Isaac Asimov is quite well known translator from Japanese to Russian. He conducted life of intelectual indulging himself only in his job and writing some high-brow pieces of literature, not for ordinary people. And then he decided to do something with his skills and wrote Azazel, his first detective story. It's great, with atmosphere dating back to Doyle and Christie. And it's not only intriguing, gluing, interesting, thirillind, crisp etc. but also perfectly written with a hand of Russian intelectual. This is a collection of funny short stories by the author, all about the two-centimeter high demon Azazel (not its real name, but the real name cannot be pronounced easily). Azazel rides about in the pocket of a friend (descended from magicians and able to summon a demon), and the friend narrates the adventures. The problem is that Azazel wants to be helpful, but the wishes people have in mind are not always translated well in their directions. It is like programming a computer - you must be very careful (garbage in means garbage out, or in this case bad or incomplete directions may have unexpected results).
