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Kayankaya #2
Mehr Bier
Vier Mitglieder der "Ökologischen Front" sind wegen Mordes an dem Vorstandsvorsitzenden der "Rheinmainfarben-Werke" angeklagt. Zwar geben die vier zu, in der fraglichen Nacht einen Sprengstoffanschlag verübt zu haben, bestreiten aber jede Verbindung mit dem Mord. Nach Zeugenaussagen waren an dem Anschlag fünf Personen beteiligt. Privatdetektiv Kemal Kayankaya soll den verschwundenen fünften Mann finden.
171 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
7 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Jakob Arjouni
32 books35 followersJakob Arjouni (alias of Jakob Bothe) published his first novel Happy Birthday, Türke! (1985) at the age of 20.Later he wrote his first play Die Garagen. He became famous after publishing his criminal novel Kayankaya, which was then translated into 10 different languages.
In 1987, he received the Baden-Württembergischen Autorenpreis für das deutschsprachige Jugendtheater for his play Nazim schiebt ab. In 1992, he received the German Crime Fiction Prize for One Man, One Murder. He died, aged 48, in Berlin, after a long fight against pancreatic cancer.
In 1987, he received the Baden-Württembergischen Autorenpreis für das deutschsprachige Jugendtheater for his play Nazim schiebt ab. In 1992, he received the German Crime Fiction Prize for One Man, One Murder. He died, aged 48, in Berlin, after a long fight against pancreatic cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 17, 2022
A private eye in Germany (Kemal Kayankaya) is hired to help defend four eco-terrorists who are charged with murdering a chemical plant owner...but maybe that is just a way to cover up a much deeper crime. Because Kemal was born in Turkey he must try to 'squeeze' through doors that everyone wants to keep shut. Great detective fiction.
October 25, 2011
Private detective Kemal Kayankaya can’t help sticking his nose where things stink. In Jakob Arjouni’s tough and nonstop crime noir tale from 1987, four so-called eco-terrorists in West Germany are accused of murdering the head of a Frankfurt chemical company whose products should, in a just world, get it accused of crimes of its own.
The four suspects had sabotaged the company’s chemical plant, but they deny murdering anyone. A fifth man was seen at the crime, yet no one in authority seems willing to find him. In a tight spot, the defendants’ lawyer hires Kayankaya to track down the missing fifth suspect.
If private detectives are outsiders in fiction, Kayankaya is doubly so. Born in Turkey but raised in West Germany, Kayankaya gets hit with ignorance, cruel insults and outright assault as he chips away at the case no one wants. In the 1960s, West Germany had invited Turks to come help the country rebuild and flourish, but now it doesn’t want to know about Turks in its midst. It even seems to resent them for it. If this was set in America, it would be (in a simplistic analogy) as if our hardboiled detective was black or Mexican and operating in a far less tolerant era.
Kayankaya can take the slurs and blows after a lifetime of both. He fires back with a sharp wit, yet it’s not only the dialogue that keeps us following our Turk PI. We aren’t told a lot about him so we learn a lot through how he acts and reacts. He’ll shout and insult back and go to the fist if need be; he’ll wear it on his sleeve but he’ll leave it on yours. To those with wealth, reputation and career to protect even when it’s a stranglehold, Kayankaya appears to be a lazy, uncaring problem child — and a dire threat. Yet he’s the only one who cares, in his way, and he’s willing to keep after the truth.
In this translation from Anselm Hollo, few words do a ton of work. This isn’t literary fiction disguised as crime noir. In one passage, Kayankaya fails to address a suspect named Schmidi as “Mister.”
Schmidi shoots back: “Mr. Schmidi. I don’t call you rat-Turk.”
Kayankaya: “So that’s what you want to get off your chest all this time?”
“You better leave while the going is good.”
“Yes, I might just give in to the urge to beat the name of that fifth guy out of you.”
Some of it may come through as clunky in translation, but it always moves the story along.
The eco-terrorism threat is a ruse used by the forces of complacency and corruption, Kayankaya learns. A sad and thorny love scandal holds the real crime. There are shades of Chinatown here, though without the imposing Noah Cross figure. The staid Establishment in the West German state of Hessia fills that role, arrogant and entitled and getting a little jumpy.
