Tangled Web UK Review September 2000
A Chemical Prison by
Barbara Nadel
hbk out July 00
Published by Headline
at £17.99
A young man’s body is found in a secret apartment in Istanbul. The youth’s limbs are atrophied and covered with injection marks. The windows in the flat are nailed shut and the victim has never been seen leaving or entering the flat. The only person sighted at the building over the years has been a well-dressed Armenian whose identity is unknown. Has the boy been kept prisoner? Who by? And why has he died?
Inspector Cetin Ikmen and forensic pathologist Arto Sarkissian have frequently worked together. They are close friends too despite the differences in their religion, race, income and lifestyles. But as they join forces to investigate this case Ikmen senses an uneasiness in his friend's manner which he does not understand. Meanwhile Ikmen, a policeman with an unhealthy appetite for brandy and cigarettes, has problems aplenty at home where his elderly father is suffering from dementia and his wife is ill too. And one of his team is developing a crush on another which does not bode well.
Nadel depicts Istanbul brilliantly and plunges us deep into the cultural, religious and social life of the city. A Chemical Prison is the second book to feature Cetin Ikmen and it is well-written, rich in atmosphere, full of details of the city’s turbulent history and has a range of delightful and idiosyncratic characters.
First appeared in Manchester Evening News 14/7/00
(
Cath Staincliffe
- Author of the highly acclaimed Sal Kilkenny Mysteries set on the Mean Streets of Manchester)
