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In a blazing hot desert in Saudi Arabia, a search party is dispatched to find a missing young wo... read full description
In a blazing hot desert in Saudi Arabia, a search party is dispatched to find a missing young wo... read full description
reviews
Aug 31, 2008
Eryka
rated it: 
I loved this book, but for what I think are different reasons than the author intended. Or maybe not. It's a murder mystery as I'm sure you would gather from reading the book jacket. A girl goes missing and is found dead in the desert and some people are guessing foul play. Okay. Great. To me, however, the book is really about Muslim culture. And that's why I loved it. It's an open window, which isn't always available otherwise, to the Muslim culture, beliefs and how devout Muslims feel abo
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(7 people liked it)
Jul 30, 2011
Jeanette
rated it: 
As you're unraveling the mystery of what happened to Nouf, the author reveals the mysteries of living in a strictly repressive Saudi Arabian society.
Zoe Ferraris has a dual perspective that is helpful in this book. She's an American, so she knows all the things Americans wouldn't understand about the details of Saudi life and culture. And she has the rarer perspective of having once been married to a man of Palestinian-Bedouin heritage. So she lived among these people and has insid More...
Zoe Ferraris has a dual perspective that is helpful in this book. She's an American, so she knows all the things Americans wouldn't understand about the details of Saudi life and culture. And she has the rarer perspective of having once been married to a man of Palestinian-Bedouin heritage. So she lived among these people and has insid More...
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Jan 20, 2008
Jeff
rated it:
Fantastic book! An editor friend of mine sent me a galley of this book, which will be released in June 2008. I highly recommend this book and urge you to get it the moment it becomes available to the public!
"Finding Nouf" is a spectacular literary mystery about a 16 year old Saudi girl who goes missing and is found dead in the desert outside of Jeddah. The cirmcumstances of her death are investigated by two people -- a religiously conservative male desert guide and a female More...
"Finding Nouf" is a spectacular literary mystery about a 16 year old Saudi girl who goes missing and is found dead in the desert outside of Jeddah. The cirmcumstances of her death are investigated by two people -- a religiously conservative male desert guide and a female More...
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Jul 27, 2008
Taylor Kate
rated it:
I picked it up because of my morbid curiosity about how a western woman who lived in Saudi would write about the place. It's both a murder mystery - worthy of the significant object of the story - a Colombo jacket that the main character buys at the unlikely jacket bazaar in downtown Jeddah, and a mediation about women's lives in the culture of extreme modesty (and some would say oppression) in the country.
I can't decide if Ferrais imparted too much sympathy on the part of her main More...
I can't decide if Ferrais imparted too much sympathy on the part of her main More...
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Apr 09, 2011
Lillian
rated it: 
An intriguing look into the complex relationships between men and women in Saudi Arabia. Solving the mystery behind the death of a teenage girl in the desert hooked me as a reader, but watching the bond develop between Nayir and Katya (he's a conservative, Palestinian desert guide/sleuth; she has a PHD and works in the womens' section of the state examiner's office) kept me up all night.