One passage hits at the futility of the little guy versus ruthless power — Kayankaya’s small-time dealer sidekick, Slibulsky, comments on the real possibility of getting killed for their efforts:
“And who would give a f*ck? Some little dealer from the railroad station, and a Turkish snooper. That doesn’t even rate a mention on the morning news. They’d just plow us under in a hurry. So you risk your life for something you believe is justice, and end up in the compost heap. What’s justice, anyway? It doesn’t exist, not today, not tomorrow. And you won’t bring it about, either. You’re doing the same scheiss-work as any cop ... you won’t change a thing about the fact that it’s always the same guys who do something, who get caught — not a thing, because the rules are set up that way.”
Supporting characters like Slibulsky and the grim Frankfurt settings are superbly drawn, and they deliver details that surprise. Who knew that arsenic was capable of improving one’s beauty in the right doses, even as it’s causing death?
I had few complaints. We know little about Kayankaya other than that he was born a Turk but raised by German parents. I wanted to know why and how he’s fallen so low. Usually I don’t need such background in a hardboiled tale, but Kayankaya’s unique background left me wanting to know. Also, the journalist Carla Reedermann seems underdeveloped, disappearing for much of the story.
Kayankaya doesn’t need her help in the end. He makes enough waves on his own, whether it’s in a sea of foul muck or too many liters of beer.
A longer version of this review ran originally in the blog Noir Journal.
The four suspects had sabotaged the company’s chemical plant, but they deny murdering anyone. A fifth man was seen at the crime, yet no one in authority seems willing to find him. In a tight spot, the defendants’ lawyer hires Kayankaya to track down the missing fifth suspect.
If private detectives are outsiders in fiction, Kayankaya is doubly so. Born in Turkey but raised in West Germany, Kayankaya gets hit with ignorance, cruel insults and outright assault as he chips away at the case no one wants. In the 1960s, West Germany had invited Turks to come help the country rebuild and flourish, but now it doesn’t want to know about Turks in its midst. It even seems to resent them for it. If this was set in America, it would be (in a simplistic analogy) as if our hardboiled detective was black or Mexican and operating in a far less tolerant era.
Kayankaya can take the slurs and blows after a lifetime of both. He fires back with a sharp wit, yet it’s not only the dialogue that keeps us following our Turk PI. We aren’t told a lot about him so we learn a lot through how he acts and reacts. He’ll shout and insult back and go to the fist if need be; he’ll wear it on his sleeve but he’ll leave it on yours. To those with wealth, reputation and career to protect even when it’s a stranglehold, Kayankaya appears to be a lazy, uncaring problem child — and a dire threat. Yet he’s the only one who cares, in his way, and he’s willing to keep after the truth.
In this translation from Anselm Hollo, few words do a ton of work. This isn’t literary fiction disguised as crime noir. In one passage, Kayankaya fails to address a suspect named Schmidi as “Mister.”
Schmidi shoots back: “Mr. Schmidi. I don’t call you rat-Turk.”
Kayankaya: “So that’s what you want to get off your chest all this time?”
“You better leave while the going is good.”
“Yes, I might just give in to the urge to beat the name of that fifth guy out of you.”
Some of it may come through as clunky in translation, but it always moves the story along.
The eco-terrorism threat is a ruse used by the forces of complacency and corruption, Kayankaya learns. A sad and thorny love scandal holds the real crime. There are shades of Chinatown here, though without the imposing Noah Cross figure. The staid Establishment in the West German state of Hessia fills that role, arrogant and entitled and getting a little jumpy.
One passage hits at the futility of the little guy versus ruthless power — Kayankaya’s small-time dealer sidekick, Slibulsky, comments on the real possibility of getting killed for their efforts:
“And who would give a f*ck? Some little dealer from the railroad station, and a Turkish snooper. That doesn’t even rate a mention on the morning news. They’d just plow us under in a hurry. So you risk your life for something you believe is justice, and end up in the compost heap. What’s justice, anyway? It doesn’t exist, not today, not tomorrow. And you won’t bring it about, either. You’re doing the same scheiss-work as any cop ... you won’t change a thing about the fact that it’s always the same guys who do something, who get caught — not a thing, because the rules are set up that way.”
Supporting characters like Slibulsky and the grim Frankfurt settings are superbly drawn, and they deliver details that surprise. Who knew that arsenic was capable of improving one’s beauty in the right doses, even as it’s causing death?
