Investigator Yashim # 1
Jason Goodwin
Sarah Crichton Books
2006 / ISBN 0374178607
Historical Mystery / Turkey / 1836
Amazon
Reviewed
by LJ Roberts
The Ottoman
Empire is coming to an end and Sultan recognizes they must move
into modern times. But gruesome murders, with clues leading back
to the brutal days of the Janissaries, are threatening the peace
and Turkish eunuch Yashim Togalu is employed to find the killer.
Goodwin does
a marvelous job of bring this period and setting to life. Although
I’d have liked a bit more character development, Yashim, his
friends the Polish Ambassador, the transvestite dancer, her landlady,
the grocer, and more are wonderful characters about whom I want
to know more. The scene with the Russian ambassador’s wife
disavows one’s usual perceptions of a eunuch. Goodwin’s
skill for sense of time and place, as well as building suspense,
is what made this a stand-out read for me. I shall definitely be
looking for the next book in this series.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
The
Janissary Tree #1
The
Baklava Club #5
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