Turkish literature has an enormous potential, especially the crime and thriller genre, but unfortunatelly, language remains a big deterrent. As my Turkish learning is too slow to jump suddenly to crime novels, I still rely on various translations, and as usual, German edition houses never disappoint.
Esmahan Aykol is well known as a German-Turkish author, the creator of Kati Hirschel character, a bookstore owner in Istanbul specialized in crime novels and herself passionate about solving a case or two. Istanbul Tango translated into German by Antje Bauer was my first encounter with the series and it looks like I may be interested in continuing my reading with other installment in the series.
Nil, a young woman, recently fired from her journalist job, is having a sudden attack while in a coffee, that will end her up in the Emergency Room, where she will lie few more days in coma before dying. Kati who didn´t have a close connection, if any, with the victim, is curious to figure out what exactly happened to her.
It is just an accident, a medical occurrence, after all, why need to go so deep into a crime investigation?This is a question I´ve asked myself several times, as almost 100 pages into the book, was not yet very clear if there is any crime plot besides the intention of it. I´ve rarely read a story which is moving so so slowly towards an unexpected end.
Crime, sex, political corruption, an omnipresent intelligence apparatus, but also unique stories about the connection between Argentinian Tango and Istanbul - as at the time of her death, Nil was about to finish a beautifully written novel inspired by those connections. The story is well written and I enjoyed how it was constructed, although it took a bit too long to reach the end. The advantage of this take was though to add a lot of local flesh and colour, including by portraying the characters and focusing on their relationships. The human element is very important in this story, as it leads from different directions to the final storyline.
Istanbul Tango is not my cup of crime tea, but I would love to read more from the series, because it seems like Esmahan Aykol has a well curated art of writing that sometimes can be as important as building a powerful story itself.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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