Barbara Nadel is an award-winning British author whose Inspector Ikmen series inspired an eight-part BBC TV series – The Turkish Detective. To date, Nadel has written 28 mysteries about the now ex-inspector Çetin Ikmen and Serpent’s Tongue is the latest, published in May.
There’s something about these mysteries set in Istanbul that intrigues me. I haven’t read all the books in the series, only those I’ve been able to find at the library, but all the ones I have read have been good and now I keep my eyes peeled for new ones. Luckily, Oundle Library has several of the series on their shelves.
By now I’m familiar with most of the characters: ex-Inspector Ikmen, the retired detective; his protégé, Inspector Mehmet Süleyman and the others in his small police team; Süleyman’s wife; and Ikmen’s family and friends. And if you decide to read this, or one of the others, you will be pleased to know there’s usually a useful Cast List at the beginning of each book, as well as a Pronunciation Guide to help you with the Turkish names.
Serpent’s Tongue opens with two women being found dead in Istanbul. One had been bitten by a snake in a slum area of the city; the other killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a block of flats in a wealthy area. Each death is puzzling, so Süleyman’s team divide the work to investigate each.
Cetin Ikmen, meanwhile, is already visiting the slum area trying to help a friend find somewhere in the city that some ‘outsider art’ sculptures can be put on display. ‘Outsider art’ is explained as work by an untrained artist who has created pieces for themselves, and the sculptures in question are in the flat belonging to a dead neighbour of Ikmen’s friend. This puts Ikmen in the immediate vicinity of one of the murders, so it’s not long before he’s poking about trying to find out what’s been happening.
Barbara Nadel is always clever in the way she ties different stories together and she’s done really well with this. There is all sorts of interesting stuff going on! From snake venom and herpetology, to the Turkish security services and halal fashion, as well as more traditional motives such as jealousy, money and religious conviction. Slowly but surely Nadel weaves the elements together, so that by the end of the book it feels as if it was always a seamless whole. As I say, very clever.
My verdict
These are always colourful and interesting mysteries. They take a bit of concentration to read, not least because of the Turkish names, but once you’ve got the hang of who is who, everything rolls along nicely.
The characters are well drawn, too. They are believable and it’s easy to picture Ikmen, Süleyman et al in your mind’s eye. The plotting is clever as well.
In some of the earlier books I seem to remember there was a Glossary of Terms, which explained the use of titles in the Turkish language – for example, the formal address for a woman adds “hanim” after her name, and for a man you’d add “bey”. This was really useful, but there isn’t a glossary in Serpent’s Tongue so if you get stuck, you’ll need to do a Google!
These mysteries are unusual because they are set in Istanbul. It’s clear that Barbara Nadel adores the city and Turkey, because her descriptions and storytelling are beguiling. If you enjoy a good whodunnit you could do worse than give these a try. I’m happy to give Serpent’s Tongue 4 Stars.
Review by: Cornish Eskimo
P.S. While writing this blog, I saw that while the first series of The Turkish Detective is on BBC iPlayer, there may be a second series on Prime, so I’m off to look for that now.
What’s in a Star?
For Oundle Crime, 4-Stars means: “A good book with an interesting, layered story that you will still remember after a month.”
If you’d like to meet other crime fiction fans and chat about the books and authors you enjoy, why not come along to an Oundle Crime meeting? It’s relaxed and friendly, and anyone can drop in. Email join@friendsofoundlelibrary.org.uk and we’ll send you the details.