The Sultan’s Seal, by Jenny White (2006)
The Sultan’s Seal is a novel that takes place in the 1880’s, the final years of the Ottoman Empire. When the body of a young English governess washes up on the shore of the Bosporus Strait, north of Istanbul, Kamil Pasha, a magistrate in the secular courts, wonders if there is a link between this death and a similar death of an Englishwoman that occurred 8 years earlier. Kamil believes this will be a simple murder case.
Kamil’s first stop in the investigation is at the English Embassy, where he meets the Ambassador’s daughter, Sibyl. Although she is English and he is Muslim, they form a friendship. He tells her details of his investigation, and, because he is unable to meet with the women of the Sultan’s harem, Sibyl attempts to aid in the investigation.
The story line is rather convoluted and is far from a simple murder. The novel is told through the voices of many characters. The novel is more of a historical fiction than a mystery novel. The author provides many details of daily life in Ottoman Turkey at this period of history, when there is clearly a tension between the Western influence in the country and the political area of the sultanate.
This novel is the first in the Kamil Pasha series. I enjoyed the first part of the book much more that the final third. As noted, the story line was convoluted and ultimately, I was not satisfied with the ending. I learned about Ottoman culture but will probably not seek out other books in this series.
Read: March 4, 2021
3.5 Stars
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