»The Janissary Tree

An exciting premise and a lavish setting set up an interesting thriller, in which the protagonist -- a eunuch -- must untangle a murder, a theft, and an insurrection in 1830s Istanbul. The dialogue and the detail fall short, however, and the foreshadowing leads to our knowing too many details before they should be revealed. Unlike Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" (that pinnacle of achievement in historical thrillers!), neither the literary references nor the setting are put to excellent or hilarious use. The promised interludes of sex and cooking are much less exciting than the reviewer's comments on the flap copy promised, but I have only myself to blame for judging this book by its cover.

I did learn several new words: verst, sumptuary, and gelid; as well as a handful of Byzantine Turkish ranks, such as seraskier.