The Ottoman Cage: A Novel of Istanbul
British writer Nadel (Belshazzar's Daughter) delivers on the promise of her American debut in this second outing featuring Turkish homicide detective Çetin Ikmen. This time around, the chain-smoking, brandy-swilling inspector is investigating a young man's murder in an apartment in one of Istanbul's upscale neighborhoods. While the victim's surfeit of scars points to drug abuse, a purple line around the base of his neck suggests it wasn't the needle that finally did him in. When an autopsy reveals excessive amounts of pethidine (a synthetic form of heroin), Ikmen and his best friend, criminal pathologist Arto Sarkissian, fear unscrupulous members of the medical community may be involved. Sex trade workers are also questioned, and the crime scene itself becomes an important clue: it bears a striking resemblance to a Kafes apartment, "the place where the old Ottomans used to place their rivals in order to keep them out of the way." Domestic troubles plague Ikmen, too; his crazy father Timür may soon push Ikmen's devoted wife over the brink. Nadel's lively characters pop off the page-particularly tech-challenged Ikmen, who recalls Clouseau in his slapstick relationship with his mobile phone-and the author ably evokes the sights and sounds of Turkey, a country where ethnicity is destiny, and the present is shadowed by events of the past. This is a richly textured tale packed with earthy humor and intrigue.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.