Abyssinian Proof [Hardcover]

Its a different time and a different place, but I get that "Inspector Morse" (BBC) feeling from the main character (Kamil Pasha). White displays the ability to put the reader suitably in the time period and place.

Pros: Read this if you like period mysteries in exotic settings without tons of gadgetry. A straight forward whodunnit when you're looking for one. I believe the "life" details from that time period are accurate, which I appreciate.

Cons: Kamil Pasha is still a little flat as a character and I look forward to seeing him develop through continuing novels. Sometimes the writing doesn't flow as well as I would like from scene to scene, but its not debilitating.

If you ever wondered what a Turkish Sherlock Holmes might have looked like, pick up "The Abyssianian Proof." The tale begins in the 1400's with the Ottomans at the gates of a beseiged Constantinople and the frantic hiding of Christian religious items including the reliquary from Chora, Container of the Uncontainable. Fast forward four hundred years, and we met Kamil Pasha, a magistrate in the new secular courts, charged with ending the theft and sale outside the country of many of the religious artifacts of the city, Christian, Jewish and Muslim. You are sucked into the markets, the crumbling architectural wealth, the spices scenting the air and the call to prayer as Pasha investigates leads which end in murder of his agents. Different blended sects, the structured, constrained life of women, the refugees flooding the streets from the surrounding territories, displaced by war add to the tension and setting of the novel. If you enjoy a murder mystery with a setting outside the Western world, pick this one up and enjoy.

In 1453, Christians and Muslims clash in an age old struggle for a land that has been inhabited over the years by both. The Melisites, a secret sect, are forced to protect sacred artifacts, hiding a reliquary, a "container that holds the uncontainable", the Proof of God. Just before an assault by warring forces that will retake the Byzantine prize, the Proof is secreted in the antiquities-rich Sunken Village in the Ottoman Empire. The reliquary is to be passed from one set of guardians and priestesses to another, through the generations, linking all in common purpose. Years later, in 1887, a returning character, Kamil Pasha (The Sultan's Seal), magistrate in the new secular courts who investigates and prosecutes crimes in Istanbul, is troubled by the theft of precious artifacts from the area. More comfortable when dealing with science and rational fact, Kamil walks a delicate balance, adjudicating fairly in a place where emotions run high.

Kamil Pasha is a reasonable man who understands "the British want a strong Ottoman Empire to stand between themselves and the Russians". But the increasing demand for precious artifacts by European collectors has stimulated a black market trade that is leaving a trail of dead men in its wake. Thirty-one and unmarried, Kamil's personal life is devoted to work and his hothouse orchids, a dedicated civil servant determined to stop the thefts and find the killers of innocents. At the heart of the problem are a ruthless businessman and the current priestess of the sect, Balkis, whose brother, Malik, is one of Kamil's valued friends. Her son and daughter, Amida and Saba are in line to become the next guardian and priestess; but when Malik is brutally murdered, the crimes take on a more ominous cast in a case that reaches from the Sunken Village to England and the resources of Scotland Yard.

The author depicts a fascinating Istanbul, the Sunken Village with its Byzantine tunnels and enormous treasure, jewel-encrusted chalices and priceless antiquities, the unprepossessing reliquary most fought over for the secret it holds. Science and police procedure clash with barbaric rituals and ancient customs, Kamil torn between a profound respect for men's differences and the necessity of stopping the killings. In the midst of chaos, Kamil is tempted by the charms of the exotic Saba and a recent refugee who resides in his sister's house, Elia. An artist trained in Paris, Elia has suffered a terrible loss, unprepared to face Kamil's interest, yet not unaware of the man's charm. Perhaps at another time. Forced to deal with the violence around him, Kamil faces love, danger and a painful betrayal, a man of science in a place of fervent beliefs, where the Proof of God promises an end to mankind's quest.

The author meticulously recreates time and place in the 19th century Ottoman Empire, the sights and sounds of the Sunken Village, repository of history, the twisted tunnels of sacred relics and treasures eerily echoing centuries of civilization where men die for precious secrets, committing blind acts of faith and violence in service to their God. Yet, the Proof remains hidden: "It won't settle and reveal itself until humanity is ready to hear its message." Luan Gaines/2008.