Yashim Togalu wakes from dreams of his favorite French novel. A messenger pounds on the door of his cozy room in a crumbling tenement in Istanbul, Turkey. It is 1836, and the seraskier (the commander of the city guard) wants to see him. One of the guardsmen has been murdered and stuffed into a huge ceremonial cauldron. The seraskier wants Yashim, who has a reputation for discreet investigation, to solve the crime.

No one can say Yashim is not the perfect investigator. A handsome Turk in his late thirties, he is smart, well-educated, and brave. Everyone important in 19th century Istanbul knows him, including the sultan and the queen-mother. He is also a eunuch, which gives him unlimited access to all the secret areas of the sultan’s palace, including the harem.

However, the initial murder starts taking on political overtones. More bodies are found posed under bizarre ceremonial circumstances. Meanwhile the sultan struggles to unveil a complicated plan for reform and modernization in the face of his subjects’ deep disapproval. The ambassadors of various predatory nations such as Russia and Britain circle the action, looking for weaknesses to exploit. Fires set by vindictive arsonists threaten to throw the ancient city into conflagration and panic. The queen-mother’s jewels are stolen and she threatens to cut off Yashim’s supply of French novels until he retrieves them!

Over everything hangs the subtle aura of impending revenge: ten years ago, the sultan formed the new city guard and had them massacre his formerly elite troops, the Janissaries. The citizens supported this without reservation because the Janissaries had devolved into bandits and thugs. But now it seems the Janissaries are sneaking back to rally at the blood-soaked roots of their ceremonial tree and tear Istanbul apart.

This novel is absolutely soaked in exotic historical atmosphere. You hear the cacophony of Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Africans, soldiers, slaves, eunuchs, and transsexual dancing girls all shouting at once! You inhale the dust and sweat of the winding city alleys, the spice and rotting fruit of the marketplace, and the urine-stench of the tanneries. You witness the sudden blaze of runaway fires, and the pale flutter of languid limbs in the shadowy corners of the harem.

However, at times the exquisitely detailed setting weighs down the story itself. The murder investigation does manage to roll onward at a stately pace. But it can be slow going.

Some of this is due to Yashim himself who is reserved to the point of invisibility. The author makes it clear that Yashim avoids feeling strong emotions because it would lead to uncontrollable rage and anguish over having been made a eunuch. Consequently, Yashim seems somewhat uninvolved, especially in the beginning when he faces nothing worse than a blemish on his professional pride as an investigator. In future books perhaps we’ll come to know him better.

To immerse yourself in this Edgar Allan Poe Award winner and experience the sensory marvels of old Istanbul, go to Amazon through this link: The Janissary Tree: A Novel