Arabesk - Hardcover

Trained as an actress, Barbara Nadel used to work in mental health services. Born in the East End of London, she now writes full time and has been a visitor to Turkey for over twenty years. She received the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger for her novel DEADLY WEB, and the Swedish Flintax Prize for historical crime fiction for her first Francis Hancock novel, LAST RIGHTS.To find out more, follow Barbara on Twitter @BarbaraNadel or visit her website www.barbara-nadel.com

Nadel's intriguing third procedural to feature Insp. Çetin Ikmen (after 2005's The 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)
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