Dead of Night

Inspector Ikmen #14

by Barbara Nadel

Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman from Istanbul are sent to a policing conference in Detroit, but little can prepare them for the corruption that lies at its heart. When Ezekial Goins, an elderly man of Turkish descent approaches them to crack the long-unsolved murder of his son, a quiet trip takes a far more sinister turn. As they delve deeper into the case, the pair find themselves immersed in a terrifying world of inter-gang drug war and racial prejudice that puts them in mortal danger, and forces Ikmen to confront some demons of his own...

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction

309 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Barbara Nadel is an English crime-writer. Many of her books are set in Turkey. Born in the East End of London, Barbara Nadel trained as an actress before becoming a writer. Now writing full-time, she has previously worked as a public relations officer for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship's Good Companion Service and as a mental health advocate for the mentally disordered in a psychiatric hospital. She has also worked with sexually abused teenagers and taught psychology in schools and colleges, and is currently the patron of a charity that cares for those in emotional and mental distress. She has been a regular visitor to Turkey for more than twenty-five years.

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Inspector Ikmen mystery to enjoy. Again read out of sequence, but can still pick up what is or has not happened in the series.

Ikmen and his friend Inspector Suleyman from Istanbul are sent to a police conference in Detroit, the city that was once the car capitol of America, is now dead, and decaying. The conference is boring, and both men wish to return to Turkey. Into their lives comes a man, Ezekial Goins, telling them that he is a Melungeon, and is really Turkish, and thank god they have come, to help him find out who killed his son.

Suleyman returns to Turkey, while Ikemen stays in the USA, he and Suleyman had been shot at by the man Goins believes killed his son. Ikemen stays to help the police, but the plot continues to thicken, and who can he trust, when police get killed, burnt to death and beaten up? Someone is feeding information to the killer, from the police department, but who?

Good ending, pleasant read.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing - perhaps the setting of Detroit instead of Istanbul was the problem...

[Therese · Rating 1 out of 5]

It interesting, if not disconcerting to read of Detroit's many woes through the eyes of Barbara Nadel, an English-woman, and Inspector Cetin Ikmen, our favorite Turkish policeman. Nadel sets out the history and roots of the race problems that have plagued Detroit, certainly since poor African Americans went north to work in the car assembly plants of the Motor City. These problems already existed and were exacerbated by the influx of much needed man-power.
Inspectors Ikmet and Suleyman have traveled to Detroit to attend an international police conference that is focussing on the problems of crime in cities. It is the middle of a bitter winter, neither man is properly attired to withstand the howling winds and snow. Suleyman in particular is a fish out of water. He is not interested in the drug problems of Detroit's inner city. Ikmen, on the other hand, feels that if there are lessons to be learned here, he can suggest that they be applied back home in Istanbul.
On one of the off-site visits, the Turks encountered Ezekiel Goins, the grand-father of a boy murdered 30 years ago. Goins is a Melungeon, a term used to denote someone of mixed race. He believes that this was a motive in his grand-son's death, along with the fact that he was a small-time drug dealer, perhaps killed for encroaching on the territory of organized narcotics rings. Another young boy is killed, this time African American, and there is suspicion the two cases may be linked. Ezekiel Goins, who may have been of Turkish descent, believes that Inspector Ikmen is the only one who will take the time to solve the cold case of his grand-son's murder. After the investigating officer is murdered, the Detroit Chief of Police asks Inspector Ikmen to stay on and assist his team in solving this man's murder which may have happened to prevent him from learning the truth about what happened to the two boys, and who is behind all three murders.

[Rog Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the thirteenth book which I have read in this long running police procedural series (twenty four books so far) set in Istanbul. This is very different from the books which I have read so far as most of the story is set in Detroit USA, where Inspector Ikmen is attending a conference, although there is a small sub-plot involving other police officers in Istanbul. The story is not quite as quirky as usual though there are some bizarre characters. A decent read though not what I was expecting.

[Andrea Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting crossover from Istanbul to Detroit for Ikmen and Suleyman to attend a police conference where they meet a man who feels they will the source of renewed investigation for his long since murdered son.

[P K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed

I love ikmen books and the people around him including his family .i like the setting in Turkey and mainly in Istanbul. This book is based in Detroit and i do not want to learn more about crime in the US .

[Christine Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok but I prefer the plots set in Turkey and the exoticism that that brings to the story.

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow burner then the story develops to the climax - another intriguing story

[Sandra Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE the Ikmen series, but this one was a really tough read for me. it took me ages to actually get through and get into (did I ever actually get into it?).

