Belshazzar's Daughter : A Novel of Istanbul

Rating:
Summary: Colorful, Exotic, Slightly Unbelievable Novel of Istanbul
Review: "Belshazzar's Daughter" was an enjoyable read, although at times the developments in the story were over-the-top and unbelievable.
I almost got the impression that, toward the end of the novel, the author just wanted to get it over with and thus wrote an unbelievable ending for an otherwise excellent novel.
The character development was, in my opinion, quite good, and the plot started out with a lot of promise. When the last Tsar of Russia was pulled into the tale, I became immediately intrigued. However, by the closing of the book, I began to feel that the final twists were just too much.
I did like the lack of total clarity at the end, because it allowed me to visualize for myself what might have been the truth.
Still, though, this was an enjoyable, well thought-out novel; it is not extremely deep, but it pulls in many societal and personal problems that many people deal with daily and builds solid, interesting characters around such situations.

Rating:
Summary: Colorful, Exotic, Slightly Unbelievable Novel of Istanbul
Review: "Belshazzar's Daughter" was an enjoyable read, although at times the developments in the story were over-the-top and unbelievable.
I almost got the impression that, toward the end of the novel, the author just wanted to get it over with and thus wrote an unbelievable ending for an otherwise excellent novel.
The character development was, in my opinion, quite good, and the plot started out with a lot of promise. When the last Tsar of Russia was pulled into the tale, I became immediately intrigued. However, by the closing of the book, I began to feel that the final twists were just too much.
I did like the lack of total clarity at the end, because it allowed me to visualize for myself what might have been the truth.
Still, though, this was an enjoyable, well thought-out novel; it is not extremely deep, but it pulls in many societal and personal problems that many people deal with daily and builds solid, interesting characters around such situations.

Rating:
Summary: Murder and madness in Istanbul.
Review: Barbara Nadel's novel, "Belshazzar's Daughter," has an intriguing premise. Cetin Ikmen, a chain-smoking and hard-drinking detective on the Istanbul police force, is investigating the murder and mutilation of an elderly Jewish man named Leonid Meyer. Someone used acid to torture Meyer and then painted a swastika on a wall near the corpse. Is this heinous act the work of a right-wing anti-Semite or is there a less obvious motive?

Nadel, who according to the book jacket has visited Turkey frequently, makes good use of her exotic locale to lend a touch of originality to what is essentially an ordinary whodunit. Ikmen and his partner Suleyman interview everyone who knew Meyer, and they look into the victim's past to see if it might shed light on who hated him enough to kill him so brutally. The colorful cast of characters includes the unlucky Robert Cornelius, a depressed British expatriate with a checkered past, a beautiful temptress named Natalia, and Natalia's grandmother, Maria Gulcu, a strange woman who knows a great deal more about Meyer's death than she's willing to reveal. There is also Reinhold Smits, a known Nazi sympathizer who once employed Meyer and then summarily dismissed him. Which of these suspects holds the key to the mystery?

As the story unfolds, it becomes more and more convoluted and less credible, and the ending of "Belshazzar's Daughter" is way over the top. I liked the characters and the setting, but the plot was not well-developed and convincing enough to make this novel work for me.

Rating:
Summary: Murder and madness in Istanbul.
Review: Barbara Nadel's novel, "Belshazzar's Daughter," has an intriguing premise. Cetin Ikmen, a chain-smoking and hard-drinking detective on the Istanbul police force, is investigating the murder and mutilation of an elderly Jewish man named Leonid Meyer. Someone used acid to torture Meyer and then painted a swastika on a wall near the corpse. Is this heinous act the work of a right-wing anti-Semite or is there a less obvious motive?

Nadel, who according to the book jacket has visited Turkey frequently, makes good use of her exotic locale to lend a touch of originality to what is essentially an ordinary whodunit. Ikmen and his partner Suleyman interview everyone who knew Meyer, and they look into the victim's past to see if it might shed light on who hated him enough to kill him so brutally. The colorful cast of characters includes the unlucky Robert Cornelius, a depressed British expatriate with a checkered past, a beautiful temptress named Natalia, and Natalia's grandmother, Maria Gulcu, a strange woman who knows a great deal more about Meyer's death than she's willing to reveal. There is also Reinhold Smits, a known Nazi sympathizer who once employed Meyer and then summarily dismissed him. Which of these suspects holds the key to the mystery?