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Feb 21, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
An "okay" mystery story with quite good characterization and character development. The real, REAL star of the book is the setting: contemporary Saudi Arabia. We are taken to the desert, to the city of Jedda, to workplaces, the marina, modest homes and mansions, and more. The narration occurs mostly in the men's sphere but there is some in the women's as well. It's a fascinating look into this world. The protagonist visits an Aramco compound and talks with several Americans, and
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Jan 11, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
This debut novel has a very intriguing premise: an devout Muslim desert guide-turned-amateur-detective teams up with one of the few female lab workers in the local coroner's office to solve the murder of a privileged teenage girl from a wealthy Saudi family. The jacket flap promises the story is full of "taunt psychological suspense" and "fast-paced." While the background details of interpersonal relationships in the modern Muslim world are fascinating, I certainly wouldn't c
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Aug 13, 2008
Shereen
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I was very excited when I heard a review of this book on NPR as I grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and there are very few novels set in my hometown. However, after reading the book I was extremely disappointed as I did not recognise any of the Jeddah that I know in the book. Jeddah comes to life at night, and that is when the women would be shopping in the malls or open air souks, and not early in the morning before dawn prayers. I laughed at the scene where Katya's sandals start melting in the
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Oct 03, 2008
Marty
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Actually, I would give this 3.5 stars if I could. It's a mystery set in Saudi Arabia, and while the mystery part was good, the real reason I liked it was reading about life in Saudi Arabia from the perspective of a reasonably nice guy. I have read so many horror stories and had come to see all Saudi men as control-freak monsters. This book was written by an American who was married to a Saudi, and I feel like she gives them a fair shake. It's still clear that it sucks to be a woman there, but
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 08, 2009
The Loft
rated it:
In Finding Nouf, a mystery set in Saudi Arabia, clues are either heavily veiled, buried, or shifting like sands in the wind…literally. Nouf ash-Shrawi, a 16-year-old young woman, disappears just days before her wedding. She has everything - a wealthy family, an upcoming wedding, her whole life ahead of her - she has no reason to run away, right? Her family, believing she may have been kidnapped, hires a desert guide, Nayir al-Sharqi, to find her. But Nayir doesn’t find her. Bedouins passing thro
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Feb 10, 2009
Hope
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This unusual romance/mystery was published for adults but was named an Alex Award winner for its special appeal to teens, too. It is a fascinating, terrorist-free read about Muslim culture in Saudi Arabia. The main character is popular among the Saudis as a desert guide, but he is not actually a Bedouin himself. He is Palestinian, and therefore always feels like an outsider. One day his friend asks him to help find his sister, Nouf, who has disappeared. Unfortunately, Nouf shows up dead fro
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Jan 10, 2009
Elevate Difference
rated it: 
Sixteen-year-old Nouf is the first daughter of a prestigious Saudi Arabian family. She disappears, along with a truck and her favorite camel, just days before her arranged marriage. The reader is left to ponder what may be happening because her family seems uninterested in getting at the truth. Could she have run away, hesitant about her upcoming marriage or feeling closed in by the religiously-based laws and traditions that demand women's modesty and subservience?
Instead of going dow More...
Instead of going dow More...
Nov 16, 2011
Judy
rated it:
This book was a reading group read. Fortunately I had wanted to read it anyway because it is a mystery set in Saudi Arabia.
Nouf, sixteen year old daughter of a wealthy Saudi Arabian family, is found dead in the desert after she had been missing for ten days. Nayir, family friend, desert guide, pious but single Muslim, is asked by Nouf's family to find her murderer, even though the family had also paid off the authorities to avoid any police investigation.
When Nayir deter More...
Nov 11, 2011
Susan
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In this mystery set in contemporary Saudi Arabia, Nouf, a 16-year-old girl who has disappeared into the desert is found in the first chapter. The investigation involves what is perhaps the most unlikely detective partnership in the history of mystery fiction. Nayir al-Sharqi is asked to discreetly investigate Nouf's death by her rich family. Although a Palestinian, Nayir is as familiar with the desert as a Bedouin. A conservative Muslim and an outsider because of his nationality and class, h
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Nov 09, 2011
Lisa
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Finding Nouf is the first in a series written by Zoe Ferraris taking place in Saudi Arabia and centering around the disappearance of Nouf Shrawi, a teenaged daughter of a powerful, wealthy family. Nouf has been reported missing and the family hires Nayir al-Sharqi, a desert guide and friend of the family, to find her. They suspect an abduction but no ransom has been demanded. Soon after Nayir begins his search, Nouf's body is found in the desert, a victim of an apparent drowning. Though the Med
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Nov 04, 2011
LJ
rated it:
First Sentence: Before the sun set that evening, Nayir filled his canteen, tucked a prayer run beneath his arm, and climbed the south-facing dune near the camp.
