Published by Headline,
8 May 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-03541897-5 (HB)
Opening the 27th
book in the Ikmen series is like welcoming an old friend.
One is quickly taken on a journey to
both unknown and strangely familiar places. Inspector Mehmet Suleyman is
on holiday in Romania with his Roma wife visiting her family.
A distant cousin has purchased an
ancient building - a wooden library - and he is cataloguing the priceless
contents. Ikmen is called upon to help with the task as he is now
retired. However, there is a body in the library! A rotting corpse
and Suleyman's cousin becomes a suspect.
The story involves old feuds and
familial relationships which go back many generations. As in all this
series the regular minor characters add their own dramas to the tapestry of
events and there is a fascinating intermingling of both Istanbul and its
history and the lives of all the various characters both in Turkey and
Romania.
This novel is a welcome addition to
Nadel's oeuvre and leaves one wanting more!
------
Reviewer: Toni Russell
Barbara Nadel was born and brought up in the
East End of London. She has a degree in psychology and, prior to becoming a
full-time author, she worked in psychiatric institutions and in the community
with people experiencing mental health problems. She is also the author of the
award-winning Inspector Ikmen series and received the Crime Writers'
Association Silver Dagger for the seventh novel in the series Deadly Web. There
are now 24 books in the series. She is also the author of the award-winning
Inspector Ikem series now adapted by the BBC as The Turkish Detective. Barbara
now lives in Essex.
Toni Russell is a retired teacher who has lived in London all her life and loves the
city. She says, ‘I enjoy museums, galleries and the theatre but probably
my favourite pastime is reading. I found myself reading detective fiction
almost for the first time during lockdown and have particularly enjoyed old
fashioned detective fiction rather than the nordic noir variety. I am a
member of a book club at the local library and have previously attended
literature classes at our local Adult Education Centre.
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