Inspector Ikmen Books
Tourist brochures present Istanbul as a glamorous, modern city, but the brochures don't make much mention of Balat, a decrepit neighborhood of narrow, twisting alleys and crumbling tenements. Until recently it was home to Leonid Meyer, a reclusive elderly Jew who, like many of his neighbors, came here long ago to escape one of Europe's various bloodbaths. But Meyer's refuge ultimately became his coffin, the carnage crowned with a gigantic swastika. Inspector Ikmen begins tracking down the few people who might have known the old man, including a faded prostitute, a shadowy family of Russian emigrs, a despairing rabbi, and a high-strung young Englishman in the throes of erotic obsession.
Inspector Ikmen and forensic pathologist Sarkissian have been friends since childhood. When called to a flat to investigate the death of a 20 year old, the case becomes strange and alters their relationship as the man has been kept prisoner inside a gilded cage.
Confined to his home on sick-leave (and prevented from sneaking his beloved brandy and cigars), Inspector Ikmen of the Istanbul police is forced to hand his latest case over to his protege, the newly promoted Suleyman. That's too bad, because the aristocratic Suleyman knows nothing about Arabesk, the throbbing, deeply sentimental music that is adored by Turkey's working classes, and the case is drenched in those mournful melodies. A secret marriage, a murdered bride, an aging beauty, a father driven mad with grief and guilt: it's all so melodramatic that Suleyman can barely keep his lip from curling. Ikmen, unashamed of his own plebeian tastes, is happy to weigh in from the sidelines, but both cops eventually come to one conclusion: At the real heart of this operatic catastrophe is the city itself.
A man's body, virtually decapitated, is found by the Bosphorus. His identity card names him as Rifat Berisha, an Albanian. The family is impenetrable but when Inspector Cetin Ikmen, whose mother was Albanian, consults his cousin, Samsun, he's left in little doubt that Berisha's death is likely to be the result of a fis , an implacable blood feud between rival Albanian families. Which means the blood already shed will have to be avenged. And if the Berishas or their enemies discover Ikmen is from a noted Albanian clan, some of the spilt blood might be his...
The body of a teenage girl is discovered in a cistern deep below the city of Istanbul. For the Turkish police force's most talented officer, Inspector Çetin Ikmen, this is a difficult case. The girl was his daughter's friend and her attire, that of a nineteenth-century Ottoman, offers no easy explanation.With his promise of justice to the dead girl's mother still fresh on his lips, Ikmen is suddenly taken off the case and reassigned to the kidnapping of an ageing movie star's wife. The star is hiding something and so, Ikmen fears, are his superiors. A powerful secret exists in the labyrinthine city; one which those on either side of the law will do anything to prevent surfacing...
Summer in Istanbul is hot. The kind of heat that can drive even the sanest people a little crazy... An elderly woman is found dead in a flat with the perfectly preserved body of a young man. In an ancient part of the Jewish quarter, two children are missing. Their father, an artist whose genius borders on insanity, only seems more driven in his work. And a raid on a Russian gangster yields nothing except the dead body of a girl he claims is his daughter. Could the connection to all cases lie in a macabre forgotten art? But Inspector Cetin Ikmen's worries aren't just work-related. His protégé, Suleyman, is going dangerously off the rails, threatening to compromise not just himself but months of painstaking investigation. Ikmen faces a complex case which threatens to rock the very fabric of Turkish society.
A naked teenage girl is found dead near the beautiful Byzantine Yoros Castle in Turkey. She has stabbed herself through the heart but there is evidence of bizarre sexual practice. In another part of Istanbul, a young boy sems to have committed suicide in similar circumstances. What dark rituals could have compelled them to fatal self-abuse? Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman follow an internet trail that leads them to an underworld of Goth nightclubs and Satanic worship. But even those murkey shadows hide more than they reveal and the answers to an ever increasing number of suspicious deaths is more shocking and terrible than they could ever have imagined.
A body is discovered in a cave in the remote region of Cappadocia, Turkey. The woman died of gunshot wounds, and her corpse has lain undisturbed for twenty years. Inspector Cetin Ikmen is summoned from Istanbul to investigate and discovers a complex web of intrigue. Was she killed by her boyfriend, driven mad by love, or her husband, believing she would never bear the son he wanted so badly? When it is revealed the girl was pregnant when she died, the whispers and accusations increase. Ikmen, stifled among a rural community thriving on folklore and intrigue, begins to think he will never see clearly through the lies surrounding this case. One thing, however, is clear: the past is as potent as the present.
