City of Veils (Nayir al-Sharqi, #2)

Jul 26, 2010 Giovanni Gelati rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This novel is an eye opener. I am the proud father of seven girls (we also have a son) and must say that the way in which women are treated in the Middle East have always stunned me. City of Veils gave me a new perspective on the whole thing. Zoe Ferraris has a unique viewpoint being both a woman and having lived in the Middle East, experiencing it first-hand. Her previous novel, Finding Nouf, was a Los Angeles Times Prize Winner.
Here is the summary of the novel; When the body of a brutally beat...more This novel is an eye opener. I am the proud father of seven girls (we also have a son) and must say that the way in which women are treated in the Middle East have always stunned me. City of Veils gave me a new perspective on the whole thing. Zoe Ferraris has a unique viewpoint being both a woman and having lived in the Middle East, experiencing it first-hand. Her previous novel, Finding Nouf, was a Los Angeles Times Prize Winner.
Here is the summary of the novel; When the body of a brutally beaten woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Detective Osama Ibrahim dreads investigating another unsolvable murder-chillingly common in a city where the veils of conservative Islam keep women as anonymous in life as the victim is in death.
But Katya , one of the few females in the coroner’s office, is determined to identify the woman and find her killer. Aided by her friend Nayir, she soon discovers that the victim was a young filmmaker named Leila, whose controversial documentaries earned her many enemies. But was it Leila’s work with an incendiary Korainic scholar or a missing American man who got her killed?
The plotline is intense, riveting and eye opening to say the least. Ferraris paints a picture and mindset that I would think most Western thinking people, men and women alike, find hard to comprehend and embrace. How do you identify a woman that is murdered that has to have her face shielded seemingly at all times? Difficult job, yes I would think. Maybe our friend Mr. Monk the obsessive/ compulsive detective can find a difference in her burka versus another woman’s, but he isn’t in this novel. But I digress.
I enjoyed this novel on many levels because it really challenged me. The setting, the mindset, the language and customs are all foreign to me. The manner in which the detective had to go about his business, the treatment of the women all were a surprise to me and at times enlightening. Ferraris uses all these things to the reader’s advantage as she takes us on a journey that I don’t think many of us have a chance to go on in this genre. So for that my hat is off to her. City of Veils is a unique novel for the reasons listed and many more. Dare to be different, give this novel a go, add it to your Goodreads - to read- list and challenge yourself. I think that the suspense and mystery of the novel combined with grappling to understand the mindset of the culture prove to a winning combination.
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May 26, 2012 Sanaa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book I thought was brilliant.
Crime, religion, culture and mystery all in one. FAB!!!!
I don't like to make a review and basically tell what the whole story was about because then those who haven't read it know too much but the way the characters within the book are portrayed and portrayed with such realism I thought made this story all the more soo real. Each of the main characters intrigued me in their own way and I could relate to them all in way or another. As a Muslim woman I think I r...more

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Aug 02, 2010 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars

There have been many literary mysteries written and many books about the plight of women in repressive Saudi Arabia, but I have never read an author who is able to so seamlessly weave these threads together to create a potboiler thriller that sizzles with knowledge.

Set in Jeddah – seemingly one of the more liberal cities of Saudi Arabia – the core of the story focuses on a burqa-clad and tortured body of a young woman on a beach. Three stories are interwoven: a whodunit story of how she got ther...more There have been many literary mysteries written and many books about the plight of women in repressive Saudi Arabia, but I have never read an author who is able to so seamlessly weave these threads together to create a potboiler thriller that sizzles with knowledge.

Set in Jeddah – seemingly one of the more liberal cities of Saudi Arabia – the core of the story focuses on a burqa-clad and tortured body of a young woman on a beach. Three stories are interwoven: a whodunit story of how she got there and who perpetrated such violence on her…the story of forensic scientist Katya and her would-be suitor Nayir, a Bedouin guide, who is crippled emotionally by the yokes of his religion…and a vanished American expat Eric Walker, whose wife Miriam finds herself bereft in an alien culture where women truly have no face.

What makes City of Veils stand out is its nuanced and highly intimate portrayal of a woman’s life in a repressive and paranoid country…where women’s faces are shielded, voices are silenced, and lifestyles are infantilized.

Ms. Ferraris – who herself moved to Saudi Arabia with her now ex-husband and his extended family of Saudi-Palestinian Bedouins – has a voice that rings with authority. Some of it is unwittingly humorous: the husband Eric, for example, has a name that translates to a part of the male anatomy, and therefore is renamed Abullah while at work. But most of it is frustrating and heartbreaking. We read, for example, about women’s mini-rebellions, as they hide Bluetooth devices inside their burquas, which send the message, “Do you want to see my face?” Or the quagmire of lingerie stories: women cannot interact with the male proprietors of the stores; therefore, the government allowed women to work in these lingerie shops. Only one problem: the religious police are convinced women should be tending to their homes and babies, not shopping.

