Kingdom of Strangers by Zoë Ferraris

First Line: The SUV hit the sand drift, skidded, and stopped in the middle of the road.

When the bodies of nineteen women are unearthed from a secret grave out in the desert, the Jeddah police are stunned. A serial killer has been operating undetected in the city for over a decade. As serious as this is, Inspector Ibrahim is distracted by a much more personal mystery: his mistress has disappeared, but he cannot report it because adultery is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

With nowhere to turn, Ibrahim enlists the aid of Katya Hijazi, one of the few women in the police department. Now that she's been drawn into both investigations, she must be increasingly careful for she has a secret of her own.

After reading and loving Finding Nouf and City of Veils-- the previous two books in this trilogy-- and knowing that there have been no further books from Ferraris, I've been hoarding Kingdom of Strangers like it's the last bar of gold in Fort Knox. However, after visiting her website and learning that she's working on four novels that will take her a decade to complete, I decided it was time to turn myself loose.

I was immediately whisked away to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, one of the most closed cultures in the world. Even though it had been about three years since I last visited, I had no trouble whatsoever in picking up where I left off in the lives of Katya Hijazi and Nayir Sharqi. Nayir is a very traditional Muslim male who wants to marry Katya Hijazi. Katya works in the forensics department for the Jeddah police. Although she, too, has been raised traditionally, she does not want the life of a traditional Muslim female. Through hard work and subterfuge, she's managed to find Ibrahim, a police inspector who realizes how good Katya is in these investigations, and he's willing to work with her.

The mysteries concerning both the serial killer and the disappearance of Ibrahim's mistress are well plotted and certainly worth the price of admission for those readers who are simply looking for a whodunit to solve, but there is so much more depth to this book (and the other two in the trilogy) than merely solving crimes.

The deep seam of gold running through all three books is the total immersion of the Western reader into a very alien culture. While the two crimes involve issues that Westerners are familiar with-- serial killers and human trafficking-- it's the culture that is at times almost mind-blowing, especially for Western women. From simple things like the weekends being Thursday and Friday instead of Saturday and Sunday to a few of the laws of virtue, Westerners are going to know that they're not in Kansas anymore. The author is a Westerner who lived the life, so she knows whereof she speaks. In Kingdom of Strangers, an American is brought over to help the police profile the serial killer. The American is a woman, and readers have the opportunity to see this world through her eyes (and to sympathize).

Even though I turned down a job offer to work in Saudi Arabia years ago, I believe all cultures deserve some measure of my respect, but I do have to admit that I think the "virtue police" have run amok there. (For example: A man cannot sit in a chair recently vacated by a woman because he may find the warmth of the seat arousing.) To Westerners, that sounds insane, doesn't it? But to be fair, extremism isn't just happening in Saudi Arabia.

If you're the type of reader who not only loves a good mystery to solve but also loves being immersed in the culture of another country, I cannot recommend this trilogy of books more highly. They are marvelous... and although I wish Ferraris would write faster, I shall be patient. I know her books will be worth the wait.

Kingdom of Strangers by Zoë Ferraris

ISBN: 9780316074247

Little, Brown & Company © 2012

Hardcover, 368 pages

Police Procedural, #3 Hijazi & Sharqi mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap


 

Finding Nouf by Zoë Ferraris

First Line: Before the sun set that evening, Nayir filled his canteen, tucked a prayer rug beneath his arm, and climbed the south-facing dune near the camp.

Desert guide Nayir al-Sharqi is called upon by a prominent local family to lead a search party. Their 16-year-old daughter, Nouf, is missing-- along with a truck and Nouf's favorite camel. Ten days later, the young girl's body is found by desert travelers.

When the coroner determines that Nouf died of drowning not dehydration, her family is curiously uninterested in finding out what happened. Nayir wants to know, but in order to gain access to the world of women in one of the most rigidly gender-restricted societies in the Middle East, Nayir is horrified to learn that he's going to have to work with Miss Katya Hijazi, a lab worker in the coroner's office who also wants to discover the truth.

I read the second of Zoë Ferraris's Saudi mysteries, City of Veils, first and was completely transported. So much so that I felt the need to get my hands on this-- the first-- book. I'm glad I did. In three novels (Kingdom of Strangers is the third), Ferraris has opened the door and shed light on a landscape, a people, and a culture that are almost totally alien to Westerners. She does it with firsthand knowledge, psychological insight, tightly woven plots, and a writing style that can be downright poetic.

Finding Nouf is a wonderful introduction to life in a Muslim country-- from dealing with the climate to many of its customs. One of the things I appreciated most from reading this book is being shown how the practice of Islam differs from country to country.