A killer with means but no motive, and the body count is rising! A serial killer is stalking the streets of Istanbul. A man is found dead in a hotel room, a single stab wound in his heart. Could he be a victim of the "Peeper," a murderer whose target up until now has been gay men? The body of the man is delivered to forensics, but it is entirely clean. Has someone tampered with it? Inspector Mehmet Suleyman finds himself under increasing pressure from his contact at the Turkish Secret Service to keep his findings to himself. Meanwhile a young carpet dealer, on the brink of a huge sale, is found dead in the mangled remains of his Jeep. The deal would have made him—the carpet he wanted to sell used to belong to Lawrence of Arabia. Inspector Cetin Ikmen finds out that just as the carpet's rich history is stained by bloodshed, so the young man hides a sinister and deadly secret!
When Emine Aksu, the flamboyant wife of an Istanbul style guru, suddenly goes missing, Inspector Cetin Ikmen''s investigation leads him deep into her strange and colourful past. Emine was a hippie when she was younger, who wholeheartedly enjoyed the liberated lifestyle that swept across Istanbul in the sixties. Her husband suspects that she was visiting an old friend at the time of her disappearance. Meanwhile, Inspector Mehmet Suleyman is called to a terrifying scene at the art deco Kamondo Stairs in the old banking district of Karakoy. The skeleton of a woman has been discovered in one of the large plant containers. Could these two bizarre incidents be linked?
The chilling psycho-mystery from the highly-acclaimed and award-winning author Barbara Nadel. Convicted murderer and drug baron Yusuf Kaya has escaped from Istanbul prison. He appears to have had inside help. Ikmen is called to investigate Kaya''s contacts in the city, while Inspector Suleyman heads to Kaya''s home town of Mardin, a dangerous city in the south east of Turkey. As Ikmen delves deeper into Kaya''s past, the body count continues to rise. It''s not long before the two Inspectors are caught up in a terrifying web of arms and drug running, terrorism, blackmail and murder...
Barbara Nadel''s Turkish crime novel sees Inspector Ikmen tackling a complex case of organised crime in London. When the Istanbul police raid a counterfeit goods factory in the run-down district of Tarlabasi, a young man with explosives strapped to his chest blows himself up in front of them. In the process, Istanbul''s Inpsector Çetin Ikmen is injured. Documents found in the factory lead the authorities in both Istanbul and London to believe that a terrorist attack, in part orchestrated from the Tarlabasi factory, is about to be enacted in the British capital. Ikmen goes undercover amongst the Turkish community of North London, although what he uncovers there is certainly not what his British colleagues were expecting...
Turkey: the police are called to the scene of what seems to be the honour killing of a young girl. Burnt alive, she is not the first girl to suffer such an horrific death in Istanbul. Further investigations by Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman reveal that the girl had a secret boyfriend who has now disappeared. He and the girl's family are prime suspects, even though forensic evidence is scant. Why does the family, in common with other families of girls immolated in the city, now appear to be broke? There are also links to an infamous local gangster. Religion, organised crime and the lengths some people will go to in order to conform, come together in a tragic story of violence in a divided and changing society. And Mehmet Suleyman is on the verge of making a mistake that could ruin his career...
Inner city murder crosses two continents. Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman from Istanbul are sent to a policing conference in Detroit, but little can prepare them for the corruption that lies at its heart. When Ezekial Goins, an elderly man of Turkish descent approaches them to crack the long-unsolved murder of his son, a quiet trip takes a far more sinister turn. As they delve deeper into the case, the pair find themselves immersed in a terrifying world of inter-gang drug war and racial prejudice that puts them in mortal danger, and forces Ikmen to confront some demons of his own...
When Cetin Ikmen is invited to a murder mystery evening at Istanbul's famous Pera Palas Hotel he finds himself embroiled in a deadly game of life imitating art. Walking in the steps of the great Agatha Christie, Ikmen experiences fear and hatred which have echoes deep in his own past.
Any bloody death will lead Inspectors Ikmen and Suleyman out onto the dark streets of Istanbul. On January 21, a half-decapitated corpse in the poor multicultural district of Tarlabasi poses a particularly frustrating and gruesome mystery. But as the months pass and the violence increases, it turns into a hunt for that rare phenomenon in the golden city on the Bosphorus: a serial killer. Desperate to uncover the killer's twisted logic as the body count rises, Ikmen and Suleyman find only more questions. How are the victims connected? What is the significance of the number 21? And how many Istanbullus must die before they find the answers?
Istanbul - in antiquity, called the Land of the Blind - is a city where old and new collide, and the fallout can be deadly... In the ruins of the Constantinople hippodrome lies a body: a woman, clutching a piece of red stone. She's recently given birth, but there's no sign of the baby. Inspector ÇetinIkmendiscovers she was Ariadne Savva, a Byzantine specialist on a crusade to protect the historic areas of Istanbul that property developer Ahmet Öden seeks to destroy and rebuild. As Ikmensearches for the lost child and the facts behind Ariadne's death, the people of Istanbul rise up in protest against their government in Gezi Park. Amid the chaos, Ikmenand his colleague Mehmet Süleymanmust unravel a tale of ancient hostility and modern desires, to find the truth concealed within the secret history of their antique city.