Ferraris shows that this repression is not just a woman’s problem; it’s a man’s as well. Osama Ibrahim – the fair and liberal police investigator – believes his marriage is a strong one until he discovers his wife has been surreptitiously taking birth control pills. And Nayir, who was featured in Finding Nouf, is numbed down by the love he feels for Katya, all the while knowing she may not be such a “good Muslim woman”, and how can he possibly marry an infidel? Being in a car with a woman who is not his wife is excruciating for him: “This was the worst kind of weakness because there was nothing he could do about it…short of kicking her out of the car.”

On one level, City of Veils has all the dimensions of a first-rate crime story; its eventual denouement in the scorching and unforgiving desert would make a stunning and crowd-pleasing movie. Yet on a deeper level, the book shines its laser-eye on woman who must be resourceful to even feel human while simmering inside, and the men who are raised to fear them and place a lid on their own human desires and compassion. City of Veils does what sometimes seems to be impossible – lifts the cultural veils off and looks gender segregation right in the eye.

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Aug 23, 2010 Jeanette rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, five-star-fiction, miss-trees, middle-east

Life for women in Saudi Arabia =

Burqa required
Brain optional
BYOB(Bring Your Own Brother/Bodyguard/Bedouin) any time you set foot outside your home.

I thought City of Veils, although perhaps overlong, was a much better novel than Finding Nouf. It explores the varying levels of compliance with religious law in what is considered an "open" city, from both a male and female perspective. I found it especially interesting to read how modernization might pose dilemmas for devout men, as we usually tend...more

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Aug 07, 2010 Miriam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A really well-written and fascinating mystery that also gives insight into the Saudi Arabian culture.

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Mar 07, 2013 Julie Griffin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up at Half-Price Books because I had never read a mystery set in Saudi Arabia before. It is the second book in a series and I plan to read the first one, too, if I can find it. I knew absolutely nothing about this book or what to expect. What I found was a pretty good plotline, populated by memorable characters and interesting viewpoints from both male and female characters about the role of women in conservative Saudi society. The plot concerns the murder of a young Saudi wom...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Sheila rated it 1 of 5 stars

I have to admit I was astounded at the high ratings other readers have given this book - it doesn't feel like a genuine portrayal of anyone, really, except an American woman trying to deal with life in Saudi Arabia - wearing a veil as miserable as wearing high heels - uncomfortable, painful, and demeaning. The other characters read like a bizarre melange of stereotypes for a western audience. The plot is as clunky as, well, the writing.

I do have to say, though, my husband and I - both of us writ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Book description:
Women in Saudi Arabia are expected to lead quiet lives circumscribed by Islamic law and tradition. But Katya, one of the few women in the medical examiner's office, is determined to make her work mean something.

When the body of a brutally beaten woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, the city's detectives are ready to dismiss the case as another unsolvable murder-chillingly common in a city where the veils of conservative Islam keep women as anonymous in life as the victim is i...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Kara Jorges rated it 4 of 5 stars

When the badly beaten and burned body of a young woman washes up on shore near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Inspector Osama Ibrahim doesn’t hold out much hope for finding her killer. Aided by Katya, an ambitious lab tech, however, he discovers the identity of the victim and begins investigating her life and death. Katya is a bright young woman who follows oblique clues and assists Osama in the field, as well as enlisting the help of an old friend, Nayir. She had not spoken to Nayir in some time, but bo...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Dawn Barton added it

This book opens with a woman's body is washed up on a beach, mutilated and unrecognisable. Detective Inspector Osama Ibrahim investigates. Meanwhile, Miriam Walker returns to Jeddah after a month's holiday back home in America, but shortly afterwards her husband Eric disappears. Could the American's disappearance be linked to the murder?

Katya who is a forensic lab technician and she is trying to piece together evidence that might reveal the murdered woman's identity. At the same time she is tryi...more This book opens with a woman's body is washed up on a beach, mutilated and unrecognisable. Detective Inspector Osama Ibrahim investigates. Meanwhile, Miriam Walker returns to Jeddah after a month's holiday back home in America, but shortly afterwards her husband Eric disappears. Could the American's disappearance be linked to the murder?

Katya who is a forensic lab technician and she is trying to piece together evidence that might reveal the murdered woman's identity. At the same time she is trying to come to terms with the reappearance of Nayir in her life, a desert guide and devout Muslim. He is as troubled by his feelings for Katya, as she is about hers for him. Katua is not the kind of girl who will accept the traditional woman's role of wife and mother, and when the chance of a greater role in the investigation, Katya jumps at it.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the way it highlights the position of women in modern Saudi society, by exposing their faces and seeking employment outside the home.

I was waiting for the `maze of narrow streets' that so tantalisingly beckoned from the description on the front cover. Also there was nothing to give me a flavour of Jeddah itself. Apart from the heat and the repressive regime, the story could have been set in virtually any city. Certain aspects of the investigation, such as Nayir's involvement in it, seemed a bit unlikely too - after all, he's a desert guide, not a policeman. The main characters are well drawn, so you feel you know them and begin to understand how they think, even when their thoughts and beliefs are alien to your own. Nayir is the most interesting character, his experiences of meeting Miriam acting as a catalyst to his questioning of long-held ideology.