Nayir ash-Sharqi, known as “Tracker” is called in by a wealthy and influential family to find Nouf. Nouf is a 16-year-old girl who has gone missing. Her body is found in the desert. So how is it that she drowned? Working, quite uncomfortably, with Karya Hijazi, a female lab worker at the coroner’s office, Nayir must overco More...
Nayir ash-Sharqi, known as “Tracker” is called in by a wealthy and influential family to find Nouf. Nouf is a 16-year-old girl who has gone missing. Her body is found in the desert. So how is it that she drowned? Working, quite uncomfortably, with Karya Hijazi, a female lab worker at the coroner’s office, Nayir must overco More...
Oct 09, 2011
Syrdarya
rated it:
I've read three non-fiction books which have dealt with Saudi Arabia before, but they were very limited in scope compared to this novel (two dealt with life in the royal family, one only partially took place in Saudi Arabia and was about the miserable situation a Somali girl faced inside her time in the country). This novel really brings the land to life and shows the variety of settings, people, and economic conditions of the land. At times Saudi Arabia seems so alien it's almost like it was
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Jul 19, 2011
Marilyn
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During the sweltering Salt Lake Valley summer there’s nothing better for me than being transported through a book to another place, preferably exotic and completely different from here in every way. Add in a good mystery and I’m in my little slice of summer reading heaven. Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris is just such a book. It contains extremes of all kinds: temperatures like I’ve never seen before, death by drowning in the desert, and a gender-segregated culture so foreign to mine I couldn’t help
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Jul 04, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Finding Nouf was a Middle Eastern fiction I was able to find at my small town library. It was actually a really good story. Maybe bits here and there were contrived, but it really didn't bother me because I enjoyed the story.
I have very few complaints. I was a little put off at how quickly the conservative Nayir was interested in sticking his nose in the not-so-evident crime involving Nouf. The assistant examiner he had to have contact was a woman and his friend/ employer's fiance (he More...
I have very few complaints. I was a little put off at how quickly the conservative Nayir was interested in sticking his nose in the not-so-evident crime involving Nouf. The assistant examiner he had to have contact was a woman and his friend/ employer's fiance (he More...
Jun 29, 2011
Amira
rated it:
Finding Nouf- proceeded by City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris – written in the setting of Saudi Arabia Zoe bring an amazing mystery in our hands in the form of Nouf ash-Shrawi, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared into the desert three days before her marriage and has been found dead, several weeks pregnant. Then Nayyir a detective finds Katya Hijaz and both collaborate secretly to unveil who the murder is. The relationship between Katya and Nayyir is exquisite and mesmerizing. The next book City of ve
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Jun 05, 2011
Alan
rated it:
I like reading books that help bring me insight into another culture. This book takes place in Saudi Arabia and the main protagonist is Nayir a desert guide who, although he is Palestinian, has lived in Saudi Arabia so long and has been with and learned so much from the Bedouin that everyone assumes that he is one. Nayir, because of his talent as a desert guide, is friends with Othman, one of the sons of one of the richest and most influential families in Saudi Arabia. When one of Othman's siste
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May 29, 2011
Sue
rated it:
Alex Award/Mystery. Read this satisfying mystery and gain a new appreciation for a different place and culture. Nouf, a young woman from a wealthy Saudi Arabian family is found dead in the desert - but the cause of her death was drowning. Hired to search for the missing Nouf, Nayir is drawn into the mystery of her death and the tangled family relations surrounding it. Nayir's devout muslim faith is carried throughout and readers are immersed in a culture where cell phones coexist with the bur
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Apr 06, 2011
Doreen
rated it:
(This book takes place in contemporary Jeddah, a coastal city in Saudi Arabia.) Nouf ash-Shrawi, 16, disappears 3 days before her wedding. A truck and a camel disappear, too. She comes from a wealthy family, and her brother Othman asks his old friend Nayir, a desert guide, to find her. After a couple of weeks Nouf's body is found. When Nayir goes to the coroner's office to claim the body for the family, he overhears an argument between two people: the coroner and a lab assistant, Katya. Nayir, d
