The Janissary Tree

Yashim the Eunuch #1

by Jason Goodwin

WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVELThis first book in the Investigator Yashim series is a richly entertaining tale, full of exotic history and intrigue, introduces Investigator In 1830s Istanbul, an extra-ordinary hero tackles an extraordinary plot that threatens to topple the Ottoman EmpireIt is 1836. Europe is modernizing, and the Ottoman Empire must follow suit. But just before the Sultan announces sweeping changes, a wave of murders threatens the fragile balance of power in his court. Who is behind them? Only one intelligence agent can be trusted to find Yashim Lastname, a man both brilliant and near-invisible in this world. You see, Yashim is a eunuch. He leads us into the palace's luxurious seraglios and Istanbul's teeming streets, and leans on the wisdom of a dyspeptic Polish ambassador, a transsexual dancer, and a Creole-born queen mother. And he introduces us to the Janissaries. For 400 years, they were the empire's elite soldiers, but they grew too powerful, and ten years ago, the Sultan had them crushed. Are the Janissaries staging a brutal comeback?

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Crime, Historical Mystery, Mystery Thriller

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 16, 2006

About the author

Jason Goodwin's latest book is YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL: Culinary Adventures in the Ottoman Kitchen.
He studied Byzantine history at Cambridge University - and returned to an old obsession to write The Gunpowder Gardens or, A Time For Tea: Travels in China and India in Search of Tea, which was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award. When the Berlin Wall fell, he walked from Poland to Istanbul to encounter the new European neighbours. His account of the journey, On Foot to the Golden Horn, won the John Llewellyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize in 1993.

Fascinated by what he had learned of Istanbul's perpetual influence in the region, he wrote Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire, a New York Times Notable Book. 'If you want to learn,' he says, 'write a book.' Lords of the Horizons was described by Time Out as 'perhaps the most readable history ever written on anything.'

Having always wanted to write fiction, he became popular as the author of the mystery series beginning with The Janissary Tree, which won the coveted Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2007. Translated into more than 40 languages, the series continues with The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card, An Evil Eye and The Baklava Club. They feature a Turkish detective, Yashim, who lives in 19th century Istanbul.

YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL is an illustrated collection of recipes, inspired by the cookery in his five published adventures.

Reviews

[Tea Jovanović · Rating 4 out of 5]

Još jedna knjiga koja me je osvojila na prečac i koju sam progutala u jednom dahu... i to davne 2006. pre pojave (i popularnosti) turskih serija kod nas... :) Dobar krimić s primesama istorijskog i egzotike... :)

[DROPPING OUT · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truth is, I did not finish it. I found the characters too much like from a comic-book (not even a graphic novel), and it, well, plodded.

It actually won an Edgar - which is why I checked it out the library in the first place.

But the real kicker is the author sincerely dislikes Constantinople/Istanbul, the scene of the crime. Why do I say this? Well, they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. In my case, I studied Ottoman history in grad school and found it fascinating. The book says inside that Goodwin read Byzantine history. (Brit-speak for he studied or majored in it.)

The first real gaff I noticed was when the protagonist prepared to pray - He washed his private parts [author's words] last. WRONG! No Muslim would do that! This is the first area washed after the first washing of the hands! A bit later we learn that the Janissaries were Karagoz Sufis. Huh? Karagoz is a shadow puppet show (not unlike Punch and Judy)still popular in Turkey and Indonesia! The Jannisaries were Bektashi Sufis, one of the most esoteric sects!

Several pages later the Polish ambassador (note, Poland as a country had not existed for 40 years by the time of our setting!) asks Yashim [a strange non-Turkish name] a question. The text says that Yashim shook his head and the count raised his chin. Well, Turks do not shake their heads as we do! They merely raise their chin!

This is merely a FEW of such gaffes! For a gentleman who wrote a well-received popular history of the Ottoman Empire and equally received travel book of the region, I could only conclude these gaffes were intentional.

Perhaps there is a subplot for the cognoscenti, but I have no patience for it. Another Umberto Eco Goodwin ain't!

[Evren · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is very, very encouraging for prospective authors of historical fiction: By all means, go ahead and write a book and don't bother to make any research: there are enough idiots out there (including myself) with plenty of time and money to spend recklessly on a boring story and facts that don't simply match. This is a waste!

