City of Veils

The story takes place in Saudi Arabia, where Religious Law rules.

Katya works in the medical examiner's office, a job she loves, but had to pretend to be married to work there alongside men (not exactly alongside because her lab is separate from the others'). She sees a brutally beaten body, found on the beach, and notices some things that suggest it is not "just another housemaid". She enlists the help of a friend, fundamentalist Nayir, and the two of them discover that the body is that of a young filmmater named Leila. They further determine that she was working on a film that had a controversial subject: a challenge to the belief in the perfection of the Koran. What they unearth shakes Nayir, who struggles with his beliefs. The two show more make the acquaintance of a young American woman whose husband has disappeared, and they make connections with the death of Leila.

What was interesting to me throughout this book was the insight it provides into the day-to-day lives of Muslims in places like Saudi Arabia, and the lives in general of women who live there, Muslim or not. The religious restrictions hurt not only the women. show less

The author does a great job of describing the desert setting through the search for the whodunnit. I never knew what a sandstorm meant or how dangerous it can be. Her descriptions of life in Saudi Arabia can only come from someone who has lived there, as the author has. Her characters include both devout and undevout Muslims, which I found interesting. With all that we hear on American TV about Muslims, I never imagined that there was any other kind of Muslim other than a devout one. Ferraris follows the thriller formula to a T. It is fast paced with suspense on just about every page. She is an incredible writer and with the success of both of her books, I have to wonder where she has been hiding all these years.

Excellent cultural whodunit. A muslim woman is murdered and there are few clues. The police department has few women on the force and women must be married. The taboos of interaction between men and women who are not in their family is a large part of this book and it was fascinating. Courtship and the American concept of dating is basically impossible in Saudi Arabia and everyone is kept in line by the religion police. This is a finely written book, a good mystery and well defined characters from Osama the head police detective who will bend the rules, Nayir, a traditional muslim who struggles to do the right thing and and Leila, the victim who was murdered perhaps because she was trying to expose the hyptoscracy of Saudi-Muslim show more taboos. And of course Katya our young police woman. show less

A fisherman reports finding a dead body on the beach near Jeddah: female, young, but with whole sections of her face missing.
Nayir the desert guide is preparing to take another too wealthy family on a desert excursion, but the family keeps shortening the length of the planned trip, until eventually business gets in the way and they don't go at all.
It is 8 months since he has spoken to Katya, despite all the promise of the final days of their first investigation (FINDING NOUF/THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ) At first Katya had phoned Nayir every week or so, but eventually stopped as it became obvious that he was unable to respond.

Katya has begun a new job. Thanks to a government initiative to get more Saudi women into the workplace, a number of show more positions had opened at the crime lab in police headquarters and Katya had won one of those jobs. The dead body on the beach is assigned to her boss Osama.

Miriam is an American woman rejoining her husband Eric in Jeddah. Eric has a military background and is working as a security guard. He speaks Arabic and has great respect for Muslim culture and wants to be part of it.
Miriam has been on holiday in the US for four weeks, and expects Eric to collect her at the airport. When he fails to turn up she is bundled into a room for unclaimed women. When Eric eventually arrives he seems distracted and has no good explanation for his lateness. Miriam and Eric live in an Islamic neighbourhood, something which upsets Miriam as she feels threatened and out of place. In the month she has been away Eric has done no cleaning and he has bought no food, so he leaves Miriam in their flat while he goes out to buy local food. Miriam thinks she hears him return and when she goes to the kitchen the food is there but Eric isn't. Her worst fears are realised when it becomes apparent that Eric has disappeared.

CITY OF VEILS skilfully draws these story strands together, blending a murder investigation with a commentary on Saudi culture and in particular the status of women. We feel this commentary in the precariousness of Miriam trying to find out what has happened to Eric, in Katya and Osama trying to discover the identity of the body on the beach and what led to her murder, in Osama's relationship with his wife Nuah, and also in Nayir and Katya exploring their feelings for each other.

In much the same way as in THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ you suspect that Zoe Ferraris didn't actually set out to write a murder mystery, but it certainly becomes the vehicle for the exploration of relationships in an Islamic society. For me it was a pointer to how little I really understand about Islam. In some ways Zoe Ferraris seems to be pointing to the social shortcomings of Saudi society, but on the other hand you are aware that she is treating the culture with great respect. The story raises so many issues for you to think about.

CITY OF VEILS is really another of these novels that crosses out of the crime fiction genre and really deserves a literary "tag" too. show less

First Line: The woman's body was lying on the beach.

I am always looking to broaden my armchair traveling horizons, so when I read that City of Veils was set in Saudi Arabia, my interest was certainly piqued. If I'm honest, it was also piqued for another reason.