It's not the greatest fiction but it's a good story that develops into something every bit as tense as the blurb suggests. With a touch of romance and its insight into Saudi society, it's so much more than an ordinary crime story. Well worth the read.(less)

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Sep 08, 2012 Anthony Pacifico rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am absolutely loving this mystery/crime procedural series set in Saudi Arabia. This second in a series returns us to the city of Jeddah, where Katya, one of the few women working in the medical examiner's office, and her friend, Nayir, team up again to help solve the murder of a brutally beaten young Saudi woman, whose body was found on the beach.

The author, Zoe Ferraris, knows her territory very well. She lived in Saudi Arabia and was married to a Saudi-Palestinian Bedouin. Her descriptions o...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Blumental rated it 1 of 5 stars

A lot of reviews of this book make us believe that the interesting angle for this crime novel is the fact that it is set in Saudi Arabia, written by a quasi-local and, hence, that the novel offers us an insight into a world we know very little about. Unfortunately, this book fails to do so in quite a disappointing fashion.

In my view City of Veils does very little to shed more light on an intriguing culture and instead re-hashes preconceived, rather superficial notions of the culture of Saudi Ara...more A lot of reviews of this book make us believe that the interesting angle for this crime novel is the fact that it is set in Saudi Arabia, written by a quasi-local and, hence, that the novel offers us an insight into a world we know very little about. Unfortunately, this book fails to do so in quite a disappointing fashion.

In my view City of Veils does very little to shed more light on an intriguing culture and instead re-hashes preconceived, rather superficial notions of the culture of Saudi Arabia. After I finished this book, I was intrigued as to how superficial and incoherent the cultural aspect of the story was and I must say I felt less surprised to find that the author had actually lived in Jeddah for only 9 months. She divorced her Saudi husband 'shortly after'. In itself not a token for cultural understanding and harmony. Nor does the author seem to speak Arabic - undoubtedly, a prerequisite to genuine cultural understanding as well as an indication for deep-rooted interest in a specific culture.

It may appear cynical to think so, but I cannot rid myself from the feeling that the 'Saudi' angle was a good way for the author to get a very average imagination and literary craftsmanship into book stores. The book certainly does not suggest any genuine interest in this society. The sales pitch, though, is easy enough to see. There was indeed a place for crime novels set in the Middle East. Too bad though, it was not written by a local.

In Zoe Ferraris' portrayal of Saudi culture we learn that women are oppressed, that they have to wear burqas, that women have to walk behind men, that there are separate sitting rooms for women and men, that men cannot be alone with women, especially unmarried women, that people eat Shawarma and seemingly nothing else in Saudi Arabia, that there is a strict religious police and capital punishment, ...but in terms of objective insights into the social make-up of the country this is pretty much it. The sort of 'cultural insight' I suspect some commentators ravish about must be, for instance, the fact that walking with a burqa can be difficult because you can't actually see through these things properly. An insider's perspectives I was indeed not aware of. The pun is intentional and the quality of the humour at par with the usefulness of what we learn. There just isn't much.

Other areas the author touches upon and that would indeed be of immense interest if portrayed with true insight are women at work and their professional relationships to men, and to a lesser extent women in their private lives, be it as sisters, mothers, wives or daughters as opposed to the public image of women.

The former figures quite prominently and yet the descriptions are so vastly inconsistent and contradictory at times that one is left perplexed with utter disbelief and distrust of the author's true insights, cultural understanding of the place and hence the relevance and value of her views. On the one hand Ms Ferraris portrays professional life so restrictive for women, so utterly male dominated and pious that there are constant issues about who is in a room with whom, people 'blushing' all the time, looking awkwardly into empty places to avoid eye contact, restrictions due to dress codes etc..and on the other hand we hear the same central, female and professionally ultra junior character make career-defining, self-promoting pitches to her superiors worthy of any up-and-coming, ambitious NY criminal investigator, we see the character take a pro-active role in her very first interview of a suspect, and another week on during an interrogation in presence of her boss say things like "your problem is that you can't get a woman....You think women should be your sex slaves. That's what (so and so) was to you, A pretty face. A cute, tight .... Someone you thought you could ... if you felt like it". The language is utterly rude and I leave it out purposefully. Words you would expect from a police woman in the The Wire and deepest Baltimore, but in Jeddah? It's possible, the reader does not know but it clashes harshly with all the ultra-sensitive, pious descriptions of society and individual characters. Or do we have to imagine Jeddah and the (female) work place ultimately as a meritocratic place where a woman defines her destiny after all, where her courage and aptitude triumphs over religious conventions and pre-defined gender roles? The story gives incoherent and hence misleading clues. When in doubt, the integrity with which she portrays the local culture and, indeed, characters always seems to take a backseat to the need to develop the story line.

The repetitiveness with which the author employs the ever recurring few cultural observations of Saudi culture is a final clue as to how razor thin her insights into Saudi culture truly are.

