The scene of this seventh novel in the Erast Fandorin series is set in 1896 Moscow, at the time of the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II (between 6 May and 20 May O.S.).

Akunin prominently features the Khodynka Tragedy of 18 May 1896, when a crowd at the coronation festival stampeded and nearly 1400 people were killed.

[3][4] The story is told from the perspective of Afanasi Ziukin, the majordomo of Grand Duke George Alexandrovich.

Their initial confrontation is briefly described in the novella "Dream Valley" from the Jade Rosary Beads collection.

[5] The reason for the broken Russian in the title becomes apparent only at the very end of the book, where an Englishman says this phrase using his dictionary, failing to inflect the last word correctly.