Sometimes I have the real pleasure of reviewing a novel I would have bought myself. Not often it has to be said, and but for life, Covid and work I would have got to this sooner. (I have a pile of books to review)
What a treat, Hot to Trot, M C Beaton’s latest and A Death in the Medina – one after the other:
A Death in the Medina by James Von Leyden is set in Marrakech, in the stifling heat of August at the start of Ramadan. A heat which exceeds anything in living memory. Most foreigners head for the hills, or preferably the Arctic to cool down. One who remains is an impossible woman, or so I thought, who owns a riad (a traditional house built around a courtyard, and which is a form of hotel) She has a French boyfriend who is an architect. There is an English girl who has lost her bag, passport etc. All these pawns cross the path of 24 year old local detective Karim Belkacem, who of course is fasting. Who has a sister’s wedding to pay for. Who takes a job as a night watchman. So not only is he not eating or drinking during the intense sleep, but neither is he sleeping.
A Moroccan girl is found murdered. Another detective takes the case. But Karim knows the girl and fears it is a sloppy investigation, and all the while the heat is rising. Is the murderer one of the pawns? If so, which one? Or is it none of them?
As the heat builds so does Karim’s confusion. We feel it, we put on the fan though in reality it’s cold outside. We drink water , feeling as parched as he. I can’t say my confusion rose as his did, because I seem to live a life of chaos, but oh, dear, I felt his. And who on earth is the killer?
Slowly, delicately, elegantly it comes together. A grain of sand on the body – from the desert? But it’s salty? So where has Amina been? All the time, the hotel is rising, but too quickly. All this concrete to mix…
It’s unputdownable. See how I multi-tasked so I didn’t have to stop reading.
So, turn yourself into a dog’s bed if it gives you a few more precious minutes with James Von Leyden in Marrakech. Read, learn, and finally understand ‘who did it.’ A Death in Medina is more than a mystery, it is an experience.
A Death in the Medina by James Von Leyden pub by Constable (who are publishing some great books) paperback