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The Sufi Mysteries #3
The Unseen
Book Three in The Sufi Mysteries Quartet
It’s easier to solve a crime than solve yourself
Baghdad, 295 Hijri (908 CE)
When a young man is found dead, killed in the exact manner as a martyr slain on the fields of Karbala some two hundred years before, there is no mistaking it as anything other than an attack on the Shia community of Baghdad. The city is on edge as religious and political factions are exposed sending the caliph’s army into the streets. Ammar and Tein have to clear the case, one way or another, before violence erupts. But Zaytuna has had a visionary dream of the murder that holds the key to solving the case. Can she can read its signs? And will Tein and Ammar listen?
"Completely engrossing and richly atmospheric. Tenth century Baghdad comes alive through the eyes of a dazzling cast of characters." —Ausma Zehanat Khan, critically acclaimed author of A Deadly Divide from The Getty-Khattak Mysteries, and The Khorasan Archives
“In this exceptionally well-written and lucid book, Laury Silvers brings the intricacies of medieval Islamic religiosities and society to life. In exploring the little-known religious communities of medieval Baghdad, Silvers invites the reader to journey through the often forgotten multifaceted dimensions of pre-modern society, addressing questions such as dissent, sectarianism, and communal relations.” — Ahab Bdaiwi, Leiden and Cambridge Universities
It’s easier to solve a crime than solve yourself
Baghdad, 295 Hijri (908 CE)
When a young man is found dead, killed in the exact manner as a martyr slain on the fields of Karbala some two hundred years before, there is no mistaking it as anything other than an attack on the Shia community of Baghdad. The city is on edge as religious and political factions are exposed sending the caliph’s army into the streets. Ammar and Tein have to clear the case, one way or another, before violence erupts. But Zaytuna has had a visionary dream of the murder that holds the key to solving the case. Can she can read its signs? And will Tein and Ammar listen?
"Completely engrossing and richly atmospheric. Tenth century Baghdad comes alive through the eyes of a dazzling cast of characters." —Ausma Zehanat Khan, critically acclaimed author of A Deadly Divide from The Getty-Khattak Mysteries, and The Khorasan Archives
“In this exceptionally well-written and lucid book, Laury Silvers brings the intricacies of medieval Islamic religiosities and society to life. In exploring the little-known religious communities of medieval Baghdad, Silvers invites the reader to journey through the often forgotten multifaceted dimensions of pre-modern society, addressing questions such as dissent, sectarianism, and communal relations.” — Ahab Bdaiwi, Leiden and Cambridge Universities
- GenresMystery
ebook
Published August 22, 2021
6 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Laury Silvers
17 books58 followersAuthor also writes as Jayne Green
Laury Silvers is a North American Muslim, raised in the United States but finally at home in Canada. She writes historical mysteries set in medieval Muslim lands and contemporary thrillers set in Toronto under the name "Jayne Green."
The Ghazi Ammar Medieval Mysteries are the spin-off series from The Sufi Mysteries Quartet. History moves into the background and mystery moves up front, Ammar and Zaytuna trade quips and solve crimes in medieval Baghdad.
The Toronto Thrillers, written under the name Jayne Green are emotionally layered and plot-twisty, and on the left side of things politically. No need to sell your emotional or political soul to enjoy a trashy thriller. Disgraced out now.
The Sufi Mysteries Quartet are big-screen cinematic, wild, romantic, spiritually melodramatic and are so historically reliable in detail and interpretation, they are used in university courses and are considered by some to be fictional academic writing in themselves. Thousands of readers love them, why not you?
Rat City is a medieval noir novella set in an alternative medieval West Asian world. It is found in Revenge in Three. Three Muslim Novelists re-interpret The Count of Monte Cristo. I love it, but my fans who prefer my novels with characters on the arc of redemption won't find that here. Be warned. Derya Mack is a post-menopausal private detective with no shits left to give.
Silvers' research and publications as a historian of religion focused on early Islam, early Sufism, and early pious and Sufi women. She taught at Skidmore College and the University of Toronto. Silvers also published work engaging Islam and Gender in North America in academic journals and popular venues, was actively involved in the woman-led prayer movement, and co-founded the Toronto Unity Mosque. She has since retired from academia and activism and hopes her novels continue her scholarship and activism in their own way. She lives in Toronto under Treaty 13.
