The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin
In May of 1876 there is no finer place to be alive than in Moscow. But, sadly, that is not the view held by everyone in this most splendid city of the Russian Empire. In an act of shocking destruction a young student kills himself in full view of the public promenading in the Alexander Gardens. Decadence and boredom say the police, but an act still curious enough to warrant some investigation. When a close friend of the young victim is suddenly murdered, in front of the officer investigating the suicide no less, it becomes clear that the young student’s tragic death is only the beginning. It is but the tip of a sinister conspiracy that is wound in a wicked web around the world.