A
Grave in Gaza
An Omar Yussef
Mystery
Matt Beynon Rees
Soho Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-472-9 (1569474729)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-472-3 (9781569474723)
Publication Date: February 2008
List Price: $24.00
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): Omar Yussef, teacher-turned-detective, is sent to the
troubled Gaza Strip to carry out a routine school inspection. There, he
learns that a fellow teacher has been arrested, and, instinctively
recognizing the signs of grave injustice, he sets out to investigate.
The person responsible for the arrest is Colonel al-Fara, the most
power - and dangerous - man in Gaza, and Omar's friends urge him not to
intervene.
But Omar confronts the colonel, and finds himself caught in a ruthless
power struggle involving weapons smuggling and assassination. When
Omar's colleague is kidnapped and another is murdered, he begins to
understand why people tell him that, in lawless Gaza, all crimes are
connected. Omar is faced with the terrible realization that only he can
save his colleague - and himself.
Review:
Palestinian school teacher Omar Yussef travels with a UN contingent to
the Gaza Strip to investigate the imprisonment of a university
professor and finds far more than he bargained for in A Grave in Gaza,
the second mystery in this series by Matt Beynon Rees.
Eyad Masharawi has been arrested for questioning how some officials in
the Palestinian government in Gaza obtained their university degrees. In
addition to his duties to the university, Eyad Masharawi is also on the
payroll of the United Nations, three representatives of which are sent
to Gaza to protest his arrest. Omar Yussef is one of these UN
officials; the other two are James Cree, a Scotsman, and Magnus
Wallender, a Swede. But soon after meeting with the commander of the
security force holding Eyad Masharawi, Colonel Mahmoud al-Fara,
Wallender is kidnapped and held for ransom in exchange for prisoner
being held by a competing government faction in Gaza. One event doesn't
seem to have anything to do with the other, but Omar Yussef is
determined to free his academic colleague and pursues an investigation
that ultimately proves to be fatal to many of the people involved.
A Grave in Gaza
is a remarkable book. It's not a murder mystery or a whodunit, but an
elaborate puzzle with clues to its solution scattered up and down the
Gaza Strip. A common theme here is that all crimes in Gaza are
connected, and it is up to Omar Yussef to arrange the pieces of these
disparate events to form a clear picture of not what has happened, that
he already knows, but why it happened. The author uses dust as a
metaphor in the story (a bit to excess, but that's a minor quibble). As
the dust storms intensify, reducing visibility, so too is Omar Yussef's
investigation clouded. The lack of clarity is pervasive. The layers of
dust that accumulate on everyone and everything are symbolic of the
layers of crime, corruption, and greed that seem to be suffocating this
small territory. It is only when the puzzle is complete and
the pieces fit perfectly together do the skies brighten and the dust
storms abate.
Rees wisely leaves (for the most part) the macro politics of the region
out of the story, focusing on the local politics of the Gaza Strip,
incorporating them seamlessly into the plot. There's a different
definition of normalcy here that some readers will likely find shocking
and disturbing.
A Grave in Gaza,
with its expressive narrative, intricate plot, and even its subtly
clever title, is certainly one of the best mysteries to be published
thus far this year.
Special thanks to Soho Crime for providing an ARC of A Grave in Gaza for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
The Collaborator
of Bethlehem
Soho Crime (Hardcover), January 2007
ISBN-10: 1-56947-442-7 (1569474427)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-442-6 (9781569474426)
A Grave in Gaza
Soho Crime (Hardcover), February 2008
ISBN-10: 1-56947-472-9 (1569474729)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-472-3 (9781569474723)
Omnimystery keywords for A Grave in Gaza ...
Location(s) referenced: Gaza Strip, Israel, Egypt.