As ever, Rendell writes both literately and perceptively about her characters and the world they live in, a recognisable corner of modern Britain. That said, the main plot smacks of the pre-war detective novel and is not altogether convincing even in those terms, partly because it jars against Rendell’s entirely commendable desire to portray Kingsmarkham as a contemporary town with contemporary problems. The result is a good Wexford novel, but not perhaps one of the better ones.
Jason Goodwin has followed his first novel, the very successful The Janissary Tree, with The Snake Stone (Faber, £12.99), the second in a series about an engaging eunuch in early 19th-century Istanbul. Yashim, a Francophile and something of a gourmet, occupies a privileged position among the rich slew of cultures and races inhabiting the great city, and of course his physical condition gives him unusual freedom to socialise with both sexes. He is a close friend of the now stateless Polish ambassador, who once remarked to him, ‘Together we make a man, you and I. For you are a man without balls, and I am a man without a country.’
Set in 1838 during the last days of the reforming Sultan Mahmud II, the plot concerns a French archaeologist whose quest for Byzantine relics triggers a spate of murders, including his own. Yashim himself is among the suspects. His investigations lead him from stallholders in the bazaar to a Greek banking dynasty, from Orthodox nuns to an ancient and secretive guild, from Lord Byron’s doctor to the West Indies-born mother of the Sultan.
Crisply written, narrated in short, snappy chapters, the novel canters along against the backdrop of a fascinating period of Ottoman history. The obvious comparison is with Boris Akunin’s Fandorin novels, but this is more entertaining; Yashim’s mouth-watering cuisine comes as a valued bonus.
Andrew Taylor’s latest novel is Naked to the Hangman (Hodder).
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