantin Khabensky, the film earned widespread acclaim from audiences and high praise from critics.

The novel is part of the renowned detective series "The Adventures of Erast Fandorin." It is the seventh book in the series, continuing the story of the civil servant who previously brilliantly solved crimes in the novels "Azazel," "The Turkish Gambit," and "The Death of Achilles."

A daring murder in a saloon car

On a winter morning, Adjutant General Khrapov is murdered on a ministerial train. The assassin infiltrates the high-ranking official’s office, posing as State Councilor Erast Petrovich Fandorin, responsible for the governor’s security. The assassin plunges a dagger bearing the abbreviation "BG" into Khrapov’s heart and disappears without a trace through the window.

The real Fandorin narrowly escapes immediate arrest. Moscow Governor-General Prince Vladimir Dolgoruky assigns Erast Petrovich to investigate this provocative crime. Fandorin draws the correct conclusion that there is a traitor within the law enforcement ranks. The details of the general’s secret trip were known only to a very select circle of people.

Pyotr Burlyaev, head of the Security Department, and Stanislav Sverchinsky, acting head of the Gendarme Directorate, are actively involved in the investigation. Fandorin interrogates both of them. The gendarme hints at Burlyaev’s close ties to a secret informant nicknamed Diana.

Combat Group and anonymous TG

The Combat Group consists of the cold leader Green, the strong factory worker Yemelya, the young Snegir, and the adventurous former lancer Rakhmet. Green was once an ordinary high school student, Grigory Grinberg, but the Jewish pogroms and the arbitrary actions of the authorities forged him into a ruthless man of steel.

The terrorists regularly receive highly accurate tips from an anonymous source who signs his name "TG." It was TG that provided the militants with information about Khrapov’s route and detailed descriptions of Fandorin.

Meanwhile, Burlyaev conducts a brutal raid on the apartment of engineer Larionov, a secret police informant. During the raid, a young woman, Esfir Litvinova, points a revolver directly at a gendarme. Fandorin disarms the girl and saves her from prison. The banker’s headstrong daughter takes a liking to her savior, and a whirlwind romance develops between them. That same night, Rakhmet infiltrates Larionov’s apartment and kills him for informing.

Capital Visitor

Prince Gleb Pozharsky, Vice Director of the Police Department, urgently arrives from St. Petersburg. The visitor from the capital immediately seizes the initiative from the Moscow detectives. Through cunning blackmail with compromising photographs, Pozharsky recruits Rakhmet, who has been arrested by the police. The terrorist agrees to become a double agent under the codename "Gvidon."

The remaining militants plan to steal state funds for party purposes. With the help of professional criminal Kozyr and his mistress, Julie, the terrorists attack a carriage carrying government papers. The guards are distracted by a powerful explosion, and Greene unhindered, taking the bags containing hundreds of thousands of rubles. Kozyr betrays his comrades, attempting to steal the money. In a fierce knife fight at an inn, Greene kills the attacker.

The Security Department finally loses track of Rakhmet. Later, the former lancer is found dead in a safe house. Greene, having uncovered his comrade’s betrayal, cold-bloodedly carried out the death sentence. Gendarme Seidlitz, seeking atonement for Khrapov’s death, finds the terrorists’ assistant, Aronzon, and tortures him. Greene comes to the rescue of the party liaison, Needle, killing Seidlitz and his men.

Death traps

Fandorin continues to search for the source of the regular information leaks. He meets with his secret agent, Diana, who constantly conceals her face behind a veil. The State Councilor deliberately gives a false room number in the Petrosovsky Baths, where a secret meeting is supposedly to be held. Soon, Diana confesses to Pozharsky about the leak. The prince discovers that the "femme fatale" is hiding a congenital physical deformity behind her veil.

An anonymous Telegram correspondent arranges a meeting with Green at the Petrosovsky Baths, provoking the militants to assassinate the police leadership. Fandorin narrowly escapes the armed terrorists. He makes an incredible leap from the bathhouse roof into deep snow, falling about 15 meters.

Pozharsky organizes a counter-ambush on the Combat Group in Bryusov Square. The Combat Group leads Greene directly into a police trap. Fandorin is used as live bait on a park bench. Young Snegir is killed under the heavy crossfire of the detectives. Greene again manages to escape, escaping through a sewer trench dug under the snow.

The Collapse of the Puppeteer

Fandorin puts the facts together and comes to a clear conclusion. The mysterious TG is Prince Gleb Pozharsky himself. The capital’s careerist had been supplying the militants with classified information for years. Pozharsky used proxies to eliminate his political rivals and curry favor with the highest levels of St. Petersburg leadership. For the sake of his own unlimited power, the prince cold-bloodedly sacrificed dozens of human lives. Pozharsky directly proposes a cynical alliance to Fandorin. Erast Petrovich refuses with undisguised disgust.

The state councilor tracks down Pozharsky’s mistress, Julie, skillfully disguised as a cab driver. Julie is on her way to a secret meeting with Green. The terrorist takes refuge in an old outbuilding with his contact, Igla. Fandorin enters the house through the kitchen window and carefully eavesdrops on the conversation.

Greene threatens Julie with a dagger, forcing her to confess who TG is. Julie immediately reveals Pozharsky. The terrorist forces the courtesan to call the prince on the phone under the pretext of an urgent matter. Fandorin hastily leaves the outbuilding and rushes to Pozharsky, vainly trying to prevent further bloodshed, but the arrogant prince dismisses all warnings.

The final explosion

Pozharsky arrives at the outbuilding. Green has the chief of police at gunpoint. The prince calmly explains the plot to the stunned terrorist. It turns out that the acronym stands for the Latin phrase "third rejoicing." Pozharsky openly triumphs, recounting how skillfully he manipulated the Combat Group to eliminate undesirable officials, including General Khrapov.

Green prepares to shoot, but Julie suddenly lunges at the terrorist and hangs on his arm. Pozharsky instantly fires through his coat pocket, fatally wounding Green. Igla, refusing to surrender to the cruel torturers, breaks the glass chemical fuse over a jar of explosive jelly. A powerful explosion instantly destroys the terrorists, Julie, and Pozharsky himself.

Refusal of service

The investigation is officially concluded, but there’s no one to celebrate. The elderly Prince Dolgoruky has been removed from his post as governor and sent into honorable retirement. The Emperor’s brother, Grand Duke Simeon Alexandrovich, is appointed the new ruler of Moscow.

During a private audience, the august personage offers Fandorin the enviable position of Moscow’s Chief of Police. The Grand Duke promises the detective a swift promotion to general, a huge salary, and virtually unlimited power. Simeon Alexandrovich bluntly tells Fandorin: "The prestige of power is more important than anything, including the truth."

Erast Petrovich declines the offer of a brilliant career. The State Councilor firmly declares his complete withdrawal from government service and into private life, categorically refusing to tolerate the dirty methods of political investigation.