In the mid-1970s, I was being recruited for a teaching position in Saudi Arabia. I was very interested. I love travel, I love adventure, the vacation accrual made my jaw drop, and so did the salary. I took all the information home, and I began to read. When I'd read everything, I went back to read the one paragraph that had made my blood pressure spike. That paragraph persuaded me that I didn't have the proper attitude for the job. What in the world was in that paragraph? The show more instructions on precisely what kind of undergarments I was allowed to wear. Once my mother no longer bought them for me no one has the right to tell me what underwear to wear!

City of Veils is written by Zoë Ferraris, who moved to Saudi Arabia shortly after the first Gulf War. She lived in a conservative Muslim community with her then-husband and his family, a group of Saudi-Palestinians who had never before met an American. But enough of the extraneous. Let's get to the book!

When the body of a woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, the police are content to dismiss the case as an unsolvable murder. If the victim is yet another housemaid killed by her employer, finding the person responsible for her death will be all but impossible. At about the same time, an American woman reports her husband-- a security contractor-- as missing.

Only Katya Hijazi, a forensic scientist working in the police department, is convinced that the murdered woman can be identified. She asks her friend Nayir for help and discovers that the victim was a young filmmaker whose controversial documentaries made her many enemies. As Katya and Nayir search for clues, they form a very unlikely alliance with the American woman whose husband has disappeared.

I am such a stickler for reading series in order! If I'd realized that this is the second book in a series, I doubt that I would've read it. I'm glad that I was blissfully ignorant, otherwise I would've missed out on one of the best books I've read all year.

City of Veils is written in such a way that you do not have to read the first book in order to understand what's going on. I'm going to get my hands on a copy of Finding Nouf simply because I fell in love with Ferraris's setting and characters.

The mystery is intriguing and well-paced. It had a coincidence or two that stretched belief a bit but not enough to lessen my enjoyment. The characters are multi-faceted and fascinating. If the plot and the characters are the jewels, the setting is the Muslim culture-- and without doubt this setting shows the jewels to perfection.

What I found so incredibly strong in this book is that the Muslim culture is shown from so many angles: the devout Muslim man, a more progressive Muslim man, an American man totally captivated by the place and the culture, a young Muslim woman who's comfortable with her place but still feeling the restrictions, and an American woman who is so completely a stranger in a strange land that it's painful.

I had to know what would happen next, so it was almost impossible to put this book down. From my personal anecdote at the beginning of this review, you may have guessed correctly that City of Veils had me talking to myself on several occasions. It's that sort of book: you live it while you read it. It was also a learning experience on so many levels. Muslim women following several paces behind their men had always made me roll my eyes and mutter. Now I know that those several steps behind are also a safety measure. If you're a woman wearing all that garb, you can't see where you're going. (I felt a bit doltish after one of Ferraris's characters explained that to me!)

If you're looking for an intriguing mystery set in a land with a fascinating culture and populated with wonderful characters, do not hesitate. Get yourself a copy of City of Veils! show less

4.5 stars

Miriam Walker flies to Saudi Arabia to join her husband in Jeddah; only hours after her arrival he's vanished without a trace. A few days earlier, the mutilated body of a young woman had washed up on the beach. The cases seem unconnected, but they once again bring together forensic scientist Katya and desert guide Nayir.

I loved the first book in the series, The Night of the Mi'raj, and I was really hoping the second one would live up to my expectations. This it certainly did in spades, I enjoyed every page of this multi-layered suspenseful mystery. There were many twists and turns as the story unfolded and I was kept guessing until the very end. The main enjoyment for me came once again from the insight into the way of life in show more Saudi Arabia, which sometimes seems to be from another planet altogether. Who's ever heard of things like religious police? Fatwa-online.com? Bluetooth burqas? Did you know it is immoral to walk one's dog in public? Ferraris provides a fascinating, and, I believe, balanced portrait of a society of many contradictions, and it makes for an intriguing read. I can't wait for the next installment! show less

A dramatic setting and an excellent well-crafted puzzle mystery mesh together beautifully in this sequel to “Finding Neuf”. I have a hard time deciding which factor pulled me in more, the mystery or reading about the Saudi culture. Again, Zoe Ferraris gives us some startling and enlightening details on a culture that although progressing, is still as repressive and stifling towards women as the burqas they wear. The characters the author chooses, allow for exploration of many cross cultural elements and capture the opposing forces and clashes of an evolving society. The voices alternate between Miriam and her husband who are ex-pats, Katya, a forward thinking single Muslim woman, Navir, devout, attracted to Katya and conflicted and show more Osama, married and less old fashioned. There is also a really compelling mystery with pacing and twists that keep you turning pages. I recommend this book for those who enjoy a good mystery, or enjoy reading about foreign cultures and women’s issues. Although this book can be read as a standalone novel, it is probably best to read “Finding Neuf” first.

Review previously posted at: www.princetonbookreview.
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