As far as women and their roles in families go, most of what we hear are atrocities that seem to confirm deep-seated fears and ressentiments of the average and above all clueless reader regarding Saudi Arabia. We hear about women who are killed for taking contraceptive pills, maids seem to be killed so frequently that indeed it lends itself as a ploy to disguise a 'regular' murder as such or we hear about a short woman who is confined to her room and abused by her brother as a "freak" and a sight he wants to avoid at all costs. The ignorant reader sees all of his or her prejudices around Saudi gender issues fully confirmed.

There really is no point in reading this book if your motive is to find out a bit more about Saudi culture.

Pressed upon this extremely poor depiction of, let's call it, 'day-to-day Wahhabism' is a story line for a crime novel that follows the same architecture as most modern crime novels. The short chapters, a restricted number of characters, interlaced story-lines, short sentences, etc...all this makes for an easy read and the author achieves a degree of suspense by following this successful recipe closely. But her lack of imagination is reflected in a closer analysis of the 'crime'. It is difficult to go into detail without giving away too much and spoiling it for others. One thing worth keeping an eye out for, though, is the element of coincidence. The more 'coincidence' you find in both a criminal ploy and the chain of events leading to solving of the crime, the less convinced I am generally about the author's imagination.

The Guardian's Laura Wilson referred to this book as a '...knowledgeable and sensitive depiction of a place where religion, used as a blunt instrument, has given rise to a stultifying, paranoid and sex-obsessed society.' Dwell on these words and what they say about Saudi Arabia's culture. As I said, the author lived in Jeddah for 9 months !(less)

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Mar 02, 2012 Anne Broyles rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just before a recent yoga class began, I noticed that the woman next to me had a book open on her mat. “This book is so absorbing,” she told me, “I take every possible minute to read it.” I took that as a recommendation!

Listening to an audio book of CITY OF VEILS from the library had me scrambling for opportunities to drive and stay absorbed in the story—my yoga classmate was right!

I knew next to nothing about Saudi culture before reading this murder mystery set in Saudi Arabia. According to Fer...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

I didn't expect this novel to be so addictive. I had a difficult time putting it down to attend to life's needs. I really like the originality of the setting. It is a great mystery in a mystical and somewhat disturbing place. The characters were also unique. The exploration of the Saudi Arabian culture as presented make the novel unusual.

In this novel that takes place in Saudi Arabia, the women wear burqas and the Muslim religion dictates your way of life. Here a young girl is murdered and a ra...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Amira Jammy rated it 5 of 5 stars

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...more

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Feb 22, 2011 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jeddah is an intriguing place to set this crime thriller/social examination of Islamic culture. It is the gateway to Mecca, but also the most cosmopolitan of cities in Saudi Arabia. It lends itself to exploring the conflicts between a more traditional way of thinking and a more progressive outlook. The novel contains men and women on various sides of belief, as well as the American perspective. In Jeddah, laws are more liberal, and lend itself to some ambiguity, such as the wearing of the burqa...more Jeddah is an intriguing place to set this crime thriller/social examination of Islamic culture. It is the gateway to Mecca, but also the most cosmopolitan of cities in Saudi Arabia. It lends itself to exploring the conflicts between a more traditional way of thinking and a more progressive outlook. The novel contains men and women on various sides of belief, as well as the American perspective. In Jeddah, laws are more liberal, and lend itself to some ambiguity, such as the wearing of the burqa for women. It isn't mandated like in Riyadh, but you still may end up being picked up by the religious police.

The novel opens with a dead body of a woman, brutally mutilated, washed up on the beach. Unidentified, they labeled her "Eve," after Eve's tomb, the narrow strip of beach north of Jeddah where she is found.

We then cut to Miriam Walker, an American woman boarding the plane (after a month-long vacation in the States) back to Saudi Arabia to return to her husband, Eric, who is working for a year as a bodyguard and making good money. Miriam is concerned because he is warming to Saudi culture. She is cold on the culture and doesn't enjoy being cloistered, not being able to drive, and being treated as a second-class citizen. She meets a strange Western man on the plane, Apollo Mabus, who is a Qu'ran scholar.

The story moves forward and backward, introducing the main characters, such as Osama, the more progressive inspector of police, and Nayir, a conflicted man who holds tightly to tradition while it slips away. He loves Katya, a lab technician in the crime lab. She has a lot of ambition, and getting married at twenty is not high on the list of her priorities.

The novel delicately scrutinizes Jeddah's way of life as it probes the evidence in this case. I was more fascinated with the social interrogation than the tracking of Eve's killer. The thriller aspect lacked tension, and the outcome was a bit anticlimactic for me. But the story's inquiry into Islamic beliefs, and how it affected the individual characters, held my attention far more than the crime-solving. I even chuckled a few times, such as the revealing of the "burqini"--Islam's acceptable form on the Western bikini.