Laury Silvers is a North American Muslim, raised in the United States but finally at home in Canada. She writes historical mysteries set in medieval Muslim lands and contemporary thrillers set in Toronto under the name "Jayne Green."
The Ghazi Ammar Medieval Mysteries are the spin-off series from The Sufi Mysteries Quartet. History moves into the background and mystery moves up front, Ammar and Zaytuna trade quips and solve crimes in medieval Baghdad.
The Toronto Thrillers, written under the name Jayne Green are emotionally layered and plot-twisty, and on the left side of things politically. No need to sell your emotional or political soul to enjoy a trashy thriller. Disgraced out now.
The Sufi Mysteries Quartet are big-screen cinematic, wild, romantic, spiritually melodramatic and are so historically reliable in detail and interpretation, they are used in university courses and are considered by some to be fictional academic writing in themselves. Thousands of readers love them, why not you?
Rat City is a medieval noir novella set in an alternative medieval West Asian world. It is found in Revenge in Three. Three Muslim Novelists re-interpret The Count of Monte Cristo. I love it, but my fans who prefer my novels with characters on the arc of redemption won't find that here. Be warned. Derya Mack is a post-menopausal private detective with no shits left to give.
Silvers' research and publications as a historian of religion focused on early Islam, early Sufism, and early pious and Sufi women. She taught at Skidmore College and the University of Toronto. Silvers also published work engaging Islam and Gender in North America in academic journals and popular venues, was actively involved in the woman-led prayer movement, and co-founded the Toronto Unity Mosque. She has since retired from academia and activism and hopes her novels continue her scholarship and activism in their own way. She lives in Toronto under Treaty 13.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 16, 2022
I am a diehard fan of Laury Silvers' Sufi Mysteries Quartet! Prickly Zaytuna is a character who stole my heart from book one, and I loved getting a deeper glimpse into both Tein and Ammar's perspectives in this book.
As always, the mystery element tied into spirituality, theology, and history make for an incredible and unique combination. This book leans heavily into Shi'i mythology/theology, as well as Sunni/ Shi'i political intrigues.
And finally, Zaytuna gets a happy ending!!!
The downside - the lack of professional editing always hurts my brain and I mentally re-write entire chapters at a time.
As always, the mystery element tied into spirituality, theology, and history make for an incredible and unique combination. This book leans heavily into Shi'i mythology/theology, as well as Sunni/ Shi'i political intrigues.
And finally, Zaytuna gets a happy ending!!!
The downside - the lack of professional editing always hurts my brain and I mentally re-write entire chapters at a time.
April 10, 2023
I liked this least of this series so far. I appreciated learning more about Shia factions and rationales in this time period. But I think revealing the pov of the one-dimensional mustache twirling villain early on was a misstep since it made the mystery both muddled and a nothing burger. I also admit I shipped different characters than those who paired up. In fact all 3 (4) couples were suddenly resolved without adequate development, akin to the pairing off of a Shakespearean comedy. Well, at least Zay didn't end up with sexist Mustafa.
Thanks to the author for the Ramadan ebook giveaway. I will be looking out for the fourth book, even though I don't yet trust Zaytuna's new spouse.
Thanks to the author for the Ramadan ebook giveaway. I will be looking out for the fourth book, even though I don't yet trust Zaytuna's new spouse.
November 15, 2021
Having read the first two books in the series, The Lover and The Jealous, I was happy to return to medieval Baghdad and Laury Silvers' ever-interesting characters, Zaytuna, Tein, and Ammar. The Unseen does not disappoint, either in the mystery to be solved or the complexity of her characters.
A young man is killed, and his injuries bear an uncanny resemblance to those of a Muslim martyr, unnerving everyone and bringing soldiers to the streets to keep a peace that was not threatened until their arrival. Ammar and Tein must solve the crime so their city does not erupt in violence. Ammar's sister, Zaytuna, had a dream which may hold some of the answers they need, but will men listen to a female mystic?
I enjoyed every bit of this involving and suspenseful novel, and am looking forward - already - to the fourth and final installment.
A young man is killed, and his injuries bear an uncanny resemblance to those of a Muslim martyr, unnerving everyone and bringing soldiers to the streets to keep a peace that was not threatened until their arrival. Ammar and Tein must solve the crime so their city does not erupt in violence. Ammar's sister, Zaytuna, had a dream which may hold some of the answers they need, but will men listen to a female mystic?