- Many of the names are made-up; Yashim, Preen, Palmuk! What the heck? These names are not Turkish at all!
- The story transpires in 1836; there are visionary characters in the novel that have last names; a century before the relevant law was put into effect! (Murad Eslek!? Ertogrul Aslan!?)
- There is no such thing as a "Karagozi" sect or group? Janissaries were Bektashis. And the author must have known that because he even opens the book by one of his sayings.
- A Nasrani tekke? Just because you love the sound of the word? A "Nasrani" is a Christian. They couldn't possibly have had tekkes. They had their churches for Christ's sake! Yes, indeed.
- The Sultan was Mahmud the Second, not the Fourth. There was never a Sultan called "Mahmud the Fourth." As a matter of fact, "Mahmud the Fourth" is a very popular joke among Turkish youth; when they want to mock someone who loves showing off their rather limited history knowledge, they ask about the "Mahmud the Fourth." Well, the author seems to have hit the mark with this one, inadvertently.
- Selim was not Mahmud the Second's father (let alone Mahmud IV!) Selim was his paternal uncle. His father was Abdulhamid I.
- Galata Bridge's construction date!?
- Well the dialogue between the "Kizlar Aga" and "Validé" was especially hilarious. Validé calls him "Kizlar" for the covenience's sake apparently. Nevertheless she should have called him "Aga," for historical acuracy's sake. "Kizlar agasi" means "The girls' Chief;" in the novel the "Chief" gets called "Girls!" That would not only be inaccurate but also confusing in the presence of, well yes, many girls.
- Tea was not a common commodity in Turkey until 1940s.
- There is one page where he talks about a child, who would later sit in the "First Kemalist National Assembly," whatever the heck that means. Are you kidding me? The first "Grand National Assembly" assembled in 1920, but it couldn't be farther from being "Kemalist." Let's accept it was. Then this fictional character would be of 90 years of age. Well, guess what; the oldest person in the said assembly was 70 years old.
- Aya Sofya being the highest point in the whole İstanbul? Well, let me tell you that; even if it isn't for the Galata Tower, or other mosques built atop higher hills, the Beyazit Tower, a key factor in the plot, was and is way higher than Aya Sofya.

There are many more inaccuracies. These are the ones I have been able to pinpoint at one glance and without Wikipedia. And I am not a history buff. Actually one might pass a fun time trying to find out all the inaccuracies in this novel.

I don't know what should possess a writer to make all that stuff up. This is orientalism 2.0. Imagine an author writing about the Tudors except that how Henry the 11th decides to avail himself of a certain Fuckerby's services of investigate nature! This is outrageous!

At first I was intending to write something about how historical fiction is a tricky genre; how you create a world within an already existent world, how n author should delineate the frame in which to act, how fine a line a historical fiction treads on etc. etc. But no, this one is a joke.

[Jokoloyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot enjoy this Historical Mystery Novel.

The mystery part has not much mystery to solve, I believe readers could guess it easily before the protagonist reveal the culprit. No need to reveal more. It is one of the easiest mystery that I've ever read.

For setting and background, at first I have high hope with eunuch detective and his unusual friends. But then, the details of the characters are not convincing. At read status update, I wrote I found 2 flaws in details. Well, I don't remember what are they. Maybe one of them is regarding castrated eunuch has moustache.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho finito il libro e devo dire che anche se mi ha fatto ritornare a Istanbul e mi ha fatto vedere un periodo transitorio della storia turca - anche se ho letto commenti in cui si parla di madornali errori storici, sebbene io, da ignorante, non me ne sia resa conto - ho trovato le indagini troppo confusionarie e, in seguito, la soluzione troppo banale.
Resta il fatto che il romanzo mi ha fatto tornare il desiderio di rivedere le mie foto e di immaginare di essere lì, in piazza dell'ippodromo (Sultanahmet Meydanı) la piazza con le colonne, l'obelisco egizio sulla base scolpita dell'imperatore Teodosio, e vicino a Santa Sofia (Ayasofya Müzesi) e alla Moschea Blu (Sultanahmet Camii).

