Arabesk: Inspector Ikmen #3 (Inspectr Ikmen)
Nadel's intriguing third procedural to feature Insp. Çetin Ikmen (after 2005'sThe Ottoman Cage) finds Ikmen suffering from ulcers and on a restricted diet. While he is sidelined, his newly promoted subordinate, Mehmet Suleyman, takes charge of a hot-button murder inquiry. Someone has used cyanide to poison Ruya Urfa, the previously secret wife of the country's Arabesk music star, Erol Urfa. Suspicion centers on the mentally impaired son of the dead woman's neighbors, whose prints are found throughout the crime scene. News that Erol was married comes as a surprise to the public and has a curious effect on his lover, an aging movie star who's resorted to cosmetic surgery to preserve her looks. While some readers will anticipate whodunit, all will appreciate the skill with which Nadel depicts the tensions underlying contemporary Turkish society as well as her ability to make each of her characters fully human.(July)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.