[3] Markevich started his state-official career in Saint Petersburg, then in 1843 he moved to Moscow to join the local governor Arseny Zakrevsky's office.

He became a stalwart at both Petersburg and Moscow's aristocracy saloons and, reportedly, had immense success, with women especially, due to good looks,[4] sense of humour, penchant for showmanship and a considerable dramatic talent.

[5][6] Markevich, who was close to government circles and was among the most ardent of Mikhail Katkov's right-wing allies, caused much controversy by depicting real life political and popular figures in his prose, the latter serving as a source of rumours, consumed avidly by the public.

Praised by conservatives (among them Konstantin Leontiev who compared his trilogy to War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy)[7] and hated by revolutionary democrats (whom he made a point to paint in the blackest possible tones, insisting that for the 'progressivist' disease "the whip is the best cure").

Markevich's literary gift, though, has never been doubted; his books, which were widely read in Russia (notably by members of the monarch's family) and translated into many languages, contain, according to the 1990 Russian Writers dictionary, "priceless documentary material and are still in need of objective analysis.