A Dead Man in Istanbul - Hardcover

Pearce,Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 184529131X ISBN 13: 9781845291310

Publisher: Constable, 2005

Synopsis

From the author of the award-winning Mamur Zapt books, the second in a series introducing Seymour of Special Branch and set in the British embassies and Consulates of Europe in the early 1900s.

The Second Secretary of the Embassy in Istanbul has died in decidedly strange circumstances while attempting to swim the Dardanelles Straits, the passage between Europe and Asia, heavily used by warships, liners, tankers and cargo vessels of all kinds. A romantic attempt to repeat the legendary feat of Leander, as the Embassy says? Or an attempt to spy out a possible landing place for a British military expedition, as the Turks insist? Whichever, Cunningham has ended up with a bullet in his head.

The suspicious circumstances of his death have to be investigated so the Foreign Office sends out an officer of the Special Branch: Seymour.

As Seymour tries to untangle the threads that lead to Cunningham's death, their ends lead him into all parts of the city, from the little box shops of the Avenue of Slippers to Les Petits Champs des Morts, where fashionable Turkish ladies loiter among the tombs to eat sweets; from the crowded coffee houses around the Galata Bridge where men sit all day smoking bubble pipes to the heart of the Topkapi Palace itself.

Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series

'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal

'Sheer fun' The Times

'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

About this title

About the Author

Michael Pearce was raised in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, where his fascination for language began. He later trained as a Russian interpreter but moved away from languages to follow an academic career, first as a lecturer in English and the History of Ideas, and then as an administrator. He has a strong interest in human rights and in languages, both of which feature indirectly in his new series. Michael Pearce now lives in South-West London.

From AudioFile

This is a remarkably felicitous blend of narrator and author, both determined to have fun and to give listeners a grand time. When a British diplomat is shot dead after finishing a mysterious swim near Istanbul, the Foreign Service sends out an investigator, who becomes our guide through events taking place in the pre-WWI Ottoman Empire. The adventures offer Bill Wallis a grand opportunity to display numerous accents and to create audio portraits of everyone from a cockney actress to a Turkish policeman to a British-educated Ottoman sultan. In addition, Wallis is a master of dialogue--undercurrents, emotions, and characters are crystalline. This is audiobook acting at its best. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Constable
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 184529131X
• ISBN 13: 9781845291310
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288