I enjoyed every bit of this involving and suspenseful novel, and am looking forward - already - to the fourth and final installment.
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September 20, 2021The Unseen, as well as being a police procedural set in 10th century Baghdad, is also an investigation of the balance men and women must find between their existence in the physical world and their desire for human connection and love, and the call of the immanent god to a greater purpose, the subsumation of the life of the flesh in the life of the spirit. That Laury Silvers manages to balance the temporal story of her characters with their spiritual journeys in both a setting and faith unfamiliar to many readers (including me) speaks to her skill as a writer.
The title, as always with Laury Silvers’ books, has multiple meanings within the text, but one ‘unseen’ is the Twelfth Imam. Hidden from view; his very existence is a point of debate and division among the Shia of Baghdad. With tensions already high, when a man is killed in a way that parallels the death of a martyr two hundred years earlier, the city is ready to explode into violence. Grave Crimes investigators Ammar and Tein must find the man responsible before the caliph’s troops enforce peace. But Tein’s sister Zaytuna has a prophetic dream that points to the killer – or does it? And will Ammar and Tein listen?
As in her earlier books, The Lover and The Jealous, 10thcentury Baghdad is evoked through the senses of the characters. We see the world through their eyes, smell what they smell, taste what they taste. We know, their inner doubts and turmoil as the events of their lives, personal and public, conflict with their values.
Parallels with today’s politics abound. Difference of opinion over who should lead them causes rifts among the Shia, providing opportunity for other to infiltrate and to feed those fires. Senior police officers are all too ready to provide a scapegoat for the crime. But alongside these conflicts, Zaytuna and Tein, and Ammar too, all have a chance to find a path to a modicum of contentment in their lives, although none easily.
By this third book, readers know the main characters well, and I found myself strongly invested in their personal stories, but also intrigued by the solving of the crime. Highly recommended for readers who want a book that asks a lot, emotionally and morally, of its characters, and does not pretend there are easy solutions.
The title, as always with Laury Silvers’ books, has multiple meanings within the text, but one ‘unseen’ is the Twelfth Imam. Hidden from view; his very existence is a point of debate and division among the Shia of Baghdad. With tensions already high, when a man is killed in a way that parallels the death of a martyr two hundred years earlier, the city is ready to explode into violence. Grave Crimes investigators Ammar and Tein must find the man responsible before the caliph’s troops enforce peace. But Tein’s sister Zaytuna has a prophetic dream that points to the killer – or does it? And will Ammar and Tein listen?
As in her earlier books, The Lover and The Jealous, 10thcentury Baghdad is evoked through the senses of the characters. We see the world through their eyes, smell what they smell, taste what they taste. We know, their inner doubts and turmoil as the events of their lives, personal and public, conflict with their values.
Parallels with today’s politics abound. Difference of opinion over who should lead them causes rifts among the Shia, providing opportunity for other to infiltrate and to feed those fires. Senior police officers are all too ready to provide a scapegoat for the crime. But alongside these conflicts, Zaytuna and Tein, and Ammar too, all have a chance to find a path to a modicum of contentment in their lives, although none easily.
By this third book, readers know the main characters well, and I found myself strongly invested in their personal stories, but also intrigued by the solving of the crime. Highly recommended for readers who want a book that asks a lot, emotionally and morally, of its characters, and does not pretend there are easy solutions.
September 5, 2021
I am loving this series! This third book feels like returning to a group of friends. Just like real life, Zaytuna's spiritual and personal development has its ups and downs but I'm glad Laury has taken her story, as well as Tein and Ammar's, in the direction she has. Cannot wait for book 4.
November 23, 2022
The Unseen was an enlightening book and I learnt the fascinating minutae of the differences in believe between the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam. All three books are beautifully set in ancient Baghdad (with all the major characters that are present in The Lover and The Jealous…these books are masterfully written and truly transport and immerse the reader into this historic world full of mystery, with characters (Sufi, Sunni, Shia, non-Muslim) like moths on their own journeys and paths, seeking and drawn to the flame of His Love. Highly recommend them all and absolutely can’t wait for The Peace (which the author has tentatively promised will release in the first quarter of 2023 InshaAllah) Each successive book is better than the one before and by the end of the third one, I sincerely hoped the author would write 99 books, one for each of His Blessed Names!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews