Istanbul Noir

September 8, 2008
Istanbul straddles the divide of Europe and Asia, and its polyglot population of 12 million seethes with political, religious and sexual tensions, as shown in the 16 stories in this strong entry in Akashic's noir anthology series. Most of the stories are fittingly dark, though a couple are lit by a macabre humor: Hikmet Hukumenoglu's “The Smell of Fish,” about a woman's efforts to discourage suitors, and Algan Sezginturedi's “Around Here, Somewhere,” about a drug runner's attempted escape. Sadik Yemni's “Burn and Go” delivers a memorable account of a childhood accident's fearsome consequences. A lonely older woman and a polite young man share a ride in Feryal Tilmaç's fateful “Hitching in the Lodos.” Most contributors are either natives of Istanbul or longtime residents, and their stories reflect religious extremism (Jessica Lutz's “All Quiet”) and governmental repression (editor Ziyalan's “Black Palace”) as well as the disaffection common to the genre. This is a welcome complement to the mostly historical mysteries set in Istanbul.

February 15, 2009
At the crossroads between East and West, Constantinople (now Istanbul) has been a seething melting pot of cultures for centuries. The stories collected here are set up and down both banks of the Bosporus. The authors do an excellent job introducing readers to a city unknown to many American readers, exploring the many issues of religion and culture that face modern Istanbul. Landscape is essential to these stories, all of which convince the reader that they couldnt possibly have been set anywhere other than Istanbul. Recommend the collection to fans of Mehmet Murat Somers Prophet Murders (2008), also set in contemporary Istanbul.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)