If you are looking for a super crime-thriller, this may not fulfill that desire. The pacing is casual and rarely taut. But, there was a superb adventure out in the desert in a fierce sandstorm. That was a nail-biter. However, if you are up for a peek behind the burqa, into the clash of Islamic culture within its own community, as well as the American (mal)adaptation to living there, you're in for a satisfying tale. (less)

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Aug 22, 2010 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery, suspense

"City of Veils" is a mystery novel set in Jeddah, a port city in Saudi Arabia. It's the second book in the series, but this story didn't "spoil" the mystery in the first novel and I could follow what was going on without having read the previous novel. However, I think I'd still recommend reading "Finding Nouf" first since I suspect it's also a very good read.

The author kept me guessing who-done-it until the end. I figured it all out the same time the investigators did. The world-building was ex...more "City of Veils" is a mystery novel set in Jeddah, a port city in Saudi Arabia. It's the second book in the series, but this story didn't "spoil" the mystery in the first novel and I could follow what was going on without having read the previous novel. However, I think I'd still recommend reading "Finding Nouf" first since I suspect it's also a very good read.

The author kept me guessing who-done-it until the end. I figured it all out the same time the investigators did. The world-building was excellent, bringing the setting and culture alive in my imagination. I felt like this story really was happening over there because the characters and setting felt so realistic. (Well, there was one amazing coincidence near the end. It didn't have to do with the mystery, but how it occurred could have been more completely explained.)

The pacing was a little slower in the first 62 pages because the author focused on introducing the city, the culture, and the many characters. Once the main focus switched to solving the case, the pacing and tension picked up nicely. The tension was created by wanting to figure out the case, not knowing if a missing character was in danger or the murderer, wondering if the main women characters were going to get in trouble for pushing the cultural limits, and the relationship tensions between all of the characters.

The characters were mainly Muslims of varying devotion. The rest were atheists or didn't mention their beliefs. The Muslims and the American residents were portrayed realistically, with both the good and the bad. While the author understandably slanted the story in favor of women having more freedom in Saudi Arabia, I don't think most Muslims (especially American Muslims) would be offended by the novel.

There were a few Arabic terms used in the story, but they were either defined in the text or the meaning was obvious from the context. However, there was also a glossary in the back of the book. There was some bad language. There was one very brief (married) sex scene, but it wasn't explicit. The brief description of the dead body was graphic but not overly gory. Overall, I'd highly recommend this well-written, fascinating, and exciting novel.

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher. (less)

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Jul 25, 2010 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

A woman’s body has been found. Detective Osama Ibrahim is called in. At first Detective Ibrahim thinks the murder is nothing new and will become a cold case. At second glance, Detective Ibrahim realizes this case is special, especially when the dead woman is found wearing a heavy metal t-shirt. This is not common attire for a Saudia Arabia woman. Detective Ibrahim does learn the identity of the woman. Her name is Leila and she was filming a documentary about the lives of women in Saudia Arabia....more

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Oct 26, 2012 Annabelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a sequel to Finding Nouf, with the main character of Nayir and Katya who fate throws together again on the murder of a young woman, Leila, who makes documentaries. They start the novel estranged, because even though Nayir wants to marry her, he can’t bring himself to talk to her again, because he wasn’t supposed to be alone and talk to her before. This book suffers from not spending enough time with Nayir and Katya. Osuma is introduced as a detective who also struggles with gender roles,...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, adult-fiction, mystery

This is the second book in this mystery series set in Saudi Arabia, and although there is continuation of personal relationships and such, I don't think it'd be difficult for someone who hasn't read the previous book to pick it up and start here. This novel opens with the body of a girl washing up on the beach. The local police are called in to investigate, and Katya - the heroine from the first book - returns as one of the forensic investigators determined to solve the crime. Turns out, the vic...more This is the second book in this mystery series set in Saudi Arabia, and although there is continuation of personal relationships and such, I don't think it'd be difficult for someone who hasn't read the previous book to pick it up and start here. This novel opens with the body of a girl washing up on the beach. The local police are called in to investigate, and Katya - the heroine from the first book - returns as one of the forensic investigators determined to solve the crime. Turns out, the victim was an aspiring filmmaker who angered a lot of people by refusing to conform to cultural norms.

The book is definitely more focused on the culture, atmosphere, and interpersonal relationships in Jeddah than it is on the mystery. This is not to say that the mystery is not interesting - it is - but simply that it is less of a thriller than it could have been and instead draws the reader deeper into the life of average residents in Jeddah. The author does a wonderful job portraying a balance of devout, conservative characters with more moderate ones. It was an interesting balance to see how everything played out and the way in which Saudi Arabia's culture influenced everything and occasionally made investigation difficult because of the segregation of sexes, etc. For the cultural aspect alone, I'd say this book is worth a read, as it's not often that you find such a well-written, well-balanced account of daily life in Saudi Arabia from various perspectives.

The viewpoint jumped around between Katya, Nayir (the desert guide-turned-amateur investigator from the first book), an American named Miriam whose husband accepted a job in Jeddah, and a police investigator named Osama who's trying to solve the case in the most fair way he knows. It took a while for all the plotlines to come together, but when they did, I enjoyed seeing how interconnected everything was. Miriam's perspective was also enjoyable because through her eyes, the reader is able to see how an American woman might view Saudi Arabia's culture and freedom.

