Bøger af Zoe Ferraris

Det halvnøgne, mishandlede lig af en ung kvinde findes på stranden, og i en lejlighed i et trøstesløst kvarter i Jedda sidder en amerikansk kvinde og venter på sin mand, som er sporløst forsvundet.Efterforskningen viser at liget ikke bare er endnu en anonym stuepige, som er blevet slået ihjel af sin saudiske arbejdsgiver, og at den forsvundne amerikaner ikke bare er endnu en utro ægtemand, som er stukket af fra sin kone. Og kriminalkommissær Osama Ibrahim må indse, at de to sager er tæt forbundet.Den stærkt religiøse ørkenguide Nayir og den ambitiøse kriminaltekniker Katya mødes igen i et fælles ønske om at opklare drabet på den unge kvinde. I Jeddas kvælende hede, hvor religiøs fanatisme går hånd i hånd med beduinernes oldgamle traditioner, hvor vestlig livsstil så småt begynder at trænge ind i selv de mindste sprækker, hvor tvivlen nager og hvor mænd og kvinder må udvise den største opfindsomhed for blot at kunne tilbringe et øjeblik sammen, kæmper Katya og Nayir en fortvivlet kamp for at finde sandheden – og hinanden.

Zo Ferrariss electrifying debut of taut psychological suspense offers an unprecedented window into Saudi Arabia and the lives of men and women there. When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing, along with a truck and her favorite camel, her prominent family calls on Nayir al-Sharqi, a desert guide, to lead a search party. Ten days later, just as Nayir is about to give up in frustration, her body is discovered by anonymous desert travelers. But when the coroners office determines that Nouf died not of dehydration but from drowning, and her family seems suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir takes it upon himself to find out what really happened to her. This mission will push gentle, hulking, pious Nayir, a Palestinian orphan raised by his bachelor uncle, to delve into the secret life of a rich, protected teenage girl -- in one of the most rigidly gender-segregated of Middle Eastern societies. Initially horrified at the idea of a woman bold enough to bare her face and to work in public, Nayir soon realizes that if he wants to gain access to the hidden world of women, he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroners office. Their partnership challenges Nayir, bringing him face to face with his desire for female companionship and the limitations imposed by his beliefs. It also ultimately leads them both to surprising revelations. Fast-paced and utterly transporting, Finding Nouf offers an intimate glimpse inside a closed society and a riveting literary mystery.

Kort tid inden sit bryllup forsvinder sekstenårige Nouf. Hun har tilsyneladende læsset sin yndlingskamel op bag i en lastbil og er draget ud i den saudiarabiske ørken. Drevet af håbet om at finde Nouf inden ørkenen tager livet af hende, beder hendes familie ørkenguiden Nayir om hjælp. Selvom Nayir er palæstinenser, kender han ørkenen lige så godt som nogen beduin, men han søger forgæves efter den unge kvinde. Nouf er død, og den efterfølgende obduktion viser, at hun er druknet efter at være blevet slået i hovedet. Og at hun var gravid. Selvom familien derefter ønsker at lægge låg på sagen, beder Noufs adoptivbror, Othman, Nayir om at indlede en privat efterforskning af dødsfaldet. Nayir indvilliger, men sagen kommer til at stille ham overfor mange problemer. Ikke mindst fordi han bliver nødt til at samarbejde med Othmans forlovede, Katya. Nayir er rettroende muslim, og alene det at tale med en kvinde er særdeles problematisk. Den sidste sura er noget så usædvanligt som en kriminalroman, der foregår i Saudi-Arabien. I spændingsfeltet mellem religiøse forskrifter, traditionerne og det moderne samfund, mellem mænd og kvinder, mellem rig og fattig og mellem saudiarabere og udlændinge må Katya og Nayir bevæge sig endog meget forsigtigt, hvis de skal gøre sig håb om at opklare sagen.

A secret grave is unearthed in the desert revealing the bodies of 19 women and the shocking truth that a serial killer has been operating undetected in Jeddah for more than a decade. However, lead inspector Ibrahim Zahrani is distracted by a mystery closer to home. His mistress has suddenly disappeared, but he cannot report her missing since adultery is punishable by death. With nowhere to turn, Ibrahim brings the case to Katya, one of the few women in the police department. Drawn into both investigations, she must be increasingly careful to hide a secret of her own. Portraying the lives of women in one of the most closed cultures in the world, award-winning author Zov¿ Ferraris weaves a tale of psychological suspense around an elusive serial killer and the sinister forces trafficking in human lives in Saudi Arabia.

* Sequel to THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ, which was Zoe Ferraris's first novel, a stunning literary detective novel set in Saudi Arabia

* A compelling page-turner with a wonderful central character, which also gives a fascinating insight into the closed world of Saudi Arabia