Just Finished Reading: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (FP: 2006)

Istanbul, 1836. Change is coming as inevitably as Day follows Night. After yet another defeat at the hands of Europeans the great Ottoman Empire must modernise or die. In 10 short days the Sultan will issue a new Edict changing rules for dress, commerce, and much more besides. Modernity will be the order of the day. But with any change there is always opposition, those who follow the old ways, those who revere the past and everything it represents, those who will do anything to protect long held traditions. As the day approaches four young Army officer cadets disappear on a night out. One by one their mutilated corpses are found at sites holy to the Janissaries lately crushed by the new administration. As panic begins to spread throughout the city Yashim the eunuch, who has been useful before, is sent for to investigate the killings and prevent, if possible, whatever is coming to challenge the Sultan’s wishes. With time pressing and a cadre of killers more than willing to burn the city to the ground Yashim must not only discover the truth of things but find out who he can trust both within and outside the administration. No doubt the Russian’s would like to see the Sultan fail so that they could apply pressure and gain access to the Mediterranean Sea but is that motive enough? What of the displaced Janissaries? Everything points to their involvement and their resurgence but is that a cover for something else, something more insidious and something far more dangerous? Yashim needs to find out – before it kills him.

Despite having several first novel (but not first publication) faults – some repartition (particularly regarding the fact that the main character/detective is a eunuch and is still angry about it after many   decades) and a little too much exposition (excellent and informative though it was) – this was still a most excellent historical crime novel. Yashim is an outstanding character, self-reflective, sophisticated, intelligent and with a variety of interesting friends and associates and is a superb tour guide to early 19th century Turkey in all its complexity. Rather inevitably my interest in the region and the period has been piqued so I’ll be investigating further. Fortunately I already have several histories of the region in my Middle East pile so I’m set for a while! Also fortunately this volume is the first of 5 books in the series so you’ll be hearing far more of Mr Goodwin. Interestingly the author has written extensively on the region so is coming to the genre with a deep background understanding of the city, its culture and history and this shows (in spades) between these covers. It’s an easy way to learn about the Ottoman Empire without really trying. You might also pick up a few recipe idea as the main character cooks his way through the investigation (the author – not surprisingly – has also produced an Ottoman Cook Book!). As historical crime novels go this is one of the best I can recall in recent years. Some of the murders are a bit grisly so they might put off the more sensitive souls who might be thinking about reading this work but you can always skip a half page or so without missing too much of this highly recommended romp. Definitely more to come!