The Turkish Gambit

The Turkish Gambit is the second novel from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels by Russian author Boris Akunin. It was published in Russia in 1998. The English translation by Andrew Bromfield was published in 2005 as third of Fandorin novels, after Murder on the Leviathan which follows it in the internal chronology. The novel is subtitled шпионский детектив ("espionage mystery"). It takes place in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) with Fandorin investigating the doings of a Turkish agent thwarting Russian advance. Each of the 14 chapters plus an epilogue is headed by a quote from a fictional newspaper article, some written by the novel's characters. Plot summary The novel opens with a young Russian woman of "progressive" sympathies, Varvara Suvorova, traveling to meet her fiancé Pyotr Yablokov, who has volunteered to fight in the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Her guide steals all her luggage and disappears as she approaches the war zone, but she is rescued by Erast Fandorin, who has been fighting as a volunteer to forget his tragedy. He accompanies her to Russian army headquarters to which he's bringing an important message. Upon arrival, Varvara is reunited with Pyotr, and Fandorin delivers his message: the Ottoman army is advancing towards the Bulgarian town of Plevna, which sits on the road to Sofia and must be taken so the Russian army can easily advance through Bulgaria and into Turkey.