The Janissary Tree

From Publishers Weekly

Goodwin, the author of a well-received history of the Ottoman Empire, Lords of the Horizons (1999), makes a welcome shift to fiction with this impressive first of a new mystery series set in the empire's declining decades. In 1836, though the corrupt elite troops known as the Janissaries were crushed 10 years earlier, there are ominous signs that their influence still persists in the twisted alleys and secret places of Istanbul. A series of crimes, including the barbaric murders of several soldiers and the theft of some precious jewels, leads eunuch Yashim Togalu to delve into the past in an effort to separate legend from truth. With special access to all areas of the sultan's royal court, Yashim uses his network of contacts to try to solve the crimes. The author, no surprise, does an excellent job of evoking his chosen locale. While his sleuth's character may be less developed than some readers might wish, no doubt Yashim will emerge as a more rounded figure in future entries of what one hopes will be a long-running series. (May)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Historian Goodwin, author of Lords of the Horizons (1999), introduces a promising new mystery series set in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. When a string of murders disturbs the tenuous tranquility of the sultan's royal court, savvy eunuch Yashim Togalu is called upon to investigate. Digging deeper into the past in order to understand the perils of the present, Yashim discovers a link between the crimes and the Janissaries, a disloyal band of elite soldiers banned by the sultan ten years earlier. As Yashim wends his way in and out of the opulent palace and through the sordid back alleys of nineteenth-century Istanbul, the reader is treated to an appropriately exotic tour of a time and a place where intrigue, deceit, and corruption fueled perilous personal and political passions. Margaret Flanagan

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

贾森·古德温（Jason Goodwin）(1964-) 是名禀赋极高的作家，毕业于剑桥大学，专攻拜占庭史，最初是一名游记作家，第一本游记书出版于1980年，书名叫《茶的盛世：在中国与印度的觅茶之旅》，其后，他分别于1990和1993年写作了另外两本游记，在1998年出版了一本《奥斯曼帝国史》。古德温在近二十年里出书甚少，但这又何尝不是潜心研究、厚积薄发之举呢？经过多年在土耳其/近东地区文化中的浸淫和在东方土地上的实地考察，杰森•古德温在出版《奥斯曼帝国史》时俨然已经成为相关历史学科方面的权威，称古德温为奥斯曼史的“活字典”一点都不为过。

经过多年的酝酿，古德温在2006年出版了他的第一部虚构类作品《禁卫军之树》（The Janissary Tree）。小说甫一上市，就广获好评，截至目前，已有30种文字的译本。年初，本书获得了埃德加•爱伦坡奖的最佳长...

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