Following the trail of escaped drugs baron and murderer Yusuf Kaya, Inspector Mehmet Süleyman travels to south eastern Turkey and the border town of Mardin, where the uplands of Anatolian Turkey descend to the Mesopotamian plain. The borders with Iraq, Syria and the cobweb world make it a very different world from international İstanbul, as Süleyman finds as he grapples with clans, culture and language in the company of local Inspector Taner. Not just a woman in a man’s world, she’s also the daughter of the Master of Shameran and best friend of the local living saint…
But for all the excitements in Mardin, for me the main strand of the story stays with Çetin İkmen as he pursues the investigation back in İstanbul. But you’ll need to read the book yourself to find out why.
Publisher page: River of the Dead – Barbara Nadel