This superb debut is set in Mohalla, the ancient walled red-light district of Lahore, where highly regarded detective Faraz is suddenly reassigned to a new post, to help ‘take care of’ the murder of a young girl from the district. As well as being a young father, silently unhappy husband and rising star in the police force, Faraz is also the unacknowledged son of local dignitary Wajid, having been born out of wedlock to a dancer from the same area as the murdered girl. Despite the precariousness of his position, Faraz finds himself unable to cover up her violent death, and feels a deep sense of injustice at the attempts to hush up the crime, resolving to investigate – whatever the cost. As he questions the close-knit community surrounding the young girl, he slowly remembers more about his past in the same streets and alleyways, recalling the few short years he spent with his mother and sister before being abducted by his absent father. We also learn more about his dad’s motivations: the relentless, merciless time he spent enduring captivity in prison camps during the second world war, and why he decided to steal his son away. Full of beautiful meditations on ageing and the importance of family – whether biological or the one you forge for yourself – this is a compelling novel that also serves as a good reminder that politics is always personal in some way. The Return of Faraz Ali BY AAMINA AHMAD
Little Sister
BY GYTHA LODGE Cambridge-based Gytha Lodge is becoming one of those writers whose name on a cover instantly transforms a book into your next read. Her latest novel is another instalment in her series featuring Detective Jonah Sheens and his team of investigators: in Little Sister , the sleuth is confronted with a mysterious pair of young siblings who have recently run away from a care home. Nina is missing and Keely, who was covered with blood when she stumbled into Jonah on a rare day away from his desk, proves to be less than forthcoming with the truth. Just where is her sister, and what’s happened to her? Sheens and his squad are treated to a retelling of the sisters’ life story and experience of the care system via a series of dramatic and traumatic discoveries – yet, as usual with Lodge’s fiction, nothing is ever quite as it seems. Twisting and turning to the last, Lodge leads readers through some very uncomfortable events, tempered throughout by Sheens’ rough, but steadfast humanity. A gripping thriller that’ll keep you engaged: if you’ve not encountered Detective Sheens before, this is a good place to pick up the thread – and then immediately head back to the start to read the rest in this superb series.
NEVER A DULL MOMENT Detective fiction is a pretty saturated area of literature, but the Jonah Sheens series is bound to impress even the most discerning thriller fans
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK APR I L 2022 31
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