The Janissary Tree (2006)

The first offering in this detective series set in Istambul in the 1830's. Yashim is on the trail of a conspirary of former soldiers "The Janissaries" while trying to solve the murder of a woman in the Sultan's harem and the theft of the Sultan's mother precious jewels given to her by Napoleon's wife Josephine. The setting is exotic, the plot is intriguing. Yashim is endearing. Those are the pluses.

But... this book suffers from what I've nicknamed the "Dan Brown syndrome" 132 chapters for 300 pages amounts to 2 and 1/4 pages by chapters. It's annoying, it's very, very annoying. I don't have the attention span of a gerbil thank you very much. The pace of the action, the way the plot is managed suffer greatly from this choice. Luckyly, the short span chapter temper off in the last third of the book saving it for me.

The details on the way people live, the city, the seraglios, Yashim's particular situation (he's an eunuch) the "war" the Europeans are waging in the area with the "Great Game" between Russia, the Germans, the British and the French in the background make the plot and action interesting and keep your reading. ( )

A reader can divide historical fiction into two kinds: the kind where you know the general outline of what happens historically, and the kind where you don't. The Janissary Tree was the second kind for me. I know almost nothing about the Ottoman Empire -- a few names, a smattering about the Crimean War and the empire's part in WWI, and the phrase "The Sick Man of Europe." That's about it. In addition, 1836, when the book is set, is a time even in European history about which I knew little. Well, I know a little more now. I enjoyed Goodwin's book possibly more for the characters and setting than for the plot. Goodwin had already written a history of the Ottoman Empire (as well as four other non-fiction books) before this, his first novel. (It appears he's British, thus not eligible for the Best First Novel Edgar, which is limited to American authors.)

Yashim, the protagonist, is a eunuch, but although he is a trusted adviser to the Sultan and the Sultan's mother, he does not live in the Palace, but moves freely around Istanbul. He is called in on two separate investigations, or perhaps three: the death of one of the Sultan's harem; the theft of some of the Valide Sultan's (Queen Mother's) jewels, once owned by Napoleon; and the disappearance of four young officers in the New Guard. Soon the officers' bodies begin turning up, each killed in a peculiarly horrible way. With the help of his two best friends, Panewski, the Polish Ambassador (at a time when Poland as a country had ceased to exist) and Preen, a eunuch who works as a transvestite dancer and prostitute, Yashim eventually solves all the crimes, undergoing some fairly terrifying experiences along the way.

At just under 300 pages, The Janissary Tree was not exceptionally long, but it took me quite a while to read, partly because of other commitments, but also because the plot was not that engaging to me. What kept me reading (besides my vow to read every Edgar Best Novel winner)was the immersion in another world that Goodwin provided. Istanbul in the 1830s was a cosmopolitan city at the heart of a vast and diverse empire, yet it could hardly have been more different from London, Vienna or St. Petersburg. Goodwin brings Istanbul to life; the mystery seems just a device, the plot merely a framework on which to display the characters and setting. Had I been on that Edgar jury, I think it unlikely I would have voted for this work (I'll have to read the other nominees to be sure, and that's another challenge!) But it was certainly good enough to deserve some kind of recognition, and I'll be interested to read the later books in the series. If you like to learn something with your mystery reading and can bear with a rather slow pace, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Janissary Tree. ( )

This book kicks of a series about Yashim, a eunuch detective living in late 19th century Istanbul. In this book, a series of young navy officers go missing in a plot for the Janissaries (an older, powerful shadowy group) to come back to power. The historical details were good, but the book still dragged. It has none of the intricacy of David Liss' historical thrillers. One book with Investigator Yashim was quite enough. ( )

This is a historical mystery set in Istanbul during the 1830s, a time of change and tension in the Ottoman Empire with modernisers and traditionalists vying for power, while foreign powers are poised to exploit the situation for their own advantage. The protagonist, Yashim, is summoned by a senior official at the Palace to solve the mysterious disappearance of four young guardsmen, while the Sultan's mother seeks his help on the matter of a murdered girl in the harem. Yashim in his methods and his interests seems very much a modernising Turk - he is happy to befriend foreigners and loves reading French novels - but he is also a eunuch, literally embodying one particular aspect of tradition which also serves make him feel set apart from his fellow men.

I knew almost nothing about the history of the Ottoman Empire or of Istanbul during that period, and have never visited the city, so there was plenty in the geographical and historical setting which was entirely new to me. It may be for that reason that I found this book rather slow to get into - it took me a while to absorb enough of the names and events being referred to, to make sense of the politics and history which are an important element in the plot. The Janissaries of the title, for example, were just a name to me; I have now learned that they were an elite military group that served the Ottoman Sultan and Empire for centuries, becoming increasingly corrupt, and were eventually overthrown and abolished in 1826 (ten years before the time-frame of this novel) in what was known as the Auspicious Incident. What happened to the survivors after the Janissaries were suppressed, and whether they were plotting a comeback, are important questions thrown up by Yashim's investigation.

Jason Goodwin has apparently written a couple of non-fiction books about Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire before this, his first novel - I'm sure I'd have found this book easier reading if I'd read those first. I now appreciate a bit better what it must feel like for someone with no knowledge of Tudor England reading [Wolf Hall]! I wouldn't put Goodwin quite on Mantel's level as a novelist, but nevertheless the writing is interesting and the necessary background information is fairly skilfully woven in rather than feeling like a lot of clumsy information dumping as happens in less well-written historical fiction. After about 100 pages I found myself reading more easily - perhaps I was simply in the right mood and less tired than I have been - and found myself unable to put it down towards the end.

The descriptions of the sights and smells of Istanbul are well done, and there are lovely descriptions of cooking (Yashim enjoys his food and preparing meals for his friend the Polish ambassador over a simple fire in his rather humble room). I found myself wishing for a map of the city to try to locate the different landmarks and areas mentioned, and eventually satisfied this need by keeping Google Maps open on my phone while reading, managing to find at least some of the places mentioned. About half-way through the book, maps of the city also began to play a part in the story too, which was a strange coincidence. I would have loved it if one of those maps had been reproduced at that point in the text!

So although it was a slow start, I'll happily give this four stars, and will look out for more stories involving Yashim and his investigations. ( )

Un giallo ambientato nel passato, nella Istanbul tra il 1830 e il 1840, al tempo del sultano. Un'epoca a cavallo tra tradizione e voglia di cambiamento, e proprio su questa lotta irrisolvibile si innesca una catena di feroci delitti. A indagare, un eunuco dei servizi segreti. La trama è molto intrigante, come si vede, ma il romanzo non è un gialletto da ombrellone. Esige un lettore attento, ha una prosa ricca che scivola ma non ti scivola addosso e la ricostruzione storica è minuziosa. Il difetto: ci sono alcune cripticità sparse nell'intreccio, che mi hanno lasciato dei dubbi e che ho patito.