Kati Hirschel, the owner of Istanbul's only mystery bookstore, is fed
up. It all started when her lover Selim insisted that she behave like
the Turkish wife of a respectable lawyer. Looking demure and making
witty small talk were the only requirements. Then her landlord announced
an outrageous rent increase on her Istanbul apartment.
She has no desire to move in with Selim. She'd rather learn the art of
bribing government officials in order to find a new place. Kati is
offered a large apartment with a view over the Bosphorus at a bargain
price. Too good to be true until a man is found murdered there and she
becomes the police's prime suspect. In her second novel Esmahan Aykol
takes us to the alleys and boulevards of cosmopolitan Istanbul, to posh
villas and seedy basement flats, to the property agents and lawyers, to
Islamist leaders and city officials--in fact everywhere that baksheesh
helps move things along.
Praise for the first Kati Hirschel Istanbul mystery:
The heroine is an offbeat amateur sleuth with a distinctive narrative
voice. Fans of such female detectives as Amanda Cross's Kate Fansler and
Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher will find a lot to like.--Publishers
Weekly