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Feb 21, 2011
Sharonewoods
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I was a bit apprehensive when I started this book. I wasn't sure if the Saudi Arabian setting would be presented in too preachy or stereotypical a manner, or make me depressed. None of these happened. In fact, the setting, especially the social interactions, was fascinating. And as a extra bonus, the novel was also 1) a great mystery, 2) featured characters I really got to like and care about, and 3) a good read. Nayir, the desert guide who turns into an unofficial private investigator, (co
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Dec 01, 2010
Barbara
rated it:
Based on her experience living with Saudi-Palestinian Bedouins, American Zoe Ferraris tries to give us an inside look at one aspect of the complicated contemporary Muslim society in Saudi Arabia. There were too many qualifications in that last sentence. That's because Saudi Arabia, on the face of it, is one of the Middle East countries cordial to the United States and it's one of the most "western" in its appearance. Lest we forget, however, it is predominantly conservative Muslim. The
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Jul 21, 2010
Geographically the setting for Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris could not be more different than Scandinavian mysteries I often read, but the glimpse into another place, another culture, is even more interesting. This novel is set in Saudi Arabia where it is so hot that people carry pot holders to open car doors, and men traditionally purchase multiple coats for their new brides to represent the places they may go when they are married (because they will never have need of them in their home countr
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Feb 05, 2009
Since she builds her mystery on the shifting Saudi sands, critics agree that Ferraris has struck oil (and who couldn't use a little more oil at this point?). Though the actual murder and its resolution probably won't redefine the mystery genre, the book's setting, many reviewers claim, goes a long way toward doing so. Ferraris shines at depicting Saudi life, and while she rarely fails to criticize its absurdities, she also reveals its humanity: men and women use potholders to open car doors (to
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Mar 06, 2011
Yoonmee
rated it:
I'm torn between giving this book 1 or 2 stars. I feel as if there should be two reviews.
First review:
This is an interesting murder mystery set in Saudi Arabia. The reader will think they are being given a behind the scenes look into everyday life in Saudi Arabia, which adds to some of the intrigue. Setting aside, the plot encourages reader to continue reading to find out "whodunnit" without resorting to the over the top style of murder mystery that seems really popular More...
First review:
This is an interesting murder mystery set in Saudi Arabia. The reader will think they are being given a behind the scenes look into everyday life in Saudi Arabia, which adds to some of the intrigue. Setting aside, the plot encourages reader to continue reading to find out "whodunnit" without resorting to the over the top style of murder mystery that seems really popular More...
Aug 26, 2009
Vanessa
rated it:
If I could give this 2 and a half stars, that's what it would receive. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It's a story about a 16 year old Saudi Arabian girl who goes missing and is found dead, the rest of the book deals with solving the reason behind her disappearance and also paints a picture of the underlying oppression felt by the women in that society.
I think my biggest problem with the book is that it just felt way too verbose for such a small story. I realized by th More...
I think my biggest problem with the book is that it just felt way too verbose for such a small story. I realized by th More...
Jul 27, 2011
Robert
rated it:
In the Saudi Arabian desert, a body of a young girl is found, after a search of nearly two weeks. The rich and influential family have some words with the authorities, and the death is quickly declared an accident.
But of course, that is not the whole story. The tracker they've asked to help them find the girl is now secretly tasked with finding out what happened. He's a Palestinian, devout, a single man, and coservative / obsessed with modesty. Now he's looking into the circumstances a More...
But of course, that is not the whole story. The tracker they've asked to help them find the girl is now secretly tasked with finding out what happened. He's a Palestinian, devout, a single man, and coservative / obsessed with modesty. Now he's looking into the circumstances a More...