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, the same thing that makes a writer a brilliant historian prevents him from becoming something much more humble, say, a writer of mysteries. Jason Goodwin, whose book The Lord of the Horizons was a wonderful short history of the Ottoman Empire, tripped up a bit when he wrote his The Janissary Tree. The hero of the book is an investigator who also happens to be a eunuch. In the approaching twilight years of the Empire, Yashim tries to understand a plot to bring down the Sultanate on the tenth anniversary of the suppression of the Janissaries, those descendants of the original armies of Mehmet and Suleiman the Magnificent, who grew too fat, too lazy, too privileged.

Except when one is writing a mystery, it is possible to be too ambitious. A revolution is perhaps too big a subject, and one feels the plot tugging a bit at times as the suthor struggles to keep his focus sharp.

On the plus side, Yashim is a delightful character -- and that is almost half the battle. The other half, which is scattered all across Istanbul, is the problem. I hope Goodwin manages in the subsequent Yashim stories to narrow his focus so as to give Yashim and his friends more scope.

[Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

The setting of the The Janissary Tree> is fascinating: the novel takes place in 1836 in Istanbul, with the Ottoman empire on the cusp between tradition and the modernity that will ultimately destroy it. And the main character, Yashim, who is a eunuch, certainly provides a twist on the traditional detective! However, I can’t say that I loved the novel as a novel, rather than as a thinly veiled history lesson about a rather forgotten period in history. In fact, every character was ready to spout off pages of Ottoman history or the arrangement of the Sultan’s harem, at the drop of a hat, so that we, the readers, understood what was going on. But since they actually lived through these events, why would they spend so much time talking about them? That’s a completely unnatural, novelistic contrivance.

As for Yashim himself, I never felt like I got to know him at all throughout the course of the novel – his two distinguishing characteristics (being a eunuch; being a good cook) defined him and we never saw any growth in the character. He would start to be angsty about having been, err, eunuch-ized, and then he’d suppress that angst and cook something and learn some more Ottoman history (plus his being a eunuch seemingly does not hinder him in the least in his affair with a beautiful lady whom he encounters during the course of his investigation. I am not 100% sure that Yashim would be physically capable of what he does… hmmm!). Lastly, the solution to the mystery was rushed and not very well thought out; I would have liked to know how the villain had managed to carry out some of his plans and who assisted him and the two separate mysteries that Yashim was supposed to be solving weren't very well-connected.

Also, one small and completely infuriating thing is that Jason Goodwin keeps referring to the Janissaries as “Karagozi” Sufis, which is just bizarre, because he wrote an Ottoman history book and therefore undoubtedly knows that the Janissaries were followers of the Bektashi Sufis. Did he just not want to offend any existing religious group by using their name in a work of fiction? It constantly takes me out of the story!

That said, I did like the setting a lot and the recipes were mouthwatering, so I'm giving it an extra star.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried it, but would not consider reading further in the series. The slow pace with abundance of historical detail brought the progress of the plot to a mournful halt on many occasions. For me, at least, a little OTtoman Empire goes a long way.

[Susan in NC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally read it - to satisfy the Book For All Seasons “Still Tepid” challenge, and finally get it off my own personal “ not-sure” shelf on GR, where I put books I’m pretty sure I’m going to like, but for some reason, I start reading them and they just don’t click for me. I figured I’d revisit them at some point, so this challenge was a perfect opportunity, and I picked the title that had sat on the shelf the longest.

I love historical mysteries - they are my favorite genre, since I got hooked on Brother Cadfael decades ago. The challenge is finding well-researched and well-written books with good characters, a believable, satisfying mystery and a pace that is true to time periods that are generally technology-free. Sometimes, that means a pace that is so slow, you forget to pick up the book again; that was the case for me here.

I like Yashim the Eunuch, our hero, very much, don’t get me wrong. I will look for further books in the series,eventually; Goodwin’s witty, erudite writing style and wry humor are very appealing and remind me of another exotic favorite series, Michael Pearce’s Mamur Zapt, about the British in Egypt.

