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L'occhio Del Diavolo (2011)

by Jason Goodwin(Favorite Author)

3.81 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

8806197436 (ISBN13: 9788806197438)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Einaudi

series

Yashim the Eunuch

review 1: A more recent title from Edgar-award winning author Jason Goodwin. This mystery is set in 1839 after Admiral Fevzi Ahmet has surrendered the Ottoman fleet to the Egyptians. Yashim's assignment is to find out why. He is drawn into the inner sanctum of the seraglio, the sultan's harem. Yashim must confront his own history and fear of Fevzi, who originally so cruelly trained him. It is a time of uncertainty after the death of the old sultan and the ascension of the new one. A backdrop to the plot is the construction of the first bridge across the Bosporus connecting the old city with the Asian side signaling more change for Istanbul. The title refers to curses that Circassian women in the seraglio are casting during the transition between the the two sultans, and the struggl... morees for power among women of the harem and eunuchs who organized their affairs. The author bases his detail of seraglio life on his own careful research as a historian. Yashim untangles the history of Fevzi's motives and helps to restore order and harmony to the sultan's seraglio. Now I want to read the "Janisssary Tree," the tile for which Goodwin won the Edgar award for best novel.
review 2: How bad is the mystery fiction when the lead character must explain the plot to you in the last 8 pages? There are old Murder, She Wrote plots that hold your interest more.I'm not getting my jollies by bashing Goodwin. I enjoyed the first three books in this series. But The Evil Eye is a poor addition. It reads like he phoned it in. (Example: "Hey, remember where I wrote about finding a body in a well in The Snake Stone? Well, put a body in a well here too, but don't bother with any of the interesting details.")I am very fond of Yashim and Palewski, the Polish ambassador, and will usually follow along with whatever they are doing. But there is no character development in this book. Yashim hardly even cooks anything. Palewski is working on a translation, but we never hear any more about that. There are some good descriptions of new landscapes, but this isn't a travelogue.Goodwin's murders aren't even interesting. To the point where the Russian diplomat who receives the vital clue throws it in his waste basket after Yashim leaves the room. That's what Goodwin should have done with this book. Thrown it away and waited until his creativity summoned up interesting new tales about Yashim.If this is your first introduction to the Yashim mysteries ... choose another book. If you have already read the first three Yashim mysteries ... choose another book. less

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