REVIEW
Jacob Arjouni "More Beer"
No Exit Press (1 874061 28 9) £4.99
In Jacob Arjouni's latest novel More Beer the tough, disillusioned Turkish/German PI Kemal Kayankaya makes a welcome return. Raised most of his life in Germany, he has suffered badly from racial abuse and prejudice. And this is reflected in the relentlessly bleak black humour of the books. Arjouni uses his character to shine a light on the darker areas of German society and, for the most part, the results are uncomfortable. The Police, big business and organised crime all find cold comfort in an Arjouni novel. And all have a role in More beer.
The book starts with Kayankaya on the trail of the real culprit involved in the death of a director of a chemical plant near Frankfurt. Four members of a radical ecological group have been falsely accused. The ecological group has strong evidence that chemicals being produced at the plant are having an unhealthy effect on children in the area. They admit responsibility for damage caused by a bomb on the night of the murder, but refuse to say anything about a fifth person seen with them at the plant.
Kayankaya's approach to the case is typically hostile. In the grand tradition of the hard - boiled P.I. he manages to antagonise anybody within earshot without discrimination. And consequently is subjected to some healthy beatings. The one character he does develop a soft spot for is a 58 year old Russian refugee, former street girl and kept lover of the man who has been murdered. He feels kinship with her - both are refugees in a hostile land. He enjoys her company, helped along by a bottle of the finest Russian Vodka. More Beer has the feel of Hammett or David Goodis about it, Kayankaya's role as traditional outsider P.I. being exacerbated by his status as "Guest Worker". He is always the wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. If you like your noir "pitch black" then Jacob Arjouni's books should be on your list. (A.W.)