Great research and writing, but I still didn’t want to come back to the book. Once I did start reading again, I was drawn in, but the pacing,short chapters and elliptical style sometimes didn’t make sense - I wasn’t always sure who’s speaking to who, or why we are meeting new characters at this point, and what they contribute to the plot. I think, though, looking at reviews for books later in the series, this was just “debut mystery” syndrome, where an author has to establish so much that it can become scattered. But Goodwin’s excellent research (maybe too much jammed in to the first Yashim book) and beautiful writing left me wanting to revisit 1830s Istanbul with Yashim - it’s a very enjoyable and new (to me) time and place, thus checking my personal boxes for a worthwhile historical mystery series. I’m glad I finally read this book, and look forward to a leisurely read of future books!

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprised this won the Edgar Award. Book was pretty dry and a little disjointed. I suppose that when the hero was in mortal danger, I was supposed to be nervous on his account, but I wasn't. The stakes if the eunuch failed his mission were pretty high--four terrible murders about to be committed, the sultan and his mother would be killed, city in flames, revolution and invasion, no more French novels--but I was blithely unconcerned.

Completely lacking in suspense. Also it was pretty obvious who the thief was and who the ringleader of the Janissaries was as well--since there weren't that many culprits to choose from (i.e., two). So when the end reveal happened, I was like "yes, you should have guessed that 100 pages back Inspector but you had to spend all that valuable time making intricate dinners for yourself." This being said, it was not an altogether bad book and I will most likely read the sequel.

I just hope the sequel doesn't have GIANT paragraphs like this one did. Some seemed to stretch on for a page or more. Another thing that royally bugged me throughout was the author's unnecessary vignettes of the crowd and random passers-by. Just leafing through, found this example: "Alexandra Stanopolis, a Greek girl of marriageable age, had her bottom pinched sixteen times and hoarded the secret to her death in Trabzon, fifty-three years later, when she finally revealed it to her daughter-in-law, who herself died in New York City".

What the hell has this to do with anything? Inserts of the following random noise that are sprinkled throughout the book only detracted from the themes and plot at hand and takes the reader out of the story completely (and made me cranky). Instead of the above, would be nice to have learned about the main character more since the author was very coy about details. Or his two friends--the transvestite and the Polish ambassador. Maybe hoarding interesting backgrounds and giving us slices of extraneous detail, author hoped the many plot holes would be ignored.

[Wendell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit that I totally don’t get what the fuss is all about. The Janissary Tree bears all the earmarks of a first novel, including a healthy crop of irritating literary tics that I sincerely hope Goodwin will outgrow (to name one: the habit of ending many, many chapters with ridiculously purple Perils of Pauline-esque “cliff-hangers” [of this variety: “Little did he know how soon he would be seeing his friend again—and under what shocking circumstances!”]). Okay, I made that one up, but it is true in spirit. They’re silly and they’re juvenile, and if Goodwin didn't have the wit to murder his darlings, his editor should have done it for him. Goodwin is not especially handy at either dialogue or characterization, and the fact of the matter is that his main character in this novel isn’t Yashim but the city of Istanbul. That’s fine as far as it goes, but it makes for some slogging when Goodwin stops to give you a lecture on architectural or social history and forgets that he has a plot he’s supposed to be carrying forward. Indeed, like all too many writers of historical fiction, Goodwin can’t bear the thought of leaving out one single detail of the many he apparently uncovered in his research, but a little goes a long way and, in this book, a lot is soporific. Despite Goodwin’s obvious care with the historical setting, moreover, I was never able to suspend disbelief in one key particular: that Yashim-the-Eunuch could possibly move in and out of all the strata of society in which Goodwin places him. Without that, the book simply doesn’t work. Finally, Goodwin’s obvious terror that a reader might actually think Yashim was, God forbid, homosexual leads him to a ham-handed hetero sex scene that I hope was as embarrassing for him to write as it was for me to read.