I really enjoyed this book overall. It's well-written and the characters are all fully developed and unique. I found the ending a little anti-climactic, as even though the killer is revealed and the mystery solved, it never acually feels like a rush of excitement or tension, and there were also a few small questions that were left unanswered. Still, the book kept me hooked and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment in this series.(less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The sequel to Night of the Mi'Raj / Finding Nouf is another crime novel set in and around Jedda in Saudi Arabia. It could probably stand on its own without the first novel - but it does continue some of the character relationships that were slowly established previously (after a gap of 8 months or so).

The two main heroes from the first novel are once again central to the plot: Nayir, a desert guide and very devout Muslim, and Katya, a woman working in the Forensics department of the Saudi police...more The sequel to Night of the Mi'Raj / Finding Nouf is another crime novel set in and around Jedda in Saudi Arabia. It could probably stand on its own without the first novel - but it does continue some of the character relationships that were slowly established previously (after a gap of 8 months or so).

The two main heroes from the first novel are once again central to the plot: Nayir, a desert guide and very devout Muslim, and Katya, a woman working in the Forensics department of the Saudi police force. Two other big new characters are now part of the plot: Osama, a police officer who is more confident and less spiteful around women than many other men, and Miriam, an American woman who lives in Jedda.

The story starts when a female body is found on the beach: badly burned, stabbed, beaten and decaying. Meanwhile, Miriam returns from a month-long holiday in America to be reunited with her husband, who promptly forgets to pick her up at the airport, and then, barely having brought her home, disappears.

This is the tale of an investigation into the murder - and also the tale of an American woman suddenly isolated and alone in one of the scariest places on Earth to be a woman in. The premise sounds interesting.

The novel is a smooth read. This time, there is more tension worked into the plot. We're still not in serial-killer-territory, but there is a sense of peril around Miriam, and the murder, this time around, is very obviously a violent murder rather than a possible murder. (In the first novel, it is an unexplained death for the longest time, and there never is a sense that more violence might occur). More tension means a brisker pace - but there are also more characters, and this imbalances the novel a little. Not every plot line is as tense as every other line, so it can sometimes feel like one chapter is hitting the accelerator, while another is shifting down a gear and meandering a little.

By far the most awkward angle of the novel is when it strays dangerously close into Da Vinci Code territory. Its heart is never in it, and this is not a novel about religious conspiracies - yet there is a sprinkling of this in the plot, and as reader, I felt myself cringing and hoping that it would not develop into a Dan Brown clone. It never does - but it dabbles with the idea.

Much of the attraction of Night of the Mi'Raj was that it introduces an alien land that not many people experience. City of Veils feels even more immersive in Saudi Arabian culture - sometimes intentionally straying to the sort of scene a Western reader might have expected, but found missing in the first novel. Does it always convince? I'm not sure - the police is written about in a respectful and competent manner, and in many ways, these could be investigators in any country. Yes, there are cultural differences, but there are no characteristic differences. Are people really more or less the same, all around the world, just adapting their lives into different behavioural patterns, but not deep-rooted differences? I don't know - this book makes it feel that way. (It does not help that it's all written in English, so characters use swearwords like "fuck" when things go wrong. Basically, everyone's speech patterns are American (with a few common Arabic words thrown in), while their behaviour patterns are Saudi).

I enjoyed this book a lot. I enjoyed it more than the first novel - it has more tension and peril in it. I would still call it a good, rather than a great novel. I also think it would probably make a fantastic movie. But it is somehow not quite perfect: characters are a bit too self-analytical, a bit too explanatory, the narrative tone a bit too removed to be fully immersed. It's a novel that comes within grasping distance of genre-defining greatness, but can't quite capitalise on its brilliant ideas and concept to their fullest potential. Well worth a read, definitely, but not a second, third or fourth read.(less)

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Sep 08, 2010 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Beth by: murderblog@yahoo.com

CITY OF VEILS is the second book in Zoe Ferraris’ series featuring Nayir ash-Sharqi and Katya Hijazi.

In FINDING NOUF, readers learned of the circumscribed lives of observant Muslims, especially women, in Saudi Arabia, the most restrictive of the Arab countries. Despite the strictures, Katya has been a lab assistant in the coroner’s office. Her family is not wealthy so work outside the home is a financial necessity. She has become more involved in police investigations , given more freedom and re...more

CITY OF VEILS is the second book in Zoe Ferraris’ series featuring Nayir ash-Sharqi and Katya Hijazi.

In FINDING NOUF, readers learned of the circumscribed lives of observant Muslims, especially women, in Saudi Arabia, the most restrictive of the Arab countries. Despite the strictures, Katya has been a lab assistant in the coroner’s office. Her family is not wealthy so work outside the home is a financial necessity. She has become more involved in police investigations , given more freedom and responsibility, with the help of Detective Inspector Osama Ibrahim, a modern man whose wife works for a newspaper.

CITY OF VEILS opens with the discovery of a woman’s mutilated body on a beach. Effort has been made to obscure her identity. Is she another maid killed by her employer who has no reason to be concerned that the death will even be investigated? Katya calls her Eve and she is determined that this woman will not be buried without her real name.