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the series featuring the Turkish inspector Ikmem, who is in Detroit attending a policing conference with his colleague Suleyman. The two Turks become involved in the recent murder of a young negro boy, which is tied in some way to the murder many years ago, of Elvis Goins. Zeke Goins has never been happy that his young son's murder was never solved, even though it is clear that it was related to Elvis's drug gang. He believes that he is part of a long lost tribe of Turks who ended up in America after a shipwreck in the 16th century, and this piques Ikmen's interest. When he and Suleyman are shot at by the chief suspect in Elvis' murder, Grant T. Miller, this becomes the excuse that he needs to stay longer in Detroit to try to help Zeke find closure, to help the local police solve these murders, and also the murder of one of their local cops. The body count climbs as others are drawn into the narrative. A likeable group of characters, and in spite of the many plot developments, the style is quite plodding and workmanlike, and lacks spark. Perhaps one of Barbara Nadel's other novels in the series may be better.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pre-ordered this book (waiting for paperback edition) many, many months ago. I am a very big fan of this series and all the characters, especially Istanbul which is, to me, the main character of the book. Outside of their comfort zone and the colourful, mysterious backdrop of Istanbul, Ikmen and Süleyman do not fare very well. Followers of this series have read descriptions of Inspector Ikmen's appearance many times but in Detroit he is described as a skiny Columbo with yellow teeth. For some reason that is now unappealing! And Süleyman, whose misogynistic character is not quite so offensive within his home setting, comes off as a hauty and peevish man. I was glad when Nadel sent him home halfway through the book. The story itself was good and that is why I have rated it a 3. Death By Design (#12 in the series) took Inspector Ikmen to London, England but it was set within the Turkish community there and was much more successful attempt at taking the inspector away from home. I await the next installment and hope Nadel brings her characters back to familiar surroundings.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ikmen goes to Detroit for a policing conference and gets involved with a 30 year old cold case of a drug dealer. Back in Istanbul, his assistant is finding love in the arms of another cop while monitoring the release of a serial rapist. Ikmen's exploits in Detroit seemed a little unbelievable but at the same time fascinating. Nadel introduces a group of mixed race people from Appalachia I'd never heard of-Melungeons-who think they could be descendants of shipwrecked Ottoman sailors. Ikmen's chance meeting on the street with an old Melungeon man who is the father of the murdered drug dealer starts a relationship which quickly moves to the present and a series of murders involving racism, greed, and corruption with the police force and city government.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ikmen in Detroit? Who would have thought? The connection to Turkey is quite interesting and something new, to me.

I have seen Detroit and found the stark reality of the landscape sad and frightening and this story is set amidst the debris of the city's past brillance. I hadn't realized all the factors at work that brought about the decline but they emerge here, along with some hope. The book precedes Detroit's bankruptcy but touches on ways for the city to rise again.

The continuing story line for Ayse and Mehmet, like Detroit, seems self-destructive and sad but , perhaps there's hope.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

While attending a police conference in Detroit, Michigan Inspector Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman meet an elderly man of Turkish descent who pleads with them to help uncover the unsolved murder of his son. This is a departure for the two police officers as they are out of their comfort zone in a different city and country. The descriptions of Brush Park and the decaying Packard plant in Detroit as well as the underlying racial tensions are central to the storyline. The story also includes another sideline romance of two detectives based in Istanbul.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the previous books IMO . . . it takes place in Detroit and I am not so interested in learning about the Detroit culture . . . I always like these books because they were based in Turkey and mainly Istanbul (a current object of my fascination). I guess she felt like she needed to widen her scope but it didn't seem as well developed as the others . . . maybe she is tired of writing the series?

[Curt Hopkins Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any book with Inspector Ikmen is worth reading. This one flipped back and forth between Istanbul and Turkey a bit too much and too quickly. The author also lacked any real familiarity with American English, especially idioms. At one point, a character described what I imagine is a piece of clothing as "jean dungarees." Not only have I never heard such a weird phrase before but I can't imagine what it means. Overalls maybe? This was just the most jarring of many.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I thought the author did a good job of setting the novel in the USA rather than the usual Istanbul, for some reason I didn't like this book as much as her other ones that I've read. What I found most interesting was discovering the existence of a cultural group of people called 'Melungeons', hitherto unknown to me. They are a mixed-race of unknown origin, though many claim to be of Turkish descent. They come from the Appalachian regions of Tennessee and Kentucky.

[WR · Rating 4 out of 5]

haven't read Nadel in a while. This was quite an interesting installment in the series, as it took Inspector Cetin Ikmen to Detroit - unfamiliar territory - yet still trying to help the local police solve an old crime, that has links to current-day (inconvenient) challenges that just refuse to go away.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to be mainly out of the fascination of Istanbul and into the depressing urban landscape of Detroit. Once again Ikmen, immerses himself in a problem and is an important part of the resolution. The story of the Melungeons was a fascinating revelation to add to America's endless stories of racial oppression.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Turkish Police Inspector Ikmen is in Detroit for a law enforcement conference, he meets an elderly man who has lost his son, just as Ikmen has. Investigating, Ikmen soon find himself involved in a tangle of corrupt officials, unscrupulous property development, and serious racism.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Barbara Nadel's best books. I thought the story rather far-fetched and the plot a little bit too transparent. The Detroit police are hardly likely to ask a visiting Turkish police officer to help solve a crime and the perpetrators a little too obvious from the start.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series more with each book that I read.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read. Inspector Ikmen is a very good main character.

[Jack Laschenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspector Ikmen in Detroit!!!

And Suleyman and romance back in Istanbul

A bleak picture of the motor city today.

Good characters - fast plot.

[Kelly Hevel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, fun read. Great for a lazy Sunday.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series and the exoticism of Instanbul but I equally enjoyed this book. Detroit may not be exotic but it is foreign to what I know and I think Ms Nadel has done a good job of exploring its underbelly. Our two intrepid detectives have been sent to a conference in Detroit and meet a Melungeon who believes that he is descended from Turks and that only Turkish detectives can solve the 30 year old murder of his son. Events spiral from this. Despite there being several bodies I found this to be a slow burner, where events unfold slowly, piece by piece to a finale. It is a great read - tense and compulsive and I found myself in full "just another chapter" mode until I finished.