[Gintautas Ivanickas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanas, alsuojantis painiomis paslaptimis ir prabangia, keista egzotika. Ne aš taip sugalvojau – ant nugarėlės taip.
Tai nežinau, kuo jis ten alsuoja, bet tos paslaptys ne tokios painios. Ar būtų ne tokios painios, jei ne keistoka autoriaus pasakojimo maniera. Apie prabangą nežinau, ką pasakyt. Kažkaip labiau įstrigo lenkų pasiuntinio batų tepalu ištepti kojų pirštai, kad nešviestų pro skylėtus batus. Keista egzotika – na, jei nebūtų keista, nebūtų ir egzotika, ne? Bet tiek jau to, pakalbėkime apie patį romaną.
Lyg ir turėtų būti istorinis detektyvas. Istorijos yra, nepasiginčysi. Pabarstyta kruopelėmis, tinkamai įpinta į tekstą. O štai su detektyvu – liūdniau. Pradėkim nuo to, kad nepatikėčiau pagrindiniam veikėjui, eunuchui Jašimui, suieškoti po skalbimo dingusios kojinės – nesu tikras, kad susitvarkytų. Ne, jis viską atskleidžia ir viską išsiaiškina, bet labiau ne savo proto pastangomis, o tiesiog išlaukdamas, kol paslaptys pačios iškils paviršiun.
Pasakojimas trukčiojantis, vietomis pernelyg kapotas, neišlaikantis tęstinumo, nors viskas lyg ir neišsibarsto, sueina į vieną visumą. Bet skaitymo malonumą tai gadino.
Va, tos „keistos egzotikos“ ir atmosferos – buvo pakankamai. Ir tai bene didžiausias knygos pliusas.
Skysti trys iš penkių. Vargu ar kada grįšiu prie serijos.

[Inita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aizraujošs vēsturiskais trilleris, kas ir piebārstīts ar vēsturiskām uzziņām. Man tiešām patika un man šķita, ka vēsturiskais stāstījums un atkāpes ir nozīmīgas, lai izprastu tā laika sabiedrību un kontekstu. Galvenais varonis ir ļoti dzīvelīgs, ņemot vērā daudzās reizes un veidus, kā viņu centās nogalināt.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Janissary Tree is the first time I’ve read anything by author Jason Goodwin. Set in Istanbul in the mid-19th century it reminded me of My Name is Black, but this is a less ambitious novel. Still it is a very good one, but shorter and probably much more accessible to the casual/average reader.

I liked the writing, the plotting and the descriptions of time and place. The author made me feel as if I was there and able to understand the life of the ordinary people that form the backdrop of this city. He did an excellent job of humanizing all of the characters that carry the plot and sub-plots. While I cannot speak to the accuracy of his city and descriptions, I can attest that it felt correct and compared favorably to other works set in similar times and within Islamic societies.

The protagonist, Yashim, is likable, interesting, and intelligent. Mr. Goodwin chooses to introduce him to us without great explanation, but creates little reveals of his past as the novel progresses. There is no summary or grand exposition (like Watson meeting Holmes for the first time) here. We don’t learn all of his past: it’s almost as if Yashim was introduced in a previous story, but that isn’t the case. This technique worked pretty well for me, but I still had a nagging desire to learn why he was so trusted by the bureaucracy and the Sultan’s household. I hope that further tidbits will be revealed as the series progresses.

The core of the novel is the disappearance of four young officers in the Sultan’s westernized Army. One turns up dead in an odd way and place. Yashim is brought in to solve the mystery of their absence and this murder. Almost simultaneously, the Sultan’s mother loses her prized jewelry given by Napoleon’s wife and a young, virgin in the Harem is killed just before her first night with the Sultan. Yashim is sent for by the royal mother and tasked with solving these crimes, also.

Because we don’t know all of his past, it seems that Yashim has far too easy access to the Sultan’s household, officials, and even the Sultan himself. But, that ability to come and go and follow his investigation is crucial to the unraveling of a multi-layered plot that ties together all of these crimes. It is definitely a superior mystery novel and one that gives you a brief glimpse into another place and time. Four and one-half stars (4.0).

[C.W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In THE JANISSARY TREE, Jason Goodwin introduces us to a fascinating character: Detective Yasmin, a man whose keen observations of the world around him bring to life the tumultuous era of 19th century Istanbul. Yasmin is a eunuch, but not without his own appetites; favored by the palace, he is called upon by the Sultan, who is on the cusp of introducing sweeping changes even as he dwells in an archaic system of officials, harem girls, indolence and stifling etiquette. But when the bodies of four missing recruits begin to appear, each murdered in specific and horrific ways, a puzzling pattern emerges - one that pits Yasmin against a terrible, allegedly vanquished force.

