Jamal Mahjoub

I didn’t realise that this was the second book in a series when I picked it up so I am not sure what or how much i’ve missed or its effects on this book, but; I’m sure as hell going to find out! Book one, The Divinities has now firmly cemented itself to the top of my tbr pile!

As the police are called to a gruesome discovery of a severed head found on the London Underground, Crane and Drake are hired by her childhood acquaintance and author, Marco Foulkes, to investigate the disappearance of a foreign university student Howeida Almanara.

As their investigation begins it is not long before it becomes apparent that both cases are connected, and not just connected but personal to former Detective Inspector Cal Crane and a case he was working undercover on four years ago. The decapitated head was wrapped in newspaper, a very specific page from the newspaper, the headline of the article reading – “Finger of Suspicion Pointed at Rising Star Met Police. Links to Organised Crime.” The rising star? None other than DI Crane!

The investigation of the unidentified head is being led by Crane’s former police partner, newly promoted DI Kelly Marsh. Unofficially they share case details helping both Crane in his new career as a private investigator and Marsh’s official investigation.

As the pressure grows to crack the case more details emerge, details and evidence that points the finger of blame straight at Crane.

Can PI’s Drake and Crane, with the help of Marsh, clear his name and lead them to the real criminals in time?

Set in London this book brings the city to life across the pages, from the high end of some of the expensive boroughs to the darker side of the city and its forgotten individuals who make their beds in doorways. It takes you on a journey into some of the seedier sides of the city as well as the gang culture who always seem three steps ahead of the police, touching on all to real problems such as human trafficking, corruption, organised crime and exploitation that go on not just in the fictional London but the real city as well.

The book is filled with multicultural fictional characters, some good, some pure evil wrapped in flesh and bone, all blended with a storyline that could just as easily feature in the True Crime genre with a compulsive, high tension plot and an ending that will drive you insane! I just hope the next book isn’t going to be too much of a wait because it has certainly left me needing more and I can guarantee that you will feel the same once you have turned that last page!

This is a real slice of life wrapped in fiction.

The Heights will be published on 03 September 2020 and is available for pre-order now.… (más)

Moody and atmospheric with an engaging private detective in Cairo

The year is 1998, and former police inspector Makana, a refugee from his native Sudan, lives on a rickety houseboat on the Nile outside Cairo. He fled his country years earlier when it became too dangerous for him and his family under the radical Islamic regime that had recently overthrown the previous government. He ekes out a bare subsistence working as a private investigator while mourning the loss of his wife and daughter, who didn't survive their escape. His fortunes have the opportunity to change for the better when he is hired to find a missing soccer star.

Adil Romario has been missing for over two weeks without a word or sighting of one of Cairo’s favorite sones. It is as if the young man has disappeared off the face of the Earth. The Dreem Team's owner, Saad Hanafi, is desperate to find Adil for his club's success and personal reasons. Hanafi wasn't always on the right side of the law, and old enemies may be behind the young man's disappearance.

As Makana delves into the mystery, he discovers there may be a link between Adil's disappearance and that of the young daughter of an Englishwoman who went missing 17 years earlier. When the Englishwoman is found dead, Makana, with some support from a friend on the local police force, two agents from Britain's Special Branch out of London, and a young, local reporter trying to make a name for himself, digs deeper and further afield, coming to the realization that Hanafi isn't telling him everything he needs to know to find the missing soccer star.

THE GOLDEN SCALES is a complex and intriguing historical mystery set in moody, atmospheric Cairo. The descriptions of place drew me into the story, where the writing and plot gripped me and never let go. The characters who populate the pages are colorful and well-drawn. I could easily visualize their dress, manner of speech, and gestures. I was invested in Makana's success as if it were my own. The story is action-filled, and Makana investigates like a pro, so I was quite satisfied when the resolution came.

THE GOLDEN SCALES is the first book in the Makana Mystery series by Parker Bilal, a pseudonym of renowned author Jamal Mahjoub, and was originally published in 2012. Currently, there are six novels in the series, the last of which was published in 2017. I recommend this book to mystery readers that would like an intriguing, well-crafted story with historical and political subplots enveloped in a setting that comes alive on the page.… (más)