This is the
fourth book in the series featuring Inspector Esa Khattak and Sgt. Rachel
Getty. This time the two go to Greece to
look for Audrey Clare, the sister of Esa’s friend Nathan Clare, who has gone
missing while
helping to resettle Syrian refugees. Two
bodies were found in the offices of her NGO so did Audrey go into hiding in
fear for her life or did she run after murdering two people or was she
abducted?
The mystery
of Audrey’s disappearance is sufficiently interesting, but it is not difficult
to guess the ultimate outcome of the investigation. Often the ongoing humanitarian crisis takes
the spotlight of the narrative. There is
a great deal of information about Assad’s brutality against Syrians, the plight
of the refugees, and the reaction and inaction of various countries to the
crisis. There is no doubt that the
author has done her research; a list of books and websites is recommended at
the end. I recently read The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay,
a book which recounts the year-long journey of a 12-year-old Afghani refugee; A Dangerous Crossing touches on many of
the issues found in the non-fiction book.
For example, Passarlay concludes that human smuggling has “a highly
organized infrastructure” and Khan echoes with the statement that “The point
is, all of this is a very big operation, a wellcoordinated operation.”
The problem
is that the book is sometimes bogged down by lengthy passages of exposition that
would be more appropriate in an essay: “Assad
was engaged in a wholesale slaughter of his people. Set aside for the moment the destruction of
Syria’s cities: their colleges,
hospitals, and schools, their mosques and ancient souks. Even if that wasn’t totted up in a column of
unthinkable loss, there was the question of Syria’s people. Syria had been a nation of twenty-two
million. Fully half that population was
displaced; seven million internally, while five million had fled Assad’s
incalculable violence. The abject misery
of Syria’s prison system needed to be weighed on a separate scale of horrors.”
Though this
book can be read as a standalone, I would strongly recommend that it be read in
the proper sequence. The relationships
among the characters will be much better understood if the previous three books
in the series have been read. All the
investigations of these prior installments are mentioned. For instance, the Drayton inquiry is alluded
to at least four times; that is the case in the first book, The Unquiet Dead. There are seven references to Algonquin, a
setting which features prominently in the second book, The Language of Secrets.
There are at least a dozen references to the case in Iran; this case is
the focus of the third book, Among the
Ruins. In A Dangerous Crossing, characters like Hassan and Laine are
discussed with virtually no explanation; these references will mean nothing to
readers who have not read the other novels.
And these personal
relationships are important. They
certainly get in the way in this investigation.
Nathan doesn’t want Rachel to read some of his emails with Audrey, and
Esa’s sister doesn’t want her brother to read her correspondence with
Audrey. Readers who have not followed
the series may be left mystified by Nathan and Ruksh’s reluctance. Actually, the lack of trust among several
characters complicates the search for Audrey; this wariness is understandable
in refugees but not so much in other investigators.
The many
romantic tensions, most often the result of misunderstandings, are becoming
tedious. How many times must Esa and
Sehr misinterpret each other’s actions?
How often does Rachel’s insecurity have to affect her relationship with
Nathan? There are reasons why Rachel
lacks confidence when it comes to romance, but after a while, her diffidence becomes
annoying. We are to see her as a dynamic
character who has learned from past experiences (“She couldn’t bear to be the
reminder of someone’s tragedy again” and “To deny her importance to someone
else wasn’t a pattern she intended to repeat”), but she still comes across as
immature. Audrey describes her brother
as a “Bumbling Lamb” but that descriptor could also apply to Rachel.
A Muslim
police investigator as a protagonist is a welcome addition to the mystery/crime
genre, and the character of Esa continues to provide insight into the tenets of
Islam and the mind of a devout but moderate Muslim. He and Rachel are an odd partnership but
their working relationship is based on mutual understanding, respect, and
affection. I will continue to follow the
series though I hope the romantic entanglements take a back seat. My bet is that the next case will see the
return of Laine: Nathan says, “’There’s
something wrong with Laine, something different about her. I have to admit I’m worried, I wish I could
say otherwise.’ Esa had noticed it too .
. . and he wondered if this was ground they were going to tread again.”
Note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
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