The mystery is as interesting as it is complex, and Mr. Goodwin populates his fast-moving tale with a host of varied characters, including an alcoholic Polish ambassador, the sultan's sage and seductive mother, an enigmatic Russian noblewoman, and a transgender dancer. But it is the city of Istanbul that lies at the soul of his story - labyrinthine and teetering on the cusp between past and present, Goodwin depicts an irresistible portrait of spires and bathhouses and cafes, corroded by pernicious modernity and tarnished by age, infused with tradition and exoticism, and the violence of its multifaceted history. The city is as much a character in his tale as Yasmin himself, who finds himself trapped in his own way between reverence for what has been lost and the swift progression toward an uncertain and dangerous future.

Eloquent and detailed, written in elegant prose, THE JANISSARY TREE is a must-read for mystery lovers seeking something different in an overcrowded and often predictable market.

[hedgehog · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked this up because I read a blurb on NPR about the cookbook. I like food, I like mysteries, I like history... I also like good writing. This book has the first three, and also 50% of the last. It has writing.

It has a lot of writing. I suspect that Jason Goodwin wrote technical manuals in his previous career.

This is one of those books where the author feels the need to put down every piece of research they did for the book directly into the book. Apparently many details aren't accurate, which made the endless history lectures feel even more pointless. The chapters are mostly single scenes, short enough to give one whiplash, and the importance of which is not immediately clear for another 10 chapters. At which point, good luck remembering any of the details. Or the characters. (Yashim is a nonentity who Does Actions; I can't describe his personality at all. He has none.) The chapter where I completely lost my shit was 5 paragraphs and was literally a description of a messy room and a man snoring. THAT WAS IT. THAT WAS THE ENTIRE THING. WHY? IS THIS GUY GETTING PAID BY THE WORD?!

The cooking part: look, I love food descriptions of all kinds, I read recipes for pleasure, but there was no reason the narrative had to list the ingredients and then go through each cooking step individually. It wasn't important to the larger plot and rarely to the scene where it happened. But then, the entire book was written this way: encyclopedic, grinding detail that tried to pretend everything was important, thus ensuring that I absorbed nothing.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This historical murder mystery reminds me of Caleb Carr's writing except Goodwin doesn't have Carr's flair for suspense nor can he generate the excitement or horror that Carr achieves in books like "The Alienist". In short, Goodwin isn't a GREAT murder/mystery writer, but he is a GOOD mystery writer and what he does achieve here is an ability to transport the reader back to Istanbul in the 1830's. I had read Goodwin's history book of the Ottoman Empire, "Lord's of the Horizon" and what is remarkable about "The Janissary Tree" is how much history and culture he is able to subtley pack-in to this novel. Just like Carr's descriptions of 1890's New York, Goodwin lets you feel what it is like to live and breathe in the beginning-of-the-end of the Ottoman Empire's capital. It makes this book well worth reading as an entertaining way of learning history. Also, he gets the award for the most original detective by having a well educated eunich with ties to the Tokapi Palace as his crime solver. Fun book.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be beautifully atmospheric ("Beyond it [the workday Second Court] lay the sacred precincts of the Third Court, where one enormous family led an existence made precious by the presence of the sultan, the shah-in-shah, God's very representative on Earth") and the cast wildly inventive (Yashim the eunuch can certainly entertain a lonely wife for an entire night but I'm not sure about kislar Agha, the Chief Black Eunuch or about the koceks, who are boy dancers but about the Marquise de Merteuil I can say for sure that's the name Yashim gives the Queen Mother in his dreams.) I felt the plot didn't need to be so complicated for this introduction to a series, and because it was, the novel deserved a less confusing denouement. The author does include Agatha Christie in his acknowledgements, however, and the author does stay close to (perhaps within) The Golden Age of Mysteries (between the 2 World Wars) thus focusing heavily on atmosphere and people. With a better plot, Goodwin might approach one of Dame Christie's masterpieces, "Murder on the Orient Express", a novel brilliant in atmosphere and characters AND plot. I'll definitely read more in this series.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant and absolutely amazing

[Isil Arican · Rating 4 out of 5]

A close friend recommended this book, and it did not disappoint. :)

It was a fun read - a detective story taking place in the late periods of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. The main character is almost an Ottoman Sherlock Holmes, a charismatic eunuch called Yashim with a colorful personality. Yashim investigates multiple murders to connect them to a common motive and solves the mystery.