I had few complaints. We know little about Kayankaya other than that he was born a Turk but raised by German parents. I wanted to know why and how he’s fallen so low. Usually I don’t need such background in a hardboiled tale, but Kayankaya’s unique background left me wanting to know. Also, the journalist Carla Reedermann seems underdeveloped, disappearing for much of the story.
Kayankaya doesn’t need her help in the end. He makes enough waves on his own, whether it’s in a sea of foul muck or too many liters of beer.
A longer version of this review ran originally in the blog Noir Journal.
June 20, 2018
Set in 1986 Frankfurt. Kemal Kayankaya is a Turkish-born German PI in that classic Marlowe/Rockford mould. He gets beat up a lot, he rarely gets paid, he gets in a lot of zingers. Even thought the plot sometimes goes amorphous, and the translation is not seamless, this is very enjoyable.
March 3, 2013
Herrlich dreckiger Detektiv-Roman, ganz im Stil der alten Helden. Auf allen Ebenen völlig überzogen und unrealistisch, wunderbar schnelle Unterhaltungs-Lektüre.
November 27, 2022
zweites buch fürs seminar und ich bin wirklich großer fan der stimmung/atmosphäre und mag kayankaya als charakter gerne aber dieser fall war iwie all over the place und es gab zu viele verschiedene namen deswegen teilweise irritierend
November 7, 2011
a genius work of genius translated by a genius translator of genius. Just read it you jerk!
July 10, 2019
Much better than any television detective story could ever be is a novel by Jakob Arjouni. He was a brilliant author!
April 9, 2024
Dark brooding 80s noir ..Kayankaya continues to investigate using his own inimitable style ….this time involving environmental activists and corruption in high places
July 23, 2025
little Krimi to take the edge off
June 13, 2013
Noch´n Bier
Im Jahre des Herrn 1986 sprengen Umweltaktivisten das Abflussrohr einer kleinen Chemiefabrik in die Luft. Vier der Täter sind schnell gefasst. Sie werden auch des Mordes an dem Fabrikbesitzer angeklagt, der kurz nach der Explosion erschossen aufgefunden wird. Vehement bestreiten die jungen Leute diese Tat. Und hier kommt Kayankaya ins Spiel. Der Anwalt der Umweltschützer beauftragt ihn, den fünften Mann zu suchen.
Und dann beginnt der Leser über das deutsche Rechtssystem zu staunen. Kayankaya verbeißt sich in den Fall wie die Ratte in seinen Arm. Er lässt nichts unversucht, um die Hintergründe zu entschlüsseln, die zum Teil weit in der Vergangenheit liegen. Und nur weil eine Kleinigkeit nicht passt.
Nur 170 Seiten hat dieses Büchlein aus dem Jahr 1987 und doch birgt es eine nicht geringe Brisanz. Damals als es anfing mit dem Umweltschutz und als noch lange nicht so viele dafür waren wie heute. Was damals allerdings auch nicht anders war, dass viele auf den eigenen Vorteil bedacht waren und zur Erlangung ihrer Ziele auch mal über Leichen gehen. Da hat Kayankaya noch Glück, dass seinem Autor nicht die Ideen ausgingen, für die er seinen Helden noch brauchte. Ein harter Krimi in und um Frankfurt angesiedelt, der den Leser außerordentlich bedauern lässt, dass es keine Neuigkeiten von Kayankaya mehr geben wird.
Im Jahre des Herrn 1986 sprengen Umweltaktivisten das Abflussrohr einer kleinen Chemiefabrik in die Luft. Vier der Täter sind schnell gefasst. Sie werden auch des Mordes an dem Fabrikbesitzer angeklagt, der kurz nach der Explosion erschossen aufgefunden wird. Vehement bestreiten die jungen Leute diese Tat. Und hier kommt Kayankaya ins Spiel. Der Anwalt der Umweltschützer beauftragt ihn, den fünften Mann zu suchen.
Und dann beginnt der Leser über das deutsche Rechtssystem zu staunen. Kayankaya verbeißt sich in den Fall wie die Ratte in seinen Arm. Er lässt nichts unversucht, um die Hintergründe zu entschlüsseln, die zum Teil weit in der Vergangenheit liegen. Und nur weil eine Kleinigkeit nicht passt.