There is a parallel story unfolding in CITY OF VEILS. Miriam Walker, an American married to an American, is returning to Saudi Arabia after time spent with her family in the United States. Neither she nor her husband are Muslim but she knows that following the rules of Saudi society is a necessity in order that her husband not lose his job. Seated next to her on the plane is a man who introduces himself as Apollo Mabus. He claims to be an expert on the Koran but he frightens her somewhat when he is loud and vocal about what he refers to as mistakes in the Koran. Miriam knows enough about Saudi Arabia to know that what he is saying is dangerous. Her husband works for an American company but Miriam knows that Eric is being drawn further and further into the culture and the religion of the Middle East. He is becoming more Saudi than American and the culture of the country doesn’t take into consideration a person’s country of origin. As long as they live in Saudi, Miriam is a Saudi woman. Eric is late arriving at the airport and Miriam has to suffer the humiliation of being kept in a room labeled “unclaimed women” until her husband finally arrives. The trip from the airport to home is tense; when they arrive Miriam sees that Eric has made no attempt to shop and there is little in the apartment to eat. Eric leaves to buy take-out food at a local shop while Miriam goes to the roof to see how Eric has managed keeping up with the laundry. When she comes back to the apartment, there are trays of food on the table but no sign of Eric. He has disappeared.

As part of the police investigation of the victim on the beach, Katya has been encouraged to do what is necessary to discover the identity of the woman found wrapped in the burqa. Examining missing person’s reports, Katya discovers that she is Leila Nawar, twenty-three, divorced, and living with her brother who has reported her missing. She, too, is a woman with a job; she works for a news station filming background scenes as filler for stories around Jeddah. Neither her brother nor her employers know that she has a private project she is working on while she is shooting innocuous street scenes. Leila is interviewing prostitutes for a documentary about the lives of women who work in the shadows of acceptable Saudi society.

Gradually, Miriam’s and Leila’s stories come together. In FINDING NOUF, the lives of the women in the upper classes are presented. In CITY OF VEILS, the author presents the lives of the other women in Saudi society, women who not only hide behind the veils but are hidden by them. On one hand, the veils are a protection. On the other, they keep women anonymous and invisible; if a woman disappears, who would notice? Leila has made enemies as her videos document an invisible world of prostitution as well as the violence and exploitation of women behind the closed doors of the family home. These are well-guarded secrets that can destroy the fabric of lives bound to the rules of Islam.

Nayir and Katya are each trying to come to terms with the changes in Saudi society. Katya is trusted by Inspector Ibrahim and finds herself taking on more responsibility in the police department. Nayir is trying to accept that life behind the veil isn’t the only way a woman can be observant and committed to Islam, that the Koran recognizes that, “…who labors in My way, be it man or woman; each of you is equal to the other.” (page 389)

Nayir and Katya are wonderful characters and the series is enhanced by the introduction of Inspector Ibrahim. I recently discovered FINDING NOUF so it was very nice having CITY OF VEILS published so soon after reading the first book in the series. I am impatiently awaiting the third book in this enlightening and entertaining series(less)

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Aug 05, 2010 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mysteries, mideast

Complicated. A good mystery in an unusual environment. Ferraris appears to have learned a great deal while in Saudi for several years. I especially liked the description of the sand storm near the Empty Quarter. But Ferraris also threads needles in describing the fine distinctions between deeply religious Muslims and fundamentalist Muslims. Her main male characters are thoughtful, questioning, fair, conflicted, and not always religious, though some are. Ferraris' descriptions of their logic and...more Complicated. A good mystery in an unusual environment. Ferraris appears to have learned a great deal while in Saudi for several years. I especially liked the description of the sand storm near the Empty Quarter. But Ferraris also threads needles in describing the fine distinctions between deeply religious Muslims and fundamentalist Muslims. Her main male characters are thoughtful, questioning, fair, conflicted, and not always religious, though some are. Ferraris' descriptions of their logic and thinking processes are intelligent and nuanced. It was an interesting and enlightening mystery for me, whose lack of experience in Middle Eastern culture sometimes leaves me frustrated, suspicious, and unclear about people's motives. Considering traditional Muslim culture is just about as far from modern American culture as it is possible to be, bridging some of the misunderstandings that can occur and showing the modesty and sincerity and goodness of intention that Muslim society treasures, Ferraris actually does a service at the same time as she spins the mystery.

