Arab Jazz - Softcover

Born in 1964 in Abidjan to a Mauritanian father and a French mother, Karim Miské grew up in Paris before leaving to study journalism in Dakar. He now lives in France, and is making documentary films on a wide range of subjects, including deafness, for which he learned sign language, and the common roots between the Jewish and Islamic religions. Arab Jazz is the author's first novel.

"Intelligent and gripping."―Tariq Ali

"A brilliant debut."
―Robin Yassin-Kassab, Guardian


"Exciting, informative, stimulating, and a little frightening."
―Marcel Berlins, The Times


"A debut of notable assurance ... proof that French crime fiction is jostling its way to the top of the noir tree."
―Barry Forshaw, Independent


"Miské's imaginative geography lies somewhere between the fantasy Belleville of Daniel Pennac, the strange world of Fred Vargas and the amoral fantastic of the television series Breaking Bad."―The Times Literary Supplement

"A poetic take on the traditional noir thriller."―Press Association

"A convincing world of the criminal underworld . . . written in sensuous prose . . . with a gift for setting, Miské's narrative twists through the mosques, prayer rooms and synagogues of Paris."―The Lady

"This is an intelligent, multi-layered and objective novel that will make you think and increase your awareness of the differences that lay at the heart of any modern society. You will feel emotionally invested in the character's lives, and most importantly of all feel that you have read a book that deserves to be read."―Raven Crime Reads

"A search through the cosmopolitan world, one in which people of many different types are all trying to make a go at it. The detectives are at work trying to find the truth, not only about the murder, but about themselves as well."―San Francisco Book Review

"Events and characters that evoke the latest headlines make this a propitious if uneasy read."―RT Book Reviews

"Redefines noir at its darkest. . .[Miské's] ability to keep his readers on the edge of their seats and the way he handles an intricate plot without a misstep has created an amazing page-turner."
―School Library Journal (Starred Review)


"[A] marvelous debut."
―Publishers Weekly


"Arab Jazz presents a hypercosmopolitan world, where synagogues, mosques, and pizzerias share the same street front, where you will meet Seventh Day Adventists, radical Islamists, and a Rastafarian Hasidic drug designer. Miské's writing is clever, profound, and funny, with a translation by Sam Gordon that captures the novel's rhythm and wit."
―Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine


"Arab Jazz is a fascinating and strange crime novel from a great new author."―Mysterious Bookshop e-newsletter

"This enthralling debut revels in tropes of the crime novel even as it careers cheekily beyond the genre . . . the disparate threads connect and produce a satisfying surprise."
―The New Yorker