Forfeit – Barbara Nadel

Forfeit - Barbara Nadel
Forfeit – Barbara Nadel

Another excellent Istanbul investigation in the company of Ikmen and co, with the added twist that Mehmet’s now 16 year old son is staying with him for a fortnight. Handily, for not-natural-parent, an old case of Mehmet’s resurfaces when a TV star is found murdered at home, along with the husband of his convicted murderer.

Some ongoing plot lines surface too – Syrian refugees, Mehmet’s love life, the djinn in the kitchen.

Publisher page: Forfeit – Barbara Nadel

A Knife to the Heart – Barbara Nadel

A Knife to the Heart - Barbara Nadel
A Knife to the Heart – Barbara Nadel

A fast read; always the sign of a good read for me.

We are back in Istanbul, and it’s 2018/2019. Ikmen’s retired, Fatma’s died and their adult children are worried about the djinn in the kitchen.

Elsewhere in Istanbul, a cut throat property developer buys an old mansion where in 1976 a young woman committed suicide by stabbing herself in the heart. Or did she?

Publisher page: A Knife to the Heart – Barbara Nadel

Incorruptible – Barbara Nadel

Incorruptible - Barbara Nadel
Incorruptible – Barbara Nadel

Completely unexpected twist towards the end of this novel. A complete side-swipe. And a cliffhanger ending.

Neither of which have anything to do with the central plot, where Istanbulli Inspectors Ikmen and Suleyman investigate the murder of the young woman from a mixed Catholic-Muslim family, whose apparent cure from leukaemia at an Armenian Church famed for its annual healing ceremony had stirred up strong reactions across Istanbul’s complex religious spectrum.

Publisher page: Incorruptible – Barbara Nadel

The House of Four – Barbara Nadel

The House of Four - Barbara Nadel
The House of Four – Barbara Nadel

Back to Istanbul for more investigations in the company of Inspectors Ikmen and Süleyman and their police colleagues.

Always a great read – this one kept me turning the pages until almost midnight – and Barbara Nadel also shows you the social, religious and political tensions at play in modern Turkey. In The House of Four we get some late Ottoman history too.

Publisher page: The House of Four – Barbara Nadel