Belshazzar's Daughter (Inspector Ikmen Mystery 1)

Leonid Meyer is found murdered in his flat in Balat, Istanbul's decrepit Jewish quarter, a swastika daubed on the wall in the old man's blood. But Inspector Cetin Ikmen is quick to eschew the obvious conclusion that this is a racist attack. The evidence leads Ikmen and his young lieutenant, Suleyman, to two people: Robert Cornelius, a teacher observed outside Meyer's flat shortly after the murder, and a retired businessman, Reinhold Smits, known to have had Nazi sympathies. But another link connects these two: a ninety-year-old Russian migr , Maria Gulcu, a widow who thinks she possesses a secret worth killing for...

“'Intriguing, exotic whodunnit... Local colour judiciously applied and ethnic differences skilfully explored. A first novel: exciting, accomplished and original' Literary Review”

'Intriguing, exotic whodunnit... Local colour judiciously applied and ethnic differences skilfully explored. A first novel: exciting, accomplished and original' Literary Review

'Best crime fiction of the year by a new writer was Barbara Nadel's Belshazzar's Daughter... great blooming baroque plot (ditto talent)' - Independent

'This is an extraordinarily interesting first novel' - Evening Standard

'An unusual and very well written first novel...Although the murder mystery is intriguing, it is the characters who make this book so successful' Sunday Telegraph

'Ikmen will go far...will have you looking over your shoulder' Scotsman

'Really refreshing to encounter something as idiosyncratic and evocative among debut novels as Barbara Nadel's Istanbul-set thriller' - The Times

'Unusual and very well-written' - Sunday Telegraph

Belshazzar's Daughter has been chosen by Jane Jakeman in Saturday's INDEPENDENT weekend review section as

'Best crime fiction by a new writer...a great blooming baroque plot (ditto talent).'

Barbara Nadel is a public relations officer for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship and as such has great deal of knowledge of the mentally disordered. Born in the East End of London, she trained as an actress and regularly visits her family in Turkey.

Leonid Meyer is found murdered in his flat in Balat, Istanbul's decrepit Jewish quarter, a swastika daubed on the wall in the old man's blood. But Inspector Cetin Ikmen is quick to eschew the obvious conclusion that this is a racist attack. The evidence leads Ikmen and his young lieutenant, Suleyman, to two people: Robert Cornelius, a teacher observed outside Meyer's flat shortly after the murder, and a retired businessman, Reinhold Smits, known to have had Nazi sympathies. But another link connects these two: a ninety-year-old Russian migr , Maria Gulcu, a widow who thinks she possesses a secret worth killing for...

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