It is fun to read and engaging. The author did a thorough research regarding Istanbul and some Turkish customs and cooking which makes the book even more fun to read. Yashim loves to cook, and as a native Turk, I did appreciate the author taking time to describe some very traditional Turkish food recipes as Yashim cooks them.

I plan to read the other books in the series since it was such an entertaining read.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

So-so mystery set in 19th century Istanbul. The hero was unusual, a eunuch, probably had the operation after puberty; there is a somewhat risible sex scene; also he passes for a regular man during his investigations. There are three "military mysteries"--deaths of soldiers and one of an odalisque in the sultan's harem. Could it be the Janissaries are behind the deaths? Strong point in mystery's favor is the exotic atmosphere. Story was confusing and long-winded. I do not see how it got the award it did.

[Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I was interested in the details of 19th century Istanbul, as it was faced with European influences and change. I'm a fan of detective novels only if I get a good dose of charactr and culture (as in James Lee Burke and Tony Hillerman), but this one felt wooden and contrived to me...as if the author was more interested in the political and cultural history than the characters.

[Lilisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable historical mystery replete with the splendor and political intrigue of 19th century Istanbul. I enjoyed the characters, especially Yashim of course, and the historical information and context. I’m always in awe of writers setting their stories in historical times - the research and the fine details required to create the background and atmosphere must be intense. Hats off to the author for the amazing descriptions and backdrop against which this mystery unfolds.

[Katie Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather inauspicious start to my new project of reading the Edgar Award list.

I was nervous before I started, as soon as I read the author bio on the first page. "Jason Goodwin fell under the spell of Istanbul while studying Byzantine history at Cambridge University," it begins. (Oh dear. Cambridge-educated Whitey McWhiteBread? "Fell under the spell"? I fear we are heading for Exotic Orientalist-Town.) It continues, "Following the success of his book A Time for Tea: Travels Through China and India in Search of Tea, he made a six-month pilgrimage across Eastern Europe to reach Istanbul for the first time, a journey recounted in On Foot to the Golden Horn: A Walk to Istanbul." I see. A "pilgrimage". A six-month journey on foot. What century is it again? How preciously anachronistically Orientalist can we get?

But I decided I'd give Goodwin a shot. Maybe he'd really done his research, and spent a lot of time in Istanbul, and consulted a lot of locals. And after all, it won an Edgar Award, right? The mystery must be great.

Sadly, my initial skepticism was well-deserved. The mystery is shallow, has no red herrings to speak of, and is eminently guessable very early on (given that Goodwin only provides us with a minute handful of suspects). Nor does Goodwin do fabulous character work; Yashim never becomes more than two-dimensional, his personality traits (of which he has the grand total of two: he is a eunuch, and he cooks) are perfunctory and underdeveloped. Periodically Yashim indulges in Angst about being a eunuch, but that Angst is never actually given enough scope to be interesting (and is inaccurate; see below). Ten of Goodwin's minuscule chapters have gone by? Time for more vague Eunuch Angst. (There are one hundred thirty-two chapters in all.)

Instead of writing a good mystery or intriguing characterization, Goodwin focuses on the history and ambiance of Istanbul itself. And hey, if he had done this well I would've forgiven him much! But there are simply so many mistakes, many of them quite basic. Other reviews have pointed them out in great detail, so I'll abstain from reinventing the wheel here. But really, when you hang your hat on being an Expert and shoehorn reams of "history" and "culture" into the book at the expense of plot and characterization, it had better be correct history and culture. Instead it was a mishmash of inaccuracies and exoticification.