The two main characters-- Katya Hijazi and Nayir al-Sharqi-- are interesting in and of themselves, but also as examples of traditional and non-traditional views. Nayir is very traditional in his beliefs, so when he first begins working with the non-traditional unmarried Katya, he spends most of his time being shocked and not knowing where to look. It's refreshing to watch him slowly-- very slowly-- begin to relax a bit around her. 

It's unusual for women to work in Saudi Arabia, and there are all sorts of restrictions on what types of jobs women may have and where they're able to work. Watching Katya navigate all these rules and regulations shows us how strong she is. How determined she is to succeed. She's just the sort of person who should be the coroner, but in order for that to happen, Katya is going to have to leave the country of her birth. Any Western woman who reads this book will have an eye-opening experience. She's undoubtedly going to feel incredulous and frustrated as well, especially when Katya's life is put in contrast to the lives of the extremely wealthy women of Nouf's family. (A large parking lot paved in marble? And that's before you enter the house!)

I was blindsided by the identity of Nouf's killer, and that doesn't happen often. I loved this book, and recommend it highly. I also have good news: Ferraris is a writer who starts with a winner and just keeps improving. As much as I love Finding Nouf, City of Veils is even better. My advice? Read all three of Zoë Ferraris's excellent Saudi mysteries!

Finding Nouf by Zoë Ferraris

ISBN: 9780547237787

Mariner Books © 2009

Paperback, 320 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Hijazi and Sharqi mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap 

City of Veils by Zoë Ferraris

Title: City of Veils
Author: Zoë Ferraris
ISBN: 9780316074278
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2010
Hardcover, 400 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #2 Hijazi & Sharqi mystery
Rating: A+
Source: Amazon Vine

First Line: The woman's body was lying on the beach.

I am always looking to broaden my armchair traveling horizons, so when I read that City of Veils was set in Saudi Arabia, my interest was certainly piqued. If I'm honest, it was also piqued for another reason.

In the mid-1970s, I was being recruited for a teaching position in Saudi Arabia. I was very interested. I love travel, I love adventure, the vacation accrual made my jaw drop, and so did the salary. I took all the information home, and I began to read. When I'd read everything, I went back to read the one paragraph that had made my blood pressure spike. That paragraph persuaded me that I didn't have the proper attitude for the job. What in the world was in that paragraph? The instructions on precisely what kind of undergarments I was allowed to wear. Once my mother no longer bought them for me no one has the right to tell me what underwear to wear!

City of Veils is written by Zoë Ferraris, who moved to Saudi Arabia shortly after the first Gulf War. She lived in a conservative Muslim community with her then-husband and his family, a group of Saudi-Palestinians who had never before met an American. But enough of the extraneous. Let's get to the book!

When the body of a woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, the police are content to dismiss the case as an unsolvable murder. If the victim is yet another housemaid killed by her employer, finding the person responsible for her death will be all but impossible. At about the same time, an American woman reports her husband-- a security contractor-- as missing.

Only Katya Hijazi, a forensic scientist working in the police department, is convinced that the murdered woman can be identified. She asks her friend Nayir for help and discovers that the victim was a young filmmaker whose controversial documentaries made her many enemies. As Katya and Nayir search for clues, they form a very unlikely alliance with the American woman whose husband has disappeared.

I am such a stickler for reading series in order! If I'd realized that this is the second book in a series, I doubt that I would've read it. I'm glad that I was blissfully ignorant, otherwise I would've missed out on one of the best books I've read all year.

City of Veils is written in such a way that you do not have to read the first book in order to understand what's going on. I'm going to get my hands on a copy of Finding Nouf simply because I fell in love with Ferraris's setting and characters.

The mystery is intriguing and well-paced. It had a coincidence or two that stretched belief a bit but not enough to lessen my enjoyment. The characters are multi-faceted and fascinating. If the plot and the characters are the jewels, the setting is the Muslim culture-- and without doubt this setting shows the jewels to perfection.

What I found so incredibly strong in this book is that the Muslim culture is shown from so many angles: the devout Muslim man, a more progressive Muslim man, an American man totally captivated by the place and the culture, a young Muslim woman who's comfortable with her place but still feeling the restrictions, and an American woman who is so completely a stranger in a strange land that it's painful.

I had to know what would happen next, so it was almost impossible to put this book down. From my personal anecdote at the beginning of this review, you may have guessed correctly that City of Veils had me talking to myself on several occasions. It's that sort of book: you live it while you read it. It was also a learning experience on so many levels. Muslim women following several paces behind their men had always made me roll my eyes and mutter. Now I know that those several steps behind are also a safety measure. If you're a woman wearing all that garb, you can't see where you're going. (I felt a bit doltish after one of Ferraris's characters explained that to me!)

If you're looking for an intriguing mystery set in a land with a fascinating culture and populated with wonderful characters, do not hesitate. Get yourself a copy of City of Veils!