The brand-new Istanbul crime thriller staring Inspector Cetin Ikmen, 'the Morse of Istanbul' (Daily Telegraph ) , from Barbara Nadel. ON THE BONE is perfect for fans of Donna Leon. In Istanbul - the golden city on the Bosphorus - ancient myths and modern evils are at work... On a buzzing street in the fashionable district of Beyoglu, a young man drops dead. Ümit Kavas's death was natural but the autopsy betrays a shocking truth: his last meal was human flesh. Under desperate pressure from their superiors, Inspector Cetin Ikmen and his colleague Mehmet Süleyman begin their most obscure investigation yet. How did Ümit Kavas, apparently a good, liberal man, come to partake in the greatest taboo of all? Did he act alone? And who was his victim? Soon they find themselves embroiled in a dark web of underground worlds: of Turkey's old secular elite; a community of squatters; and a new gastronomy scene breaking every boundary. But where does the truth lie?
THE HOUSE OF FOUR is the brand new Istanbul crime thriller featuring Inspector Ikmen, 'the Morse of Istanbul' ( Daily Telegraph ) from Barbara Nadel. Perfect for fans of Donna Leon. Everyone in the Istanbul neighbourhood of Moda knows the Devil's House. A crumbling Ottoman mansion, and once the home of a princess, it is a place associated with ill fortune. The princess's four children, now in old age, still live in separate apartments on different floors and are rumoured never to speak to each other. Then one of them is found dead, stabbed through the heart, and it is discovered that the other three siblings have met an identical fate. There is no sign of forced entry or burglary, and all evidence must be gained from letters and diaries, but as Inspector Ikmen digs into their past it becomes clear they have been harbouring a secret... Meanwhile a young couple are arrested for a series of seemingly random killings on the streets of Istanbul. They claim to have been squatting in the Devil's House. But this fiendish mystery is far from over and it will take Inspector Ikmen to the darkest and most devilish depths of this ancient city.
'Inspector Ikmen thrillers combine brightly coloured scene setting with deliciously tortuous plots' Guardian INCORRUPTIBLE is the gripping new Istanbul crime thriller starring Inspector Ikmen, 'the Morse of Istanbul' ( Daily Telegraph ), from award-winning author Barbara Nadel. Not to be missed by fans of Donna Leon. In the backstreets of Istanbul, a young woman's body is found. Dumped in a dustbin and covered in cut flowers, she is the victim of a frenzied and vicious stabbing. Inspector Ikmen discovers that the woman was well known in Istanbul. Newspapers had been calling her the blessed woman; cured of cancer in a Christian miracle and a proclaimed messenger of the Virgin Mary. These controversial claims had made her fierce enemies in the predominantly Islamic community and she had unwittingly stirred up divisions amongst the Christians of the city. But as Ikmen digs further into the case he uncovers powerful hatred and dark secrets lurking within her family. And to find the truth he must delve into a toxic world of fear, concealment and lies. The question is: was this a killing in the name of faith or does the answer lie somewhere else?
The twenty-first chilling Istanbul crime thriller starring Çetin Ikmen , 'the Morse of Istanbul' ( Daily Telegraph ), from Silver Dagger Award-winning author Barbara Nadel. Not to be missed by fans of Donna Leon. A derelict villa near Istanbul holds dark spirits, secrets and murder... Retired inspector Çetin Ikmen must confront his demons to reveal the shocking truth behind a young girl's death... When historian Suzan Tan is asked to examine the contents of a derelict villa on the Bosphorus, she is intrigued to discover a Ouija board among the artefacts. Forty years ago, a young girl was found with a knife in her heart in this villa. It is said that before her death this very Ouija board spelled out her name.The verdict was suicide - but what if it was a brutal act of murder and her killer was still walking free? Suzan asks Ikmen to solve the case, and despite his reluctance to get involved, he soon finds himself drawn into the mystery. With the help of his friend Inspector Süleyman, Ikmen delves into Istanbul's dark underbelly to uncover a terrifying tale of secrets, lies and murder.
Brothers Ugur and LokmanBulutare locked in a bitter inheritance battle and need a sample of their mother's DNA to contest her Will. But when her body is exhumed, her corpse is found to be missing and a fresh body, with its heart removed, has been put in her grave. Assigned to the case, Inspector Mehmet Süleyman quickly realises that the heart has been illegally harvested, and his team has a murder inquiry on its hands. Meanwhile, retired inspector Çetin Ikmen is tracking down a missing person: Sevval Kalkan, a once-famous actress, who has joined an underground movement called the Moral Maze, whose mission is to help the destitute living on Istanbul's streets. The unidentified body in the grave cannot be Sevval's, but her shocking reappearance leads Ikmen to fear that she, too, is a victim of organ harvesting... Joining forces, Süleyman and Ikmen confront Istanbul's darkest underbelly to expose the horrifying truth of a city in crisis.