As the story unfolds, it becomes more and more convoluted and less credible, and the ending of "Belshazzar's Daughter" is way over the top. I liked the characters and the setting, but the plot was not well-developed and convincing enough to make this novel work for me.

Rating:
Summary: insightful laid-back Turkish police procedural
Review: British expatriate Robert Cornelius works in Istanbul's Londra Language School. He just completes his lessons to eight students when he notices his Turkish lover Natalia moving at an incredible pace in the run down Jewish Quarter. Apparently an anti-Semitic crime occurred in Balat as someone murdered but not before abusing elderly Leonid Meyer, a Jew who escaped from Russia during the 1918 Revolution. At the bloody crime scene is a swastika drawn in the victim's blood. Robert wonders how Natalia is tied to this vicious homicide.

Also involved in more official capacities are Turkish police officers: chain-smoking veteran Inspector Cetin Ikmen and the relatively rookie Sergeant Suleyman. They begin investing the heinous crime while they struggle with the demands of their respective families. Soon they find a link to Robert and Natalia as the former's grandmother was the victim's lover at one time and the latter was convicted of assaulting a Jewish lawyer in his hometown of London. Is the murder a case of vengeful passion as the two cops begin to believe or is it a more sinister attack on the Jewish population?

BELSHAZZAR'S DAUGHTER is an insightful laid-back Turkish police procedural. Cozy fans (in spite of the brutality of the killing) and those who delight in foreign who-done-its will be grateful for this fine novel. However, anyone who likes plenty of non-stop action needs to pass as Barbara Nadel furbishes a deep look at family life in Istanbul as much or more than who killed the elderly Jew.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: insightful laid-back Turkish police procedural
Review: British expatriate Robert Cornelius works in Istanbul's Londra Language School. He just completes his lessons to eight students when he notices his Turkish lover Natalia moving at an incredible pace in the run down Jewish Quarter. Apparently an anti-Semitic crime occurred in Balat as someone murdered but not before abusing elderly Leonid Meyer, a Jew who escaped from Russia during the 1918 Revolution. At the bloody crime scene is a swastika drawn in the victim's blood. Robert wonders how Natalia is tied to this vicious homicide.

Also involved in more official capacities are Turkish police officers: chain-smoking veteran Inspector Cetin Ikmen and the relatively rookie Sergeant Suleyman. They begin investing the heinous crime while they struggle with the demands of their respective families. Soon they find a link to Robert and Natalia as the former's grandmother was the victim's lover at one time and the latter was convicted of assaulting a Jewish lawyer in his hometown of London. Is the murder a case of vengeful passion as the two cops begin to believe or is it a more sinister attack on the Jewish population?

BELSHAZZAR'S DAUGHTER is an insightful laid-back Turkish police procedural. Cozy fans (in spite of the brutality of the killing) and those who delight in foreign who-done-its will be grateful for this fine novel. However, anyone who likes plenty of non-stop action needs to pass as Barbara Nadel furbishes a deep look at family life in Istanbul as much or more than who killed the elderly Jew.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good to someone who doesn't usually read this genre
Review: I'm not generally a big fan of crime/mystery novels, but this was recommended by a friend. I found it to be quite exciting with a driven plotline that kept me awake reading some nights long after I should have been asleep. The main characters are well-developed and realistically human; that is, they sometimes make stupid choices that send them down dark roads.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good to someone who doesn't usually read this genre
Review: I'm not generally a big fan of crime/mystery novels, but this was recommended by a friend. I found it to be quite exciting with a driven plotline that kept me awake reading some nights long after I should have been asleep. The main characters are well-developed and realistically human; that is, they sometimes make stupid choices that send them down dark roads.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Nadel has written an excellent police procedural, and introduced an engaging cast of regular characters in this first Inspector Ikmen book.

More than that, she writes evocatively of Istanbul - its physical nature and social life, and the diverse people who make it their home - from 500 years of Jewish descent seeking asylum to latter day English language teachers looking for refuge in their own way.

I have lived in Istanbul myself amongst the foreign teacher expat community, and Nadel has captured this aspect perfectly. Some of the people fleeing their personal demons. She writes most sympathetically of those who have sought safe harbour from systemic persecution.

Nadel has successfully managed to weave an engaging modern-day crime novel together with a strong sense of place and with a fascinating historical background. Along the way, we learn to care about the characters who populate the series, most especially Ikmen's family.

I thoroughly recommend this book - all the elements have been 'got right' - plot, characterisation and location for a thoroughly diverting read.