Synopses & Reviews
Summer, 2001. The mutilated bodies of young boys are turning up in the backstreets of Cairo, and the finger of suspicion is pointing at the city's Coptic community. As Makana, a private investigator who fled his native Sudan a decade ago, watches the embers of religious hatred begin to glow, he has a premonition that history may be about to repeat itself. But for now, Makana has another case to solve, involving a disgruntled travel agent, stolen money, and threatening letters-an assignment that appears to point to nothing more than a family feud. That is, until Makana meets Meera, a woman with a dangerous secret who asks for his help- and stumbles upon an unlikely link to the murdered boys.
When the travel agent's office becomes the backdrop to a brutal killing Makana is the sole witness, and he attracts the unwanted attention of not only the state security services and the police but also a disreputable Sudanese businessman-who claims to hold the key to Makana's past.
His search for answers takes him from the labyrinth of Cairo to the city of Luxor and an abandoned monastery near the tombs of the pharaohs, where he uncovers a web of intrigue, violence, and secrecy that reaches deep into Egypt's political heart...
Review
Praise for Dogstar Rising"As gripping as the first ... [Bilal's] skills are evident in the pace, confidence and emotional truth of this brilliant novel." —Sunday Times (UK)"The second outing for Parker Bilal's Sudanese detective Makana… has all the satisfying complexities of his first... Like all the best crime fiction, Bilals story has a depth and resonance which stretches far beyond its cast of characters into the wider world." —Independent (UK)Praise for The Golden Scales"Parker Bilal whisks the reader straight to the dark heart of Cairo... his prose has a subtlety that is rarely found in crime novels." —The Economist"Bilal deftly weaves past and present in this complex and compelling mystery set in 1998 Cairo... Wonderfully detailed, the narrative reveals Cairo as a teeming, chaotic, and ungovernable. One looks forward to the sequel." —Publishers Weekly"One of those rare books in which the setting serves as a character itself: Cairo is portrayed as a living, breathing entity whose very existence shapes the lives of those residing within its confines." —BookPage
Synopsis
The second Makana Mystery: a gripping crime novel set against the backdrop of a country on the edge of revolution.
Synopsis
The launch of a major new detective series set in modern-day Cairo - moving between its labyrinthine back streets, and its shining towerblocks - and featuring Makana, an exiled Sudanese private investigator, escaping his own troubled past.
About the Author
Parker Bilal is the pseudonym for Jamal Mahjoub. Born in London and brought up in Khartoum, Sudan, Mahjoub originally trained as a geologist and has written six critically acclaimed literary novels, which have been shortlisted and awarded a number of prizes. His works include In the Hour of Signs, Travelling with Djinns, The Carrier, and The Drift Latitudes, as well as the first Makana novel, The Golden Scales. He currently lives in Barcelona.