Hotel Bosphorus

A murder mystery with a distinctly Turkish flavor. Aykol has created a wonderful, strong, middle aged female protagonist in Kati Hirschel, and provides many profound insights into western prejudices and their Turkish counter parts. This novel has actually grown in my esteem after a bit of reflection.

Kati Hirschel hat es gut. Nicht nur, dass die zufriedene Besitzerin eines Krimi-Buchladens im hektischen Istanbul auf Anhieb einen Parkplatz findet ("Der Himmel im Himmel ist gnädig! Wie heißt es doch gleich: Wenn seine Schäflein in Not geraten, schickst du deinen Engel zur Hilfe."). Sie ist auch mit Petra Vogel befreundet, die nach dem Mord an einem ebenso dilettantischen wie korrupten Regisseur zur Hauptverdächtigen avanciert. "Logisch, dass ein Mensch, der gerne Kriminalromane liest, auch Lust hat, sie zu verkaufen", heißt es im Debütroman Hotel Bosporus der türkischen Autorin Esmahan Aykol. Und noch logischer, dass so jemand es liebt, Verbrechen aufzuklären! Bis dahin aber muss sich Hirschel nicht nur mit der Mafia show more herumschlagen, sondern auch mit dem Machotum der heimischen Männerwelt. Wie nebenbei werden dabei im Verlauf der Handlung mit viel Humor und Ironie so manche Vorurteile im deutsch-türkischen Verhältnis auch wieder vom Stammtisch gewischt -- zuerst in der Türkei, wo das bald zum Bestseller avancierte Original erschien, und jetzt auch hier. Hotel Bosporus erzählt vom aufregenden Leben einer Deutschen im Trubel der Türkei, spannend geschrieben von einer Türkin, die zwischen Berlin und Istanbul pendelt. Dieses Spiel mit den (nationalen) Identitäten macht einen Reiz dieses rasant wie ein Kriminalfilm geschnittenen Buches aus. Aber nur einen: Denn die lebendige Art, wie Aykol die pulsierende Metropole am Bosporus mit ihrem Treiben und ihrer Lebenslust (1.000 Kneipen!) beschreibt, macht es uns Lesern fast unverständlich, warum wir eigentlich noch hier in Deutschland geblieben sind, statt bei einer Tasse Tee in Istanbul zu sitzen. So lange Bücher wie Hotel Bosporus allerdings ins Deutsche übersetzt werden, ist es auch hier zu Lande in Straßen-Cafés und Lokalen mit einem Glas guten Weins sehr erträglich. --Thomas Köster show less

The first title in a newly translated series from Bitter Lemon Press, Hotel Bosphorus, is a light armchair travel mystery set in the exotic city of Istanbul. While the crime isn't original, a hair dryer in the tub, Kati, Istanbul's only crime bookshop owner, is an unusual amateur sleuth. She is a quirky, man obsessed, humorous, stream of consciousness commentator on life as a German living in Turkey. Think Precious Ramotswe meets Stella Hardesty. If you are tired of all those bleak, cold, depressing Nordic crime novels escape to a sunny, hot, and possibly slightly overly optimistic Turkish mystery. Where flirting is the tool of choice for this sleuth and Turkish coffee, sidewalk cafes and crowded streets play the supporting role.

First Line: I keep driving around, but there's nowhere to park near the shop.

Parking in Istanbul can be a problem, and since Kati Hirschel is usually running a bit late to open her business-- the only mystery bookshop in town-- she's just going to have to park and run. Having recently lost her part-time employee, Kati does need to hire someone else, but she's also anticipating meeting Petra, an old school friend she hasn't seen for years. Kati is a German ex-pat who's fallen in love with Istanbul. Petra went on to become a very popular actress in Germany, and has come to Turkey to star in a new film; however, everything is put on hold when the film's director is found murdered in his hotel room. Petra is the prime suspect, and Kati show more can't resist running her own amateur investigation. After all, reading all those mysteries has surely taught her something.

