Dmitriy Burkhankin

Based on Boris Akunin's novel 'Azazel' (English title 'The Winter Queen') set in Moscow in 1876. The novel started a long series quite popular in Russia. In 'Azazel' a young police officer - Erast Fandorin - investigates an odd suicide of some rich young man and finds a complex conspiracy, trying to take over most European countries - from Britain to Ottoman Empire - with the best intentions, of course.

Two friends, Al and Max, decide to spend the weekend fishing, during which, amid an incomprehensible noise, a briefcase full of dollars suddenly appears at the end of Al's fishing line. A boss who has lost a million dollars can't calm down, and his two bodyguards have to find a case within 48 hours. In the pursuit of money, the bandits work out various scenarios, forcing Al and Max to participate in this whole nightmare – an attempt to rob a bank, participation in a drug deal.

On a long-distance train going to Moscow, there are provincials - a special forces soldier, a monk and a thief. Each of them pursues a goal in the capital - the search for an unfaithful lover. At the train station, the heroes disperse and begin to act...

The main character, an official of the 14th grade, Erast Petrovich Fandorin, serves as a clerk in the Detective Department and secretly dreams of becoming a detective. By the will of circumstances, he finds himself involved in the investigation of a mysterious suicide.