Petrified by
Barbara Nadel
hbk out February 04
Published by Headline
at £17.99
Newspaper reviews of Petrified that make comparisons with Michael Dibdin's
Aurelio Zen series, and with Donna Leon, can be dual-edged swords. They can cut to
the quick when the reader is a lover of the books in question. How can this book
possibly compare with such works?
Not having come across Nadel's stories before, I approached this sixth story in
the series with interest, tempered by the caution of a lover of the aforementioned
Venetian-based novels. Petrified (and presumably its predecessors) is set in Istanbul.
Not the Istanbul of the Suleymaniye, or the Topkapi Palace, but that of the run-down,
hard-working district of Balat, haven of refugees over the years. And of the
internationally celebrated, and slightly mad artist Melih Akdeniz. Inspector Çetin
Ikmen is investigating the baffling disappearance of the artist's two children.
Meanwhile Sergeant Çöktin is called to the apparently natural death of an old lady,
only to find the perfectly preserved body of a young man also in the apartment. The
discovery that the man has been embalmed, and is a perfect example of that art, draws
into question the different attitudes to death of the various cultures that make up
modern Turkey. For the Muslim Çöktin, it is an abomination not to bury a body
within twenty-four hours of death occurring. And this body seems to be very old.
Nadel surprises the reader not only with unexpected twists of plot - how are
the strands of the missing children, to be resolved with preserved bodies, and with
Russian gangsters involved in a turf war? - but with startling information about the
sub-cultures, and religious tensions in the complex city that is Istanbul. The Balat
district where most of the story unravels has been home to a not inconsiderable
enclave of Jews, who have for centuries lived happily alongside the Muslim majority.
Not that this fact makes it any easier for Ikmen's devout Muslim wife, Fatma, to
accept one of their daughters falling in love with a Jewish boy. Ikmen's private life,
and that of his colleague and former protégée, the troubled Inspector Suleyman, is
expertly interwoven into the story, often providing counterpoint to the themes of
death, religion, and class. Not that Petrified is in any way pompous or heavy-going,
don't get me wrong. The very opposite, in fact. Nadel's style is spare and refreshing,
carrying the reader along to the horrifying conclusion with speed and apparent
economy of effort.
Oh, and as for that comparison with my personal favourite, Dibdin? Yes, the
comparison is fair, and Nadel stands up well to it. Ikmen's Istanbul is the bedrock of
an intriguing book, just as Zen and Venice have fascinated the reader. I shall be going
back to the other five stories in the series with anticipation.
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
Petrified by
Barbara Nadel