Nur 170 Seiten hat dieses Büchlein aus dem Jahr 1987 und doch birgt es eine nicht geringe Brisanz. Damals als es anfing mit dem Umweltschutz und als noch lange nicht so viele dafür waren wie heute. Was damals allerdings auch nicht anders war, dass viele auf den eigenen Vorteil bedacht waren und zur Erlangung ihrer Ziele auch mal über Leichen gehen. Da hat Kayankaya noch Glück, dass seinem Autor nicht die Ideen ausgingen, für die er seinen Helden noch brauchte. Ein harter Krimi in und um Frankfurt angesiedelt, der den Leser außerordentlich bedauern lässt, dass es keine Neuigkeiten von Kayankaya mehr geben wird.
April 30, 2020
The Kayankaya books have the feel of old-school, hard-boiled detective noir, like Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett, complete with the misogyny. Oh, that misogyny! The depiction of women in this book is dreadful. While I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first, Happy Birthday Turk, it was still an interesting mystery. I don’t know that I’d call it a thriller, but that may have more to do with the translation than the original text. There were a number of typos, which I found distracting. Overall, it’s a decent story, but the ending was thoroughly dissatisfying. I’m sure I’ll finish the series (I own them), but I do think it will be a little while before I grab the next one, because ugh.
January 3, 2012
A new mystery series!(To me, anyway... it was written in the '80s.) A Turkish private eye in Germany solves the murder of the owner of a chemical plant. This book would have left wing politics if it wasn't so deeply disgusted with life. (It reminds me of Hammett, in that and many other ways.) But the main character comes by his alienation as honestly and thoroughly as any private eye I can remember. Holey plot, lots of drinking, violence, self-loathing. Short -- it took about two hours from cover to cover. Originally in German.
June 7, 2015
Having totally forgotten that I read the first in the series several years ago and was unimpressed, I believed the hype about Arjouni in a recent article. I continue to be underwhelmed. My main problem is that I do not like the detective. He seems to have no emotional connections, no family, no friends, not even any ex-wives. His strongest attachment is to Scotch, though he is not picky when it comes to alcohol. On the plus side, he does have a strong sense of justice and perseverance. Just not my cup of schnapps.
August 25, 2012
Another in an enjoyable series. The plot was better in this book than some of his others - very Raymond Chandler like in the plot twists and the way the characters fit into the story.
April 28, 2017
I probably would have liked this one better if I read the first one first. Had to read it for a reading challenge in one of my groups.
December 9, 2025
Bin mir nicht sicher, ob ich es mehr oder weniger mag als Band 1, glaube aber insgesamt weniger. Der Fall ist größer. Der Sexismus ist etwas weniger geworden, leider aber auch die wunderschön expressionistischen Landschaftsbeschreibung, die mir den ersten Teil so versüßt haben. Generell auch weniger Mundart. Immer noch viel Gesellschaftskritik aber diesmal wenden wir uns einer höheren Schicht zu.
Der Charakter Ninas ist großartig, ich bin ein großer Fan, auch wenn ich nicht weiß, wie ich zu der ganzen Arsen-Sache stehe.
Ähnlich geht es mir auch mit Kayankayas Misserfolg und dem semi-offenen Ende. Es ist realistischer, gerade im Anbetracht seiner teilweise doch sehr überstürzten, kopflosen Aktionen, aber ich lese Bücher eben nicht nur für den Realismus sondern auch für den Spaß dabei. Und das war schon irgendwie nicht sehr zufriedenstellend...
Tatsächlich scheint auch Kayankayas Alkoholproblem schlimmer zu werden, sodass ich mir langsam gar nicht mehr 100% sicher bin, ob das wirklich nur eine Spiegelung seiner Zeit/des Genres/der Erfahrungen seines Autors ist, oder ob es intendiert ist und noch zu einem Recovery Arc ausgebaut wird in den Folgebänden. Das erste Fundament dafür wäre mit diesem Band auf jeden Fall schonmal gelegt.
Zu guter Letzt ist das Commentary von Links gegen Links gerade in älterer Form auch ziemlich interessant, wenn nicht gar lehrreich zu lesen.
Bin gespannt, wie es weiter geht! :) Habe es aber nicht mehr ganz so eilig damit wir nach Band 1 und halte mich nun lieber wieder an Cassia und der Abenteurer.
Der Charakter Ninas ist großartig, ich bin ein großer Fan, auch wenn ich nicht weiß, wie ich zu der ganzen Arsen-Sache stehe.
