The Torment of a Broken Heart

The Torment of a Broken Heart (Мука разбитого сердца) is a novel by Boris Akunin, the second part of the first book on the adventures of Russian and German spies during the World War I. It describes the dangerous adventures of Aleksei Romanov, who became a military intelligence officer. The story takes place in Switzerland, at the beginning of the First World War.

Plot
...November 1914. Thanks to the mobilization plan (The Infant and the Devil) which was extracted by Joseph von Theofels, the Russian Army suffered a severe defeat in East Prussia. Protracted battles are fought throughout the whole line of the Eastern Front. Alexey Romanov is a volunteer, but in the first attack his arm gets wounded which causes him to be sent to the deep rear. Romanov learns that his romantic interest, a young lady named Seraphima, has married another man. Having become disillusioned in life, Romanov decides to commit suicide but is rescued by Duke Kozlovsky, who offers Alexei a new, perilous task.

... In neutral Switzerland for many years international scammer von Sommer has operated, who founded a kind of "espionage exchange". Acquiring various secret information, Sommer then resells it to intelligence agencies around the world. The swindler does not make any exceptions: he sells secrets to both the countries of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente countries. Sommer is independent from politics, he is only interested in money. Russian intelligence can not pay for Sommer's "tariffs", and so the decision is simply to steal a card file that is carefully guarded. The chief of Russian intelligence, General Vladimir Zhukovsky, decides to send a small group of agents to Switzerland under the guise of actors of a variety show. Aleksey Romanov is to become "Soloist" of the variety show and Duke Kozlovsky should portray a pianist. Romanov, Kozlovsky and several agents go hunting for von Sommer's secrets ...

Alas, the first attempt to get hold of the priceless card file ends tragically. Kozlovsky and Romanov are ready to surrender, but unexpectedly Romanian dancer Clara Ninetti in love with Alexei and Claire's latest boyfriend, famous Italian poet Rafael D'Arborio come to aid. D'Arborio meets with Romanov and offers his help, since the poet is an ardent supporter of Italy's annexation to the Entente. Clara, being the mistress of Sommer, could tie a rope ladder to the window in the house. And the "helpers" of mysterious Don Trapano are ready to open the safe and "deal with" Sommer's guard. He is a good friend of D'Arborio and the "godfather" of the all-powerful Italian mafia ...

Interesting Facts

 * In the novel there are characters based on real historical figures. "Rafael d'Arborio" is Gabriele D'Annunzio, the famous Italian poet, writer and journalist of the early 20th century. "Vladimir Zhukovsky" is Vladimir Dzhunkovsky, Russian general, deputy minister of internal affairs and commander of the Independent Corps of Gendarmes in 1913–1915.