Finally, the random heterosexual subplot that got shoved in was downright cringeworthy. First Goodwin goes on and on in Yashim's Eunuch Angst implying that he can't have sex (which is inaccurate - Yashim is only missing his balls and can have sex). There is Much Angst about this. But then Yashim meets the most beautiful woman in the universe, who is inexplicably so hot for him that she is ravenous to have him as a lover, despite the danger they'd both be in if they were found out (she's married to a Very Important Diplomat). So Yashim gets devirginified, randomly, in the middle of trying to keep an empire from disintegrating, avert a palace coup, and protect his friends (and himself) from being murdered. Just an all-night detour in a life-or-death quest. He never really thinks about it again, either. I almost tossed the book at that point, to be honest (having already figured out the flimsy mystery). It just came out of nowhere, was so unnecessary, didn't get any follow-up, and seemed to exist solely to go 1) Yashim No Homo, 2) Yashim Can Have Sex Yay (Forget That I Inaccurately Implied He Couldn't), and 3) Most Beautiful Woman in the World Sexes My Protagonist, Yup Yup Yup.

Look. I would love a mystery set in 1830s Istanbul that a) was a good mystery, b) had well-developed and interesting characters, c) didn't get a crapton of things wrong, and d) wasn't Orientalist and exoticifying as all get out. But that is not this book. (Perhaps an actual Turkish writer might stand a better chance than a foreign dabbler? Just sayin'.) I'm frankly very surprised it won an Edgar. I would not read more in this series.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate that this is well written and is full of interesting information about life in early 19th century Istanbul. I was struggling to engage with the story and with the main character though so I decided to apply the 100 page rule (persevere for 100 pages less my age). Often this gets me past a slow beginning but, in this case, I just wasn't enjoying myself so I gave up. I donated it to the bookcase in the holiday cottage we're staying in and chose one left behind by someone else. Onward! Life is too short not to enjoy reading.

[Jaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent historical mystery, but it was lacking in some areas for me. I loved the colorful backdrop that the setting held, but I wish Goodwin would have given more information about the Harem murder. He focused so much on the military murders and running around after Janissaries that he almost forgot to connect the end resolution to the original murder. But, I did like the characters and he gave me a good enough taste of the setting that I'll definitely check out another in the series.

[Javier Calle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenido. Trama policial muy bien ambientada, pero algo falta de fuerza por momentos.

[Andree · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I read this over the course of the past few months, a little bit at a time, and with a large break in the middle. I'm not sure what that says about this book, really. I was interested enough to finish it, but never really gripped by it.

It's a mystery set in mid-19th Century Istanbul. I did think the setting of the book is well done. I can't speak to its accuracy, but I've read and enoyed many a historical mystery where historical accuracy wasn't perfect, and enjoyed them, so I'm not going to judge too harshly. Because the setting at least felt well thougth-out.

I'm less convinced about the characters. The detective is Yashim, who is a eunuch, and so not your typical detective. But he also always felt rather remote. I got to the end, and didn't really feel like I knew him any better than at the beginning (not ideal when you spend an entire book in his head). In fact, very few of the characters felt fully fleshed out. The Polish Ambassador and the valide sultan were exceptions.

Also, the mystery itself was very tied into larger political forces within an Ottoman empire struggling between modernization and traditions. Interesting in theory, but I'm generally less interested in larger political machinations, and the specific characters weren't really interesting enough to make me interested.

In the end, this is an interesting book. Worth reading, I think, because it's not your traditional mystery novel, and it's a bit of a novel setting, but not without it's flaws. I enjoyed it in the end, and I did read half of it while in a major reading slump (so that's saying something), but I'm not invested enough to read the next one.

[T. K. Elliott (Tiffany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book got off to a slow start, but it did pick up. It's carried by Yashim - the main character - and his Polish friend. The mystery is somewhat less prominent, and there are a few plot inconsistencies - like the sudden lack of interest in where the four soldiers were. And so on. Other reviewers have also pointed out many historical inaccuracies - which, since I know very little about nineteenth century Istanbul, I missed.

But despite all that, I'm giving it four stars because I enjoyed reading it. Which is sort of the point. :-)

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A densely plotted, character-rich start to a historical mystery series set in the Ottoman Empire of 1836. Goodwin has an interesting protagonist in the eunuch Yashim and puts him into some perilous situations, including being almost parboiled in a Turkish bath. Great atmosphere, international intrigue and lavish historical detail…I’ll be interested to see how this series develops.