The Baklava Club

April 7, 2014
Edgar-winner Goodwin’s absorbing fifth and final novel set in the waning days of Ottoman Turkey (after 2011’s An Evil Eye) finds the eunuch Yashim far from pleased when the sultan’s mother appoints him as tour guide to the visiting Natasha Borisova, who’s more interested in obtaining a pardon for her Russian revolutionary father than in seeing the sites of Istanbul. Yashim also is uneasy about his friend, Polish ambassador Stanislaw Palewski, who seems to be embroiled in dangerous intrigue with a relative, Prince Czartoryski, and local official Midhat Pasha. In addition, the ambassador is associating with dubious characters such as a tippling Irish priest and some idealistic Italian youths, who may be answering to a higher authority. Soon the prince is snatched, Palewski is wounded, and the girlfriend of one Italian is killed, with Yashim left to connect the dots and struggle with feelings for Natasha. Goodwin well illustrates the complex crossroads of cultures, politics, and religions that mapped 19th-century Istanbul. Agent: Sarah Chalfant, Wylie Agency.

May 15, 2014
When a part-time sleuth-and full-time eunuch-happens upon a dastardly, if somewhat inept, nest of killers, what else can he do but save the day?Aboard a ship sailing from Bari to Istanbul, a man called La Piuma, "The Feather," leans over the rail, oblivious to the person standing behind him, a would-be assassin working for "The Committee," who decides to let him live another day. In Istanbul, the courtly eunuch/detective Yashim (An Evil Eye, 2011, etc.) enjoys an evening of culture at the Polish embassy with Ambassador Palewski and guests. They discuss the local political situation, the papacy and matters of artistic note in mid-19th-century Europe. Yashim is on hand when Palewski receives and pooh-poohs a warning about The Committee. Days later, he hears Natasha, a beautiful young Russian, spin tales of brutal killings and ominous plots. She and Yashim engage in what feels oddly like a romantic romp. Meanwhile, Giancarlo, Rafael and Fabrizio, a trio of energetic Italians, plot urgently but with questionable efficacy to complete the assignment postponed in the shipboard prologue. Their collaboration with the sketchy Father Doherty raises still more questions. With the help of the mysterious Marta, Yashim is eventually able to convince Ambassador Palewski that the expected Polish prince Czartoryski is in grave danger. Can the prince be intercepted in time and saved?Yashim's fifth, and reportedly final, case unfolds more like a picaresque caper than a whodunit, elegantly written and immersing the reader in exotic 19th-century Turkey. Still, it's a long and leisurely road to actions of consequence.

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April 1, 2014

In the fifth installment (after An Evil Eye) of Goodwin's Edgar Award-winning "Investigator Yashim" series, Istanbul is the same: crowded, dirty, stinking, filled with foreigners and intrigue. Yashim is asked by the valide, the grandmother of the reigning sultan, to act as guide to a young Russian woman who wants the valide to intercede with the Russian tsar on her behalf. Palewski, Yashim's erstwhile friend, is befriended by a trio of young revolutionary Italians who are travelling with a Danish beauty and a Catholic priest from Rome to study documents in the patriarch's library. Palewski is pressed into service by Midhat Pasha on a matter most delicate and very secret. As each of the threads of the story come together, the pattern slowly emerges. But when the entire picture is finally revealed, will Yashim be able to extricate himself and salvage anything? VERDICT If this is indeed the final book in the series, as the author has indicated, it is a worthy conclusion. Fans of the entries will not be disappointed, and new readers who enjoy historical mysteries set in exotic locations and periods will probably go back to read each title.--Pam O'Sullivan, Coll. at Brockport Lib., SUNY

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014
Goodwin, an Ottoman Empire expert, introduced his historical series set in early nineteenth-century Istanbul in 2006 with The Janissary Tree, which won an Edgar for Best First Novel. The five novels in this series (this is purported to be the last) take a thin slice of Ottoman history, from 1836 to 1842. Yet, readers of the series learn, this slice is jam-packed with, well, byzantine levels of intrigue. The man who can unravel many of these plots and counterplots is Yashim, a eunuch detective. Here the action in Istanbul centers on the putative murder of a Polish prince. Yashim suspects the prince is still alive but hidden and in great danger. Two visitors, both women, afford Yashim the opportunity to play tour guide in Istanbul (one of the best parts of the novel) and to dispense historical side notesfor example, the fact that Viking warriors formed the imperial bodyguard in Byzantine times. Much of the plot and many references, though, are murky. Don't sail to this Byzantium before reading the other novels in the series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)