Belshazzar's Daughter (Inspector Ikmen, 1) (Volume 1)

This author was recommended by an American friend who lived & worked in Turkey for three years. Barbara Nadel's writing takes a bit of getting used to -- at times a tad convoluted with stilted dialogue -- until I found myself longing to return to the atmospheric landscape of this seething city on the Bosphorus where Europe ends & the Levant begins, where cultures clash & mingle & centuries of history vibrate in the stones & air: modernday Istanbul.In BELSHAZZAR'S DAUGHTER we meet diminutive & ugly Detective Ikmen: of mixed heritage, a couple of "sinful" habits, his very pregnant wife, many children & aging father all crammed into a little apartment. We also get to know, quite well, Ikmen's assorted police staff, themselves steeped in their separate cultures.An ancient Bolshevik Jewish emmigre is brutally killed in his hovel where an anti-Semitic image has been daubed on the wall in the corpse's blood & a stash of money lies untouched. A tortured English teacher is thinking about the object of his obsession: an exotic young woman who he's just seen running from a building in the Jewish quarter. Then he tells the first of many lies to Detective Ikmen, busy ferreting out the clues to this murder, uncovering connections to revolution, tsarist lineage & nazism.A satisfying read in which I learnt a lot about this fabled city rich with Turkish/Ottoman culture. Thrilled to see there are more Detective Ikmen adventures. My only complaint is with the print: it's tiny 11 point font, & no US agent or publisher has snapped Barbara Nadel up yet!

Leonid Meyer, an elderly Jewish Russian refugee, had been tortured and murdered in his home in the Balat area of Istanbul. A swastika, drawn using Meyer’s blood, was left on the wall above his body. Officials are concerned that the murder is evidence of rampant racism in Istanbul, but Inspector Cetin Ikmen is not so sure. As he and his sergeant, Suleyman, investigate, they uncover a complex history of Russian immigrants, German Nazis, and secrets worthy of murder. Belshazzar’s Daughter is the first book in Nadel’s Inspector Ikmen mystery series. This is an interesting series, detailing life in Istanbul. The plot in this book is complex, and the writing is fine (other than a handful of times when the addition of commas would have been helpful). In addition, Nadel’s characters are interesting and richly developed.

While _Belshazzar's Daughter_ gets three stars from me, I will be reading more by the author. I enjoyed her characters and style of writing tremendously; I was disappointed by the plot and catharsis. Apparently the first in a series featuring Turkish police inspector Ikmen, the story revolves around the brutal and gruesome murder of an elderly drunk in the Jewish quarter of Istanbul. Whether the crime was a function of anti-semitism, of revenge or of some other motive, figuring out why the crime is as important as determining who. These compelling questions made for an exciting read - unfortunately, the resolution was a let down.The writing was delightful -Nadel's characters virtually leap off the page as she jumps from one character's perspective to another showing their struggles and thoughts of one another, exposing some of their secrets while hinting at others and leaving red herrings for readers to wrestle with. The descriptions of Istanbul were vivid, the interactions between the police inspector and his subordinate, Sulieman and his superiors certainly laid the groundwork for future stories. For these reasons I will read more by this author.Nadel's complex interrelationship between suspects perhaps set the bar too high for her to deliver when the story was all said and done - the tantalizing clues and dirt that each had on the other created a sense of anticipation for a stronger conclusion than she delivered. In the end it felt almost as if Nadel was tired of the story and needed a quick conclusion to be done with it. Perhaps given the strong historical roots of several of the characters, she found herself painted in a corner. Either way, I found the resolution a let down.Nonetheless, Nadel is clearly a talented and gifted writer. I am willing to giver her a second chance and scratch the frustrating ending up to a first-time writer (or perhaps weak editing.) There is much to like here, and much to recommend my mediocre star rating aside.

I could not put this book down - hard to do anyway when you're reading on Kindle - but this book trapped me in Istanbul and I didn't want to leave. Ikmen is the most believable detective in all of the mysteries I've read. I read a LOT so this says volumes. The plot kept me guessing, which is a good thing. Also the characters were suitably odd enough to be intriguing but not so weird they couldn't be real. I will read everything Barbara Nadel has written.

My first foray into the world of Inspector Ikmen. Good mystery with interesting plot twists. The story meanders a bit, there are subplots that could be trimmed as they sometimes bog you down. Otherwise a good read.

Mildly entertaining, but I felt like the author had a formula to fulfill and so the story could have taken place anywhere and the characters could have been anyone anywhere. Istanbul is one of the most complex cities on the planet, and it's people consider themselves to be European, not Middle Eastern or Asian. Opportunities for stories within stories were pretty much sublimated in favor of stubbornly sticking to the formula of crime writing. Not sure if I'll try another of Nadel's novels.

very interesting insights about life in a secular muslim country...lots about Turkey I didn't know. Loved the dectective...but the plot got a little murky and I thought it had a bulls*** ending. Still, I ordered another of her books, so it certainly wasn't a bad experience

I loved this book so much, I’m on the seventh in the series! Great cast of interesting characters, unusual bits of history, colorful location and really good writing.

History entwined with mystery, a death that only makes sense from one point of view. A great introduction to Insp. Ikmen and his team. Nice to read source material that the excellent Turkish Detective series is based on. Well worth a read with many follow books to read also.

EXCELLENT BOOK

It is intriguing to read about crime and murder in such an exotic location - Istanbul. The backgroud of history and culture adds interest and surprised to the story. The main character however, despite being from such a different culture, suffers from the same addition to cigarettes, alcohol, melancholy, and his work, with the same crumpled suit, politically motivated boss and sleep deprivation of stereotyped detectives in many novels. An interesting story but an opportunity lost to build a character as different as his culture.

This was an interesting introduction to the Inspector Ikmen series with a wonderful historical thread running through the book which gave it depth. My only criticism is that it was slightly over long in telling and the ending was not particularly clear but I would recommend both this book and the series to anyone. I read the kindle version.

Having watched the Turkish Detective on telly, I was keen to read this first book.The book gives a thorough introduction and background to the endearing Cetin Ikmen but the plot, the story line of the crime he's investigating goes on and on without getting anywhere, the police are fed up and frustrated but I'm afraid so is the reader! So finishing it feels like a bit of a Pyrrhic victory, still Nadel has created a great character in Ikmen in an interesting setting.I shall read another in the series and hope that the pace of the plot isn't so laboured.