The form of the mystery itself appears to be the familiar model of lead investigator (male) and a sidekick (female). Though there were times when it seemed positively ludicrous that a woman could be on a forensic team in Saudi considering the contraints, just the effort of imagining it made it interesting. And then we are forced to speculate how could it be otherwise? I had a look at the earlier book in the series, called Finding Nouf and I must admit I found it as frustrating and annoying as beginning City of Veils . Something about the contraints people operate under in the Middle East seem artificial and absurd. I find myself getting impatient. In the end, however, whatever I didn't like about City of Veils Was outweighed by what I learned and what I liked. As a Western woman, it is so easy to slam conservative Muslim men as neanderthal throwbacks. But understanding aids comprehension and Ferraris makes some attempt to show Muslim men as reasonable, both those that are religious and those that are not. It is no mean feat and she deserves kudos. (less)

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Oct 25, 2012 Maureen Heraty rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is primarily a detective story but I think the author's aim is to write a crime novel (or detective story) while also providing a detailed commentary on daily life for women in Saudi Arabia. It also is embedded with a love story, carried over from the previous novel in this series, Finding Nouf. The young detective Katya is trying to unravel a number of cases, including one involving the death of a former American serviceman. This is the second mystery set in Saudi with the same female...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

The second outing in Zoe Ferraris's mystery series set in Saudi Arabia introduces the reader to a wider cast of characters, each with their own histories and subplots. Ferraris does a truly beautiful job of showing how the cultural and religious norms of Saudi culture create fracture lines in the relationships between men and women. There are no stock characters in her story, no pure villains and no pure heroes-- just people with varying degrees of religiosity struggling to define "the good life...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Sabina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

4.5 stars

Miriam Walker flies to Saudi Arabia to join her husband in Jeddah; only hours after her arrival he's vanished without a trace. A few days earlier, the mutilated body of a young woman had washed up on the beach. The cases seem unconnected, but they once again bring together forensic scientist Katya and desert guide Nayir.

I loved the first book in the series, The Night of the Mi'raj, and I was really hoping the second one would live up to my expectations. This it certainly did in spades,...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

City of Veils is classified as a mystery of the police procedural subgenre, but the mystery takes backseat (just like women do in Saud Arabia!) to the depiction of Saudi society. Since the author has lived there, I assume her description of Saudi Arabia is accurate, and it makes Saudi Arabia sounds like an even worse place to be a woman (or a man) than I had realized.

Although the description of Saudi society is extremely interesting, it does seem to get in the way of the plot.I believe it would...more

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Dec 01, 2010 Evelyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

I zoomed through this in a couple of days. It is a wonderful followup to Ferraris' first book, "Finding Nouf." I am on the fence between a 3 star rating and a 4 star rating. I love the characters. I will certainly read anything else written in this series. It is highly engrossing, but not great literature. It reminds me very much of Faye Kellerman's first books, but set in Saudi Arabia. The two main characters are Muslims struggling with orthodox religion and their growing relationship, while Ke...more

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May 27, 2012 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, mystery

I really enjoyed this second book from Ferraris: another murder mystery set in modern day Saudi Arabia. Perhaps someone suggested that her first book was too sympathetic to Saudi culture, because this one is much harsher. We get the point of view of an American woman who feels trapped and humiliated by the restrictions on women - her husband is late picking her up at the airport so that we can witness the procedure for “unclaimed women”. We see a woman being chastised on the street by the religi...more

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Aug 02, 2010 Alayne Bushey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Zoe Ferraris’s second novel, City of Veils, is a follow-up to her debut, Finding Nouf. A literary mystery set in Saudi Arabia, City of Veils is a different kind of suspense thriller. Among the cloaked town, hidden in the desert or behind a burqa, a killer has taken the life of a woman whose body washes onto the beach. Badly burned, beaten, and stabbed, the investigation into her murder involves more than one detective and citizen of Jeddah. Pushing the boundaries of expectations, both religious...more Zoe Ferraris’s second novel, City of Veils, is a follow-up to her debut, Finding Nouf. A literary mystery set in Saudi Arabia, City of Veils is a different kind of suspense thriller. Among the cloaked town, hidden in the desert or behind a burqa, a killer has taken the life of a woman whose body washes onto the beach. Badly burned, beaten, and stabbed, the investigation into her murder involves more than one detective and citizen of Jeddah. Pushing the boundaries of expectations, both religious and legal, Ferraris’s characters delve into the mystery of the woman’s death with the hopes of bringing her killer to justice.

My favorite thing about this novel was the fact that it was set in Saudi Arabia. An unlikely place to serve as the backdrop for a thriller, my interest in Ferraris was piqued and I looked on her website and checked out some interviews to discover she once lived in the town of Jeddah, and has first-hand experience of the area and the people who live there. It gave her writing an authentic voice, and though it’s hard for me to imagine the rigid expectations women face in Saudi Arabia, I know from her background that what Ferraris writes under the guise of a fiction thriller, can and does occur outside the cover of a book.

Aside from the location and the language placing this novel in a foreign setting, Ferraris’s writing was natural and her plot was intriguing. I didn’t know going into it that this was a follow-up novel, but I didn’t feel disconnected, or as though I missed too much of the background story. Some of the past events were explained, so I understood why Nayir and Katya had a tortured history.

I enjoyed the murder-mystery and suspense value in City of Veils. It’s not your everyday sleuth adventure when a burning, grinding, sand-storm is rushing toward you. It’s not a generic persons-go-missing and turn up okay later. People die and the villains are punished, and through it all, Ferraris’s writing carries on from one perspective to the next, making each character determined and endearing.
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City of Veils (Nayir Sharqi & Katya Hijazi #2)

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