Ähnlich geht es mir auch mit Kayankayas Misserfolg und dem semi-offenen Ende. Es ist realistischer, gerade im Anbetracht seiner teilweise doch sehr überstürzten, kopflosen Aktionen, aber ich lese Bücher eben nicht nur für den Realismus sondern auch für den Spaß dabei. Und das war schon irgendwie nicht sehr zufriedenstellend...
Tatsächlich scheint auch Kayankayas Alkoholproblem schlimmer zu werden, sodass ich mir langsam gar nicht mehr 100% sicher bin, ob das wirklich nur eine Spiegelung seiner Zeit/des Genres/der Erfahrungen seines Autors ist, oder ob es intendiert ist und noch zu einem Recovery Arc ausgebaut wird in den Folgebänden. Das erste Fundament dafür wäre mit diesem Band auf jeden Fall schonmal gelegt.
Zu guter Letzt ist das Commentary von Links gegen Links gerade in älterer Form auch ziemlich interessant, wenn nicht gar lehrreich zu lesen.
Bin gespannt, wie es weiter geht! :) Habe es aber nicht mehr ganz so eilig damit wir nach Band 1 und halte mich nun lieber wieder an Cassia und der Abenteurer.
November 30, 2025
„Mehr Bier“ knüpft schön an Gefühl und Ton von „Happy Birthday, Türke!“ an – Alokohlkonsum, zwielichtige Gestalten, Milieu, schnoddriger Humor, Kayankaya als zynischer, aber im Kern moralischer Typ, das funktioniert weiterhin.
Was für mich diesmal aber nicht aufgeht: Arjouni setzt deutlich stärker auf Action und Plot als auf Figuren. Die Nebenfiguren bleiben blass, und auch Kayankaya wirkt weniger lebendig als im ersten Teil. Dadurch verlieren die gesellschaftlichen Untertöne an Stärke, es fühlt sich eher wie ein „normaler“ Krimi an. Sprachlich bleibt das Buch gut lesbar und schnell wegzuschmökern, aber im Vergleich zum ersten Band für mich klar schwächer.
Was für mich diesmal aber nicht aufgeht: Arjouni setzt deutlich stärker auf Action und Plot als auf Figuren. Die Nebenfiguren bleiben blass, und auch Kayankaya wirkt weniger lebendig als im ersten Teil. Dadurch verlieren die gesellschaftlichen Untertöne an Stärke, es fühlt sich eher wie ein „normaler“ Krimi an. Sprachlich bleibt das Buch gut lesbar und schnell wegzuschmökern, aber im Vergleich zum ersten Band für mich klar schwächer.
February 1, 2023
Ich bin etwas unschlüssig, was ich von dem Krimi halten soll. Einerseits ist der Krimi Ende der Achtziger Jahre geschrieben worden und ist an manchen Stellen etwas schwierig. So kommen unter anderem an zwei Stellen das N-Wort vor. Andererseits behandelt das Buch auch Thema die noch heutzutage große Relevanz haben (Alltagsrassismus, Polizeigewalt, sogar die Kriminalisierung der Umweltbewegung).
November 27, 2017
got to root for Mr. Kayankaya... the man just wants to do his job even if the cards are all stacked against him.
April 17, 2020
Mehr Bier is a solid procedural that kept me turning pages.
June 13, 2016
Review of Melville House's new crime imprint and the Kayankaya series in particular (including Happy Birthday, Turk!, One Man, One Murder, More Beer, and Kismet) published in The L Magazine. See review (here: http://goo.gl/qJ5RD) or full text below.
***
“Crime=Culture.” So says Dumbo publisher Melville House about their new imprint, Melville International Crime. MIC represents the publisher’s latest venture to expand their existing catalog of fiction in translation, but although Melville House has introduced innovative series before, cultivating a line of international crime novels is not a particularly new idea. Gowanus-based Akashic Books launched its city-specific Noir series in 2004, and Soho Crime was dedicated to armchair travel and murder long before the Stieg Larsson boom. However, it is interesting to see a boutique press like Melville turn its attention to genre fiction.
Among the first books published by MIC are the “Kanyankaya Thrillers” by German author Jakob Arjouni. His private eye Kemal Kanyankaya is a character straight out of Hammet and a quintessential outsider-investigator: an ethnic Turk raised by adoptive German parents, he has always lived between two worlds in his hometown of Frankfurt, never entirely comfortable in either.
