The action of the new novel develops in parallel: in the last year of the reign of Catherine II and in our days. A seven-year-old prodigy named Mithridates, by chance, witnesses a conspiracy against the voluptuous empress. By saving Catherine from certain death, the boy puts his own destiny at stake. It seems that the huge country of Russia is full of intrigues and conspirators, there is nowhere to wait for help, but then the noble hermit Danila Fandorin appears... The modern plot is an exciting crime story. A fashionable plastic surgeon who operates on the Moscow elite and plans to become the pharmaceutical king of Russia is ready to sacrifice the fate of his daughter for the sake of multibillion-dollar profits. The girl will be saved by the Russian Englishman Nicholas Fandorin... Deĭstvie novogo romana razvivaetsi︠a︡ parallelʹno: v posledniĭ god t︠s︡arstvovanii︠a︡ Ekateriny Vtoroĭ i v nashi dni. Semiletniĭ vunderkind po imeni Mitridat volei︠u︡ sluchai︠a︡ stanovitsi︠a︡ svidetelem zagovora protiv slastoli︠u︡bivoĭ imperatrit︠s︡y. Spasai︠a︡ Ekaterinu ot neminuemoĭ smerti, malʹchik stavit na kartu sobstvennui︠u︡ sudʹbu. Kazhetsi︠a︡, chto ogromnai︠a︡ strana Rossii︠a︡ polna intrig i zagovorshchikov, pomoshchi zhdatʹ neotkuda, no tut poi︠a︡vli︠a︡etsi︠a︡ blagorodnyĭ otshelʹnik Danila Fandorin... Sovremennyĭ si︠u︡zhet -- zakhvatyvai︠u︡shchai︠a︡ istorii︠a︡ kriminalʹnai︠a︡ istorii︠a︡. Modnyĭ plasticheskiĭ khirurg, operirui︠u︡shchiĭ bomond Moskvy i zadumavshiĭ statʹ farmat︠s︡evticheskim korolem Rossii, gotov pozhertvovatʹ radi mnogomilliardnykh pribyleĭ sudʹboĭ docheri. Devochku spaset russkiĭ anglichanin Nikolas Fandorin...