It’s 1839. The Ottoman Empire founded some 600 years ago is on the decline. Greece, Austria and Russia have plucked away major chunks of it. Egypt, too, is lost. One of the most powerful empires in the Mediterranean is in a state of flux. It’s at this dramatic time in Turkish history that Yashim, the detective, returns with another mystery to unravel.
Yashim is anything but a stereotypical detective. He’s probably the only such character who is a eunuch – one popular enough to merit a series. Writer-historian Jason Goodwin’s An Evil Eye is the fourth book centred on the Turkish eunuch detective. The first Yashim novel, The Janissary Tree, which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2007, was followed by The Snake Stone and The Bellini Card.
The historical mystery opens at a time when Sultan Mahmut II (Sultan Mahmud II, the 30th sultan of the Ottoman Empire) has just died. “He had come to the throne of Osman as a turbaned ruler of a medieval empire, and had died in a frock coat and a fez,” Goodwin, the historian, tells us giving a sense of the state of the empire which is reflected in the Sultan’s new attire. His 16-year-old successor, Abdülmecid, would soon be moving into his palace — the modern Besiktas, and not the old Topkapi Palace now habited only by ageing members of the harem. The dead Sultan, who was all for reform (the Besiktas is just one symbol of it), did not give up on the tradition of maintaining a harem, which, after his death, is now in pandemonium. The successor, after all, is bringing with him his own swarm of women. And the old ones are insecure.
The harem remains central to the mystery which begins when the body of a Russian agent is found in a monastery well. And when the commander of the Ottoman fleet, Fevzi Pasha, betrays the Sultan by talking his fleet right into the hands of the Egyptians, Yashim’s task is cut out. He has to find out why Fevzi – once his mentor and the only man he fears and is now ashamed of – betrayed the Sultan. The search keeps drawing him into the enigmatic world of the Sultan’s harem which conceals much more than it reveals. It’s not just about beautiful women and scented baths. Many horrifying stories are hidden here — like the terrible death of a pregnant harem girl, the discovery of a body in an abandoned, unused harem bath, the punishments that await those who break harem rules and the rule of silence that every harem girl is expected to obey.
On one occasion, the Sultan’s enigmatic sister, Princess Talfa, leads the girls down a dank cellar to show them a turntable on which wayward women are tied and pushed into the tunnel that leads to the Bosphorus. The table sinks into the water and the girl drowns. It’s a dark world, but the book isn’t all dark.
From the chilling beginning to the end and all the excitement in between, Goodwin transports the readers to one of the most beautiful places in the world — Istanbul. Its beauty, enigma, and the sounds and smells of its streets, all can be heard, seen, smelt and tasted through Goodwin’s description.
Yashim completely fits into this world. And it helps that he is a eunuch. That gives him free access to the harem. We do learn that Yashim has agreed to investigate into the murder of the Russian at the behest of the vizier, the political advisor to young Sultan Abdülmecid, in exchange for the freedom to live outside the palace. But we do not get much insight into what he thinks, how he feels or what life must be for him. Very much like Sherlock Holmes, whose concerns always remained with the case. Much like Holmes, Yashim too has a Watson of sorts in Palewski, his Polish ambassador friend who belongs neither here nor there. Chunks of Poland have been shared between Germany, Russia and Austria and Palewski is now without a country. The historian’s touch is visible in several instances such as these.
However, the one thing that we do learn about Yashim is that he loves to cook as much as he loves to eat. We find this not just by chance or in passing. There are delightful bits in the book which find Yashim in his apartment in Stamboul, mulling over the investigation while preparing authentic Turkish meals. This is a serious exercise for both Yashim and Goodwin, who has brought out Cooking With Yashim, a volume with authentic Turkish recipes to celebrate the publication of An Evil Eye. A befitting celebration for the latest Yashim mystery which is rich in the flavour of 19th century Istanbul — in every way.
AN EVIL EYE
Jason Goodwin
Faber
VI+292 pages; Rs 499