Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Pashazade

Pashazade

Jon Courtenay Grimwood

Bantam, Mar 2005, $12.00, 374 pp.

ISBN: 0553587439

Abetted by his Aunt Nafisa, who he never knew existed, Ashraf el-Mansur comes to the Mediterranean port city of El Iskandryia having escaped from an American prison. Lady Nafisa explains to her nephew that her brother married American Sally Welham and though divorced five days later, he is a legitimate offspring of an Emir.

Aunt Nafisa introduces Ashraf to her niece nine year old Hani and his future wife Zara daughter of wealth; both hate him because the fuss made over him interferes with their respective lives. However, before his aunt can complete arrangements for his entrance into the elite of Ottoman society, she is killed. As a newcomer and the sole heir to her fortune, the police suspect Ashraf murdered his aunt. Based on his American experience with Chinese employers, Ashraf knows he must prove his innocence or be railroaded into prison or worse. His only help comes from two females who loath him.

PASHAZADE is a fabulous futuristic amateur sleuth tale built on an alternate historical foundation to include Germany winning World War I and the Ottoman Empire thriving in the early twenty-first century. The who-done-it is cleverly handled so that mystery buffs have a solid investigative tale with some intriguing police procedural elements. The cast is terrific. Ashraf also known as ZeeZee struggles with what he has learned about his patriarchal ancestry (his mother could not provide two consistent responses as her version of the truth kept wavering) and with his aunt's death. Hani and Zara add depth to Ashraf's character. However, the star is the city of El Iskandryia where fundamentalist Islamic and western hedonists share a troubled past and shop at Wal-Mart.

Harriet Klausner