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. GREED, LUST AND BETRAYAL LEAD TO MURDER i n Barbara Nadel's twenty-third Ikmen mystery, as Ikmen and Süleyman work to uncover a tragic tale of dark secrets and double lives... In the early hours of the morning, Turkish TV star Erol Gencer is found dead at his home on the outskirts of Istanbul. But he is not alone. Beside him lies a Syrian refugee whose stomach has been split open with a cheese knife. Did Gencer kill his guest before committing suicide, or are they victims of a sinister double murder? The dead Syrian is soon identified as Wael Al Hussain, whose wife, Samira, is in prison for attempting to kill Gencer a year ago. At the time, no one believed Samira's story that Gencer's wife had planned the attack, but now Samira's sister begs Çetin Ikmen to re-examine her claim. Meanwhile, Inspector Mehmet Süleyman is on leave with his teenage son, Patrick, who is visiting from Ireland, but when Detective Kerim Gürsel's transsexual ex-lover, Pembe, is also murdered, shortly after confessing that Wael Al Hussain had used her for sexual favours, Süleyman knows he must help Kerim solve this complex case. Entering a world of the Syrian diaspora, where tales of mythical storytellers abound, Ikmen and Süleyman uncover a tragic tale of dark secrets and double lives where nothing is at it seems...
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. Every relationship comes at a cost in this tense and gripping Turkish mystery from award-winning crime writer Barbara Nadel and featuring Ikmen - 'one of modern crime fiction's true heroes ' The Times When jeweller Fahrettin Muftugolu is found dead in his apartment in the Istanbul district of Vefa, it looks like suicide. Searching the jeweller's home, Inspector Mehmet Suleyman and his team come across a hoard of extraordinary artefacts including solid gold religious relics and a mummified human head. But are they real and, if so, who owns these priceless possessions? As his colleagues begin their investigation, Suleyman is distracted by troubles of his own. His wedding to Gonca Serekoglu is days away, but when Gonca receives her bridal bedcover from a Roma haberdasher and discovers that it is covered in blood, she sees this as a curse on their marriage. Suleyman asks his old friend Cetin Ikmen to help him uncover the truth, but the task is not that simple... Meanwhile, as the stories swirling around Muftugolu become increasingly sinister, the dead man's wife appears, laying claim to his valuables, and Suleyman is drawn into a dark and dangerous world of smuggling and savagery . . .
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. The gripping twenty-fifth Ikmen mystery from award-winning crime writer Barbara Nadel will delight her many fans. Don't miss I kmen and Suleyman in the sensational TV series The Turkish Detective When Ateş Böcek, son of a feared Istanbul gang leader, is arrested for the brutal murder of his Roma lover, feelings of vengeance are ignited among rival Turkish gangs and the Roma community. Forensic evidence is stacked against him, but Ateş refuses to speak, and Inspector Suleyman suspects that there is more to the case than meets the eye. Then Cetin Ikmen discovers that Ateş is psychotic and believes that everyone in his life is an imposter, which suggests that Ates might in fact be a victim of a far more sinister game . . . As violence erupts, Suleyman and his team work tirelessly to expose a shocking tale of corruption, power and betrayal - but not before more blood is shed on these dark and dangerous streets.
Barbara Nadel's gripping Ikmen mysteries are the inspiration behind The Turkish Detective, BBC Two's sensational eight-part TV crime drama series available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Dark magic is unleashed on the streets of Istanbul . . . When a newborn baby is found drowned in the shallow waters of the Golden Horn, all-out warfare threatens to erupt between rival criminal gangs. Inspector Kerim Gürsel is assigned to the case and he must tread carefully when DNA tests reveal that the baby's father is Görkan Paşahan, Istanbul's most feared Mafia boss. But the identity of the infant's mother is yet to be discovered . . . Meanwhile, Çetin İkmen and Mehmet Süleyman attend the winter festival known as Bocuk Gecesi, held on the darkest night of the year, and witness a magic trick whereby a young man, Emir Kaya, disappears. While İkmen investigates how the illusion took place, Süleyman conducts a tortuous hunt for Emir Kaya that exposes a harrowing tale of depravation, betrayal and corruption where the bloodline of a child is worth killing for and everything has its price . . . Praise for Barbara Nadel's novels: ' Complex and beguiling : a Turkish delight' Mick Herron ' İkmen is one of modern crime fiction's true heroes , complex yet likeable, and the city he inhabits - Istanbul - is just as fascinating' The Times 'Barbara Nadel's distinctive Istanbul-set Inspector İkmen thrillers combine brightly coloured scene setting with deliciously tortuous plots ' Guardian