Happy Birthday, Turk! (easily the best in the series) finds the down-and-out Kanyankaya hired by a Turkish woman to track down the killer of her husband, a laborer whose death isn’t a high priority for local police. More Beer takes the suspicious conviction of four “eco-terrorists”in a bombing and murder as its premise; in One Man, One Murder, a German man hires the PI to find his girlfriend, a Thai prostitute who was kidnapped while trying to collect forged visa papers. Kismet, the most recent installment, finds Kanyankaya facing off with a violent Croatian gang. All unfold in a matter of days and are laced with Kanyankaya’s engagingly laconic sarcasm. There’s also a frank brutality which affirms the high stakes of each case and the lengths that Kanyankaya will go to get his man: he’s drugged, attacked by rats, suffers joint dislocations, is locked in a room full of tear gas, and is roundly beaten on numerous occasions.
Individually, however, the series is spotty. In both More Beer and One Man, One Murder, the intrigues become so entangled that it’s hard to care when Kanyankaya reveals whodunit—after making several key discoveries to which the reader is not privy. The detective’s understandable bitterness at being treated as an interloper or a fetish object feels increasingly belabored as he subjects every potential client to the same litmus test: “You must have checked the Yellow Pages. But why Kanyankaya, why not Müller?”And while he continues to investigate several cases after being fired and gives an impassioned speech about disenfranchised immigrants in Germany, he’s by no means an idealist. Treating housewives, prostitutes, buddies, and corrupt officials with equal disdain, it’s hard to believe that he ever cares much about the people involved in his investigations—he just wants the satisfaction of winning.
With this new imprint, Melville is capitalizing on their strengths in ways which stand to benefit both their current and potential audiences. Crime fiction fans are generally completists who want to read all of a favorite detective’s cases—even the rocky ones. And Melville has a knack for series—they’ve resurrected the novella as a viable (and marketable) form with their brilliant “Art of the Novella” line, establishing their press as a quality arbiter of taste while also engendering something like brand loyalty.
By expanding into international crime fiction, Melville stands to create a similar loyalty among new readers. Any even marginally good crime novel serves as a shorthand introduction to the social concerns, epochal tensions, and defining fears of its culture, the way the Kanyankaya thrillers address Germany’s struggle with immigration, cultural inclusion, and nationalism. Crime is culture, made accessible.
***
“Crime=Culture.” So says Dumbo publisher Melville House about their new imprint, Melville International Crime. MIC represents the publisher’s latest venture to expand their existing catalog of fiction in translation, but although Melville House has introduced innovative series before, cultivating a line of international crime novels is not a particularly new idea. Gowanus-based Akashic Books launched its city-specific Noir series in 2004, and Soho Crime was dedicated to armchair travel and murder long before the Stieg Larsson boom. However, it is interesting to see a boutique press like Melville turn its attention to genre fiction.
Among the first books published by MIC are the “Kanyankaya Thrillers” by German author Jakob Arjouni. His private eye Kemal Kanyankaya is a character straight out of Hammet and a quintessential outsider-investigator: an ethnic Turk raised by adoptive German parents, he has always lived between two worlds in his hometown of Frankfurt, never entirely comfortable in either.
Happy Birthday, Turk! (easily the best in the series) finds the down-and-out Kanyankaya hired by a Turkish woman to track down the killer of her husband, a laborer whose death isn’t a high priority for local police. More Beer takes the suspicious conviction of four “eco-terrorists”in a bombing and murder as its premise; in One Man, One Murder, a German man hires the PI to find his girlfriend, a Thai prostitute who was kidnapped while trying to collect forged visa papers. Kismet, the most recent installment, finds Kanyankaya facing off with a violent Croatian gang. All unfold in a matter of days and are laced with Kanyankaya’s engagingly laconic sarcasm. There’s also a frank brutality which affirms the high stakes of each case and the lengths that Kanyankaya will go to get his man: he’s drugged, attacked by rats, suffers joint dislocations, is locked in a room full of tear gas, and is roundly beaten on numerous occasions.