I found that my enjoyment of this book relied a lot upon my opinion of its main character, and I was alternately exasperated and delighted. I did really like the insider's point of view, especially since Kati is an ex-pat because it exposed both Western prejudices about Turkey as well as Turkish stereotyping of Europeans. Moreover, since Kati's investigating style was rather hit or miss, I also learned quite a few things about different sections of Istanbul.

Kati has always been single, and never passes up the opportunity to ogle-- or bed-- a handsome, interesting man, and this led to one of the things that annoyed me. A handsome, interesting (and interested) policeman falls right into Kati's lap, and after a brief encounter, she dumps him with no explanation. You see, Kati was raised to hate the police, and she just can't overcome that prejudice. Then there was the way the book was written. Kati is speaking to us, and although I don't mind being brought into the story, and I can think of many, many books in which I loved the first person viewpoint, I draw the line at constantly being referred to as "dear reader." As the dear reader of this review, I found this tendency made the narrative stilted and gimmicky.

Kati's investigative technique was all over the place. If she was paid by the mile, she could hire all the employees she needs and never have to work in her bookshop again. This scattered approach allowed her to meet various characters such as stock film types and a stock mobster and his minions as well as take a trip to Berlin.

No, this book isn't long on character or plot development, but I did find it a light, fun read. If it's substance you crave, I would strongly suggest reading Barbara Nadel's Inspector Ikmen mysteries which are also set in Istanbul. show less

Non ci siamo proprio. Non è che Sellerio può spacciare qualsiasi ciofeca sotto la copertura della sua elengante copertina blu di Prussia. Il movente ( e dunque l'assassino) è chiaro prima ancora dell'omicidio. Un record! Buona l'atmosfera istanbulina (ma anche in questo caso ci acchiappa di più Markaris). Fastidiosa la protagonista tedesca (che in realtà è turca ed è l'autrice) un po' troppo frivola e senza alcuno spessore psicologico (minimo per carità, nessuno cerca Proust in un giallo! ma un personaggio deve essere credibile). La stessa piattezza e inconsistenza affligge i personaggi di contorno, per non parlare del poliziotto turco la cui unica caratteristica è di non riuscire a tenere allacciati i pantaloni.

Having worked as a bookseller for a number of years, I am perhaps more irritated than the average reader by books in which characters who own bookstores (as does Kati Hirschel, the protagonist of this mystery series set in Istanbul) spend almost no time at all in them, leaving the running of their implausibly profitable businesses to some equally implausibly compliant employee who is always available to take over from them on a moment's notice and for an indefinite period of time while they go about the business of being amateur detectives. That being said, there were things about this book that I found interesting and enjoyable -- notably the unusual setting in Istanbul and the very different perspective represented by Kati, a German show more emigre living by preference in Turkey. Neither the characters nor the plotting of the central crime rise much above average, but they do give Aykol a way to air her insights into contemporary Turkish society and culture, and to skewer the prejudices harbored by both Turks and Europeans in a city where Asia and Europe collide. show less

This is a murder mystery story set in modern day Istanbul. The German director of a movie to be filmed there is killed - a live electric hair dryer is dropped into his bathtub. An expat friend of the movie's star decides to look into the death on behalf of her friend. She becomes the narrator for the story -- it's written as a narrative. She thinks she's qualified to investigate because she owns Istanbul's only crime fiction bookstore. There's lots of potential here for a good story. Unfortunately it ultimately disappointed me.

The storytelling style is different from most, but the narrator is not that appealing a person. Sometimes she acts stupid or rude or both. She's an annoying flake. She doesn't seem to know whether she's Turkish show more or German -- she disparages her fellow Germans too some of which may be deserved.

In the end, the mystery is solved (not by dint of hard work), but by an over the top coincidence. The key to the mystery --- why the director was killed -- is revealed in a chance meeting when the narrator goes to Berlin. It's a convoluted solution that is rushed and not well laid out, and the story abruptly ends. Not a clean ending -- not entirely satisfactory -- but the identity of the killer is revealed.

Maybe I was expecting a story like one of Barbara Nadel's Inspector Ikmen mysteries. This work is not in the same league. show less