Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #542655 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-16
• Released on: 2006-05-16
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Goodwin, the author of a well-received history of the Ottoman Empire, Lords of the Horizons (1999), makes a welcome shift to fiction with this impressive first of a new mystery series set in the empire's declining decades. In 1836, though the corrupt elite troops known as the Janissaries were crushed 10 years earlier, there are ominous signs that their influence still persists in the twisted alleys and secret places of Istanbul. A series of crimes, including the barbaric murders of several soldiers and the theft of some precious jewels, leads eunuch Yashim Togalu to delve into the past in an effort to separate legend from truth. With special access to all areas of the sultan's royal court, Yashim uses his network of contacts to try to solve the crimes. The author, no surprise, does an excellent job of evoking his chosen locale. While his sleuth's character may be less developed than some readers might wish, no doubt Yashim will emerge as a more rounded figure in future entries of what one hopes will be a long-running series. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Historian Goodwin, author of Lords of the Horizons (1999), introduces a promising new mystery series set in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. When a string of murders disturbs the tenuous tranquility of the sultan's royal court, savvy eunuch Yashim Togalu is called upon to investigate. Digging deeper into the past in order to understand the perils of the present, Yashim discovers a link between the crimes and the Janissaries, a disloyal band of elite soldiers banned by the sultan ten years earlier. As Yashim wends his way in and out of the opulent palace and through the sordid back alleys of nineteenth-century Istanbul, the reader is treated to an appropriately exotic tour of a time and a place where intrigue, deceit, and corruption fueled perilous personal and political passions. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

And let not the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree
Isaiah 56:3

Investigator Yashim, the hero of Jason Goodwin's first novel, "The Janissary Tree" may be a Turkish eunuch but it is not at all likely that anyone reading this book will think of him as a "dry tree". In fact, if Yashim's steamy encounter with the beautiful but lonely wife of the Russian ambassador to Turkey halfway through the book is any indication, this is one heck of a unique eunuch.

I would love to have been present when Goodwin pitched the idea of a novel (and the first in a proposed series) about a crime-solving eunuch in Istanbul to his agent or publisher. Fortunately, someone had the good sense to green light this project as Goodwin has crafted a highly-entertaining book.

The Janissary Tree is set in Istanbul in 1836. Ten years earlier the Janissaries, the Sultan's version of the Roman Empire's Praetorian Guards, had been crushed by the "New Guard", the Sultan's standing army. Like the Praetorian Guards the Janissaries had evolved from a protective legion to one that terrorized the populace and the Sultan. Now, ten years later, the mysterious disappearance of four members of the New Guard and the murder of one of the Sultan's harem heralds the possible return of the Janissaries. The return of the Janissaries threatens to destroy the Sultanate and the relative calm of Istanbul. Enter Investigator Yashim. He is given ten days to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Yashim is soon engulfed in murder and intrigue. Bodies begin to appear in bizarre places as Yashim and his friends (including a somewhat decadent Polish Ambassador who has no country to represent and a transvestite dancer) try to get to the bottom of this alleged revolt.

Goodwin is very good at keeping the plot boiling (in more ways than one). Goodwin, who studied Byzantine history at Cambridge and who has written books on the history of the Ottoman Empire, has ample knowledge of the time and the place and has put this knowledge to good use. Goodwin seems to convey a real sense of how the city must have looked, felt, and even smelled more than 180 years or so ago.

The Janissary Tree reminded me of Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin novels (late 19th-century Russia) and Arturo Perez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste stories (17th-century Spain). They all take the standard detective or mystery story and transport the reader to a different time and place. As with both Akunin and Perez-Reverte's novels, Jason Goodwin's "The Janissary Tree" is an entertaining and diverting read. I look forward to the next in the series.

L. Fleisig

Murders in Istanbul in a romatic time
Not only set in the location of Istanbul in the 1830s but also set inside the fabric of the Ottoman empire life; there a clever and resourceful eunich is the go-to man when the Sultan's mother wants to solve the murder of a haarem girl and at same time the head of the army has a slight problem with officers starting to turn up dead in unusual ways. The author's strength is his understanding of the Ottomans and Istanbul; the reader sees and feels the strength of history and culture and its effect on the story. The characters are interesting, the mystery believable, the resolution smart and creditable. Written in 2006 in the structure influenced by Dan Brown's short chapter keep-it-moving style, it was a very enjoyable read and I hope there are more to come.

Murder in Istanbul 1836. Janissary Redux? Call in the Eunuch
Jason Goodwin sets 'The Janissary Tree: A Novel' in 1836 Istanbul, just ten years after Sultan Mahmud II destroyed the Janissaries in what was known euphemistically as The Auspicious Incident. The Sultan is now modernizing his army, but four of them have disappeared and begin to turn up dead. Simultaneously, one of the Sultan's harem is murdered. The 'detective' Yashim is called in to investigate both crimes.

Yashim is unusual in literary history; for one, he's an Ottoman detective and for two, he's a eunuch. Believe it or not, Turkish detectives (see Graveyard Eyes and even eunuch detectives Four for a Boy (John the Eunuch Mysteries) can be found elsewhere. Nonetheless, Yashim's character is certainly an attention-grabber.

The Janissaries had been the Sultan's household army for some 450 years including playing a key role in the final defeat of the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453. Are they behind the disappearance of the four soldiers of the new army? Is the murder in the harem related?

As Yashim pursues answers he takes the reader through 19th century Istanbul, a teeming cosmos at the juncture of Europe and Asia inhabited by peoples from around the Meditarrean and beyond, but still tradition bound - dominated by Islam but claimed Jews and Orthodox Christian as well.

Goodwin brings to bear his formidable knowledge of the region's history (see his Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empireand On Foot to the Golden Horn: A Walk to Istanbul) to create a lively sense of this wondrous city as rich in human history as any place on earth. His descriptions bring the sights and smells, - especially the smells of cooking - to life. He plays on the possibility that the Sultan's mother, the Valide Sultan, may have been the cousin of Josephine Bonaparte. And, Godwin's Yashim will almost certainly change your opinion about eunuchs.

The major shortcomings of 'The Janissary Tree: A Novel' are the introduction of too many characters that are not developed and a couple superfluous side stories.

A strong first novel by Jason Goodwin with more to come. A fun, engaging, and dare I say educational tale. Highly recommended.