review
Jakob Arjouni writes top-class crime fiction that has already found an international audience, so the return of his cynical Frankfurt private investigator is a cause for celebration. This is a confident detective story with sharp and enjoyable dialogue, a well-constructed plot and entertaining characters. Arjouni’s refreshingly concise and efficient prose is a pleasure to read.
Kemal Kayankaya is the prototypical anti-hero who instinctively sticks up for the underdog. Irreverent and hard-headed, he has his own personal sense of honour which drives him to uncover the truth. He is more at home in the seedy milieu of the Frankfurt station district than in the affluent, leafy suburbs where this case begins. But when the seemingly straightforward case of a missing teenage girl rapidly escalates into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, Kayankaya is left fighting for his life. Arjouni paints a highly realistic warts-and-all picture of the less salubrious side of big-city life.
Brother Kemal is a gripping crime novel made to be consumed in a single sitting.
All recommendations from Autumn 2012