Individually, however, the series is spotty. In both More Beer and One Man, One Murder, the intrigues become so entangled that it’s hard to care when Kanyankaya reveals whodunit—after making several key discoveries to which the reader is not privy. The detective’s understandable bitterness at being treated as an interloper or a fetish object feels increasingly belabored as he subjects every potential client to the same litmus test: “You must have checked the Yellow Pages. But why Kanyankaya, why not Müller?”And while he continues to investigate several cases after being fired and gives an impassioned speech about disenfranchised immigrants in Germany, he’s by no means an idealist. Treating housewives, prostitutes, buddies, and corrupt officials with equal disdain, it’s hard to believe that he ever cares much about the people involved in his investigations—he just wants the satisfaction of winning.
With this new imprint, Melville is capitalizing on their strengths in ways which stand to benefit both their current and potential audiences. Crime fiction fans are generally completists who want to read all of a favorite detective’s cases—even the rocky ones. And Melville has a knack for series—they’ve resurrected the novella as a viable (and marketable) form with their brilliant “Art of the Novella” line, establishing their press as a quality arbiter of taste while also engendering something like brand loyalty.
By expanding into international crime fiction, Melville stands to create a similar loyalty among new readers. Any even marginally good crime novel serves as a shorthand introduction to the social concerns, epochal tensions, and defining fears of its culture, the way the Kanyankaya thrillers address Germany’s struggle with immigration, cultural inclusion, and nationalism. Crime is culture, made accessible.
November 23, 2013
Four young people have been put on trial for the destruction of a sewage pipe at a chemical plant. The body of the owner was found a short way away from the pipe - shot to death. A couple camping near the polluted lake report that they saw a 5th person running from the scene after they had heard the shots and the explosion. The defense attorney isn't getting information that will help him in the defense because the 4 won't talk to him. So he hires a private investigator to find the 5th person.
Trouble is, this is Germany and the investigator is a Turkish German. Although he was adopted when he was 1 year old by a German couple and knows no other culture, he is constantly derided, ignored and literally beaten because of his Turkish looks. Obviously this hampers his investigation somewhat.
The premise is interesting and the difficulties of Turks in Germany is well presented. But I just couldn't get interested in the main character. He didn't seem REAL to me. I can't explain why.
He solves the case, but he doesn't have hard evidence so the crime remains officially unsolved. Well, the chief of police has the answer....
If for no other reason than to investigate the German prejudice against Turks, this book is worth the read.
Trouble is, this is Germany and the investigator is a Turkish German. Although he was adopted when he was 1 year old by a German couple and knows no other culture, he is constantly derided, ignored and literally beaten because of his Turkish looks. Obviously this hampers his investigation somewhat.
The premise is interesting and the difficulties of Turks in Germany is well presented. But I just couldn't get interested in the main character. He didn't seem REAL to me. I can't explain why.
He solves the case, but he doesn't have hard evidence so the crime remains officially unsolved. Well, the chief of police has the answer....
If for no other reason than to investigate the German prejudice against Turks, this book is worth the read.
March 7, 2023
Good fun and nicely gnarly. Undecided if its fleet-footed narrative is a strength, or made for a certain thinness.
January 28, 2014
PROTAGONIST: Kemal Kayankaya, PI
SETTING: Frankfurt, Germany
SERIES: #2 of 5
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Four eco-terrorists sabotage a chemical plant, and a man is murdered. PI Kemal Kayankaya suspects that there was a fifth man involved. Kayankaya is a Turk by birth, which leads to interesting interactions as he investigates. I liked the noir overtones of the book but felt that the conclusion fell apart a bit as Kayankaya faced beatings and more.
SETTING: Frankfurt, Germany
SERIES: #2 of 5
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Four eco-terrorists sabotage a chemical plant, and a man is murdered. PI Kemal Kayankaya suspects that there was a fifth man involved. Kayankaya is a Turk by birth, which leads to interesting interactions as he investigates. I liked the noir overtones of the book but felt that the conclusion fell apart a bit as Kayankaya faced beatings and more.
February 27, 2011
Detective seemed pretty familiar--in a Philip Marlow / Colombo / Humphrey Bogart kind of way. Writing was ok, story was ok, but I guess I wanted more from the character than his weaknesses. Yeah he likes booze and women--why? So what? Kind of an interesting premise, just left me wanting to know more, which I guess in a way is good. Might want to read more in the series.
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December 14, 2011I've made three attempts to read this book. Everything about it suggests it should appeal to me, but I can't seem to get into it. I even tried reading it in German in case the translation was just bad. No luck. I might give it one more try, but I'm not hopeful...
January 12, 2013
This edition is much better translated.
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