Arabesk — Barbara Nadel

Barbara Nadel's gripping Ikmen mysteries are the inspiration behind The Turkish Detective, BBC Two's sensational eight-part TV crime drama series, out now.


Inspector Ikmen and Inspector Suleyman return in Arabesk, Barbara Nadel's third novel in the gripping Inspector Ikmen series. Perfect for fans of Jason Goodwin and Adrian Magson.

'The delight of the Nadel book is the sense of being taken beneath the surface of an ancient city which most visitors see for a few days at most' - Independent

When the wife of one of Istanbul's best known popular singers is found dead and his baby daughter missing, the newly promoted Inspector Suleyman, scion of one of Turkey's most aristocratic families, finds himself plunged into the magnificently vulgar, overblown world of Arabesk music, dominated by an ageing star, the monstrous chanteuse, Tansu.

What readers are saying about Arabesk:

'Written with wit and style, her plotting and characterisation are as sharp and original as ever'

'A city and its crowded streets and ancient cultures come vividly alive - colours, sounds, smells, heat and dust lifting from the page'

'Packed to the gills with cultural insights'