Mavi Boncuk | Baksheesh: A Kati Hirschel [1]Istanbul Mystery by Esmahan Aykol, [2]translated from the Turkish by Ruth Whitehouse [3]- Fiction, Mystery
Kati Hirschel, in her 30s, is the proud owner of Istanbul's only crime bookshop. She has learned the corrupt ways of her adored city and soon takes possession of an apartment obtained with the help of a generous bribe to a government official. All is well until a man is found murdered in her dream apartment and Kati becomes the police's primary suspect.
March 5, 2013 Paperback: 245 pages
Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
ISBN-10: 1908524049 | ISBN-13: 9781908524041
[1] In her second novel, Esmahan Aykol takes us to the alleys and boulevards of cosmopolitan Istanbul, to posh villas and seedy basement flats, to the property agents and lawyers, to Islamist leaders and city officials --- in fact everywhere that baksheesh helps move things along.
[2] Esmahan Aykol was born in 1970 in Edirne, Turkey. She lives in Istanbul and Berlin. She has written four Kati Hirschel mystery novels. HOTEL BOSPHORUS [*]and BAKSHEESH are the first two and have been published in eight languages. During her law studies she was a journalist for a number of Turkish publications and radio stations. After a stint as a bartender she turned to fiction writing.
[3] Ruth Whitehouse worked as a violinist and translator in Ankara. She has translated both Esmahan Aykol novels that have appeared in English so far. Her translations of shorter work by young Turkish authors have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
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