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From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Early 19th-century Istanbul's teeming mix of nationalities, religions and cultures comes alive in this vibrant sequel to the Edgar-winning The Janissary Tree (2006). When French archeologist Maximilien Lefèvre begins asking very pointed, well-informed questions about long-lost Greek artifacts and then is found dead outside the French embassy, series hero Yashim, a Turkish eunuch, finds himself suspected of the murder. His efforts to clear his name take him from markets and wharves to palaces and underground tunnels as he uncovers a secret society, unearths sacred relics and hunts the murderer. Goodwin's secondary characters, particularly Yashim's close friend Stanislaw Palewski, the world-weary Polish ambassador, are distinct and memorable, and the mystery presents an entertaining challenge to the reader as well as to charming, determined Yashim. With his second effort as intricate and delightful as the first, Goodwin takes his rightful place among such distinguished British historical mystery writers as Lindsay Davis and the late Edith Pargeter. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --Ce texte provient de la Hardcover �dition.

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4.0�toiles sur 5 " In this city of belonging, even the dead belonged somewhere", D�c 8 2007

Par	Michael Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA) - Voir tous mes commentaires (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Snake Stone (Hardcover)

Constantinople in the 1830's and French archeologist Max Lefevre has arrived in the city, reputedly to barter for some lost Byzantine relics in the hope that they will provide his way to wealth and glory. Meanwhile, local eunuch Yashim is welcome in a variety of social circles, content to live in his small apartment while also dining out in many of the cosmopolitan cafes and even shopping in many of the markets situated in the Grand Bazaar with their cornucopia of perfect fruits and vegetables.

Possessed of a fierce intellect and a real gift for listening and quiet questioning, Yashim has learned to separate himself from his emotions as he readily moves between the refined world of Topkapi Palace and the poorer streets of Constantinople, always on the lookout for sinister doings in this thriving city where Jews, Greeks, Muslims, and even Christians have lived peacefully together for years in an environment that is largely free of menace.

Times, however, are changing. The Sultan Mahmut II, who for thirty years has presided over many changes to the Ottoman state, lies in his palace dying of tuberculosis and cirrhosis of the liver, his illness causing a bitterness and uneasiness to circulate throughout the Empire. Against this backdrop of collective restlessness, a series of violent murders are committed, which echo throughout the communal alleyways of the city.

The first to die is Yashim's friend George, a friendly merchant trader who is found beaten and left for dead in the street, and then the elderly Goulandris, a native Greek who deals in old books and curiosities is found murdered in his shop. What could possibly be happening in this city that has suddenly become so overrun with mountebanks, schemers, and dealers of every nationality, the city "like a serpent intent to shed its skin." Perhaps both George and Goulandris were simply victims of the same unease that seems to be sweeping though Istanbul.

Meanwhile, the wife of Monsieur Mavrogordato invites Yashim to her house to tell him that the Frenchman Max Lefevre has recently visited asking for a small loan. In the course of the discussion the man made certain offers that were in some sense disquieting, apparently there was a proposal made to sell her husband something. Madame Mavrogordato would like Yashim to encourage Monsieur Lefevre to conduct his research elsewhere.

Determined to get to the bottom of Lefevre's motivations and perhaps discover whether he is connected to the murders, Stanislaw Palewski, the Polish ambassador and Yashim's best friend, invites Lefevre to dinner. But their evening together sheds little light on Lefevre's Machiavellian schemes, if indeed he has any. One thing is for sure: throughout the course of the meal Yashim decides that he doesn't particularly like this strange and enigmatic Frenchman who isn't being particularly honest with either him or Palewski.

Then one night Lefevre appears at Yashim's door, stumbling across the threshold, dragging a leather satchel into the room behind him, and appearing shrunken, and incredibly aged, his black eyes darting nervously from side to side, begging for help and fearing for his life... There was something rather terrible about being a stranger in a city where even the dead belonged. "Some people get the wrong idea, they think of me as a grave robber, but I bring lost treasures to light, I bring them back to life," he fanatically tells Yashim.

Taking pity on him, Yashim helps Lefevre escape on a boat bound for France, But when his body is later discovered back in Istanbul, savagely mauled, the accompanying report from the French ambassador changes everything and Lefevre's death taking on a terrible, public urgency, the report containing graphic details of a bizarre act of savagery, even as Yashim swears he caught a glimpse of the Frenchman again the next day, outside his local fish market.

As Jason Goodwin's complicated plot races along, Yashim realizes that his involvement with the archaeologist has at best been foolish, the slur marking him like a stain on his character, a faint question now hanging over his good judgment. The eunuch finds himself is thrown into a boiling pot of fervor, faith and political intrigue in a city where even the dead belong and where people are steadily casting off their skins like snakes as they move from one incarnation to another.

Yashim must match wits to unravel the strange mystery of these gruesome murders which hinge on tatty paperbound copy of book by the French author Balzac, one of the very books the terrified Lefevre had spilled out apologetically across the floor before he died; the confessions of the beautiful Madame Amelie Lefevre who has been of all things unexpected; and a secret society called Hetira, who despise the current kingdom of Greece, but are strangely devoted to the restoration of the Greek Empire. Mike Leonard December 07.

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