Kingdom of Strangers

Nayir Sharqi & Katya Hijazi #3

by Zoë Ferraris

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 Zoë Ferraris weaves a tale of psychological suspense around an elusive serial killer and the sinister forces trafficking in human lives in Saudi Arabia.

Genres: Mystery, Middle East, Fiction, Crime, Book Club, Thriller, Contemporary

375 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Zoë Ferraris moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. She lived in a conservative Muslim community with her then-husband and his family, a group of Saudi-Palestinians.

Her debut novel, Finding Nouf (published as Night of the Mi'raj in the UK) was a national and international bestseller, winner of the LA Times Book Award for First Fiction, a B&N Discover pick, an ALE Alex Award winner, and was translated and published in 45 countries. Two follow-up novels, City of Veils and Kingdom of Strangers have been published in over 35 countries. The three books have been optioned for a television series.

She has an MFA from Columbia University and currently lives in San Francisco.

Reviews

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

[3.5] I enjoyed this well-paced murder mystery, mainly for its setting in Saudi Arabia and for the character of Katya, a forensic technician. Katya must break the rules of Saudi society to get anything done - even her male colleagues are hampered by the restrictive and absurd laws governing everyday life. This is a sequel to "City of Veils" which I preferred and recommend reading first.

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review:

Kingdom of Strangers is the final chapter in the intricate and exotic story of Nayir Sharqi & Katya Hijazi. Is it the final chapter? I don't know. Ferraris is currently exploring other topics aside from the Saudi peninsula. In all honesty, should Ferraris choose to she could extend this series indefinitely, as far as I'm concerned. What do I find so intriguing about these books?

There is something unique about this author's writing, especially in the area of Point of View. It is so rare for an author to create a compelling and cohesive story while jumping into the minds of various characters. In Finding Nouf the primary point of view is that of Nayir Sharqi...with a secondary point of view belonging to Katya Hijazi. The second novel, City of Veils, while including Nayir (the bedoin guide) and Katya (the forensic scientist), adds an equally formidable point of view: that of Osama (a colleague in the police department). And finally in the Kingdom of Strangers we jump into the mind of Ibrahim, yet another recent transfer into the police department with Katya serving as an equal but primary point of view. Ferraris manages this effortlessly while maintaining a high degree of reader interest that, for me, never waned. In thinking about this, it is not the hero or heroine that serves as the cohesion necessary for any story, but in this case, it is the wildly unpredictable Arabian culture in which the reader discovers the glue that binds.

I want to say that Ferraris is writing an expose on the abuse of women in another culture. But that's not really true. In reading about her own thoughts which are included at the end of the books, we find a definite fondness for Saudi Arabia, and even where it concerns the ills of a segregated society, Ferraris asks us to dig deep inside of ourselves and ask ourselves: is it really different where you are?

Are there compelling reasons in the West to stay in a bad marriage? Are women treated the same in your workplace? Can mundane human interactions take on sexual overtones where you live? Is it any easier in the West to prove rape if you're a woman? Are our foreign workers ever exploited, abused, or live in terrible surroundings? What is the status of immigrants in our country? After all, the Kingdom of Strangers is a tale of Saudi Arabia's foreign labor force. All good questions. By presenting us with what we in the West would consider extremes, Ferraris takes us deep into our own ulterior motives and lifestyles and confronts us with this question: in principle, not fact, is it any different where you are?

So get ready for a serial killer loose in the increasingly cosmopolitan city of Jeddah. Are serial killers really an American phenomona? Is the Jeddah police department correct in priding itself on not having serial killers in Arabia? Get ready for men dressed in Burqas! Or, in the case of automobiles and women:

"There was no wearing seat belts where Saffanah was concerned because the belt might outline her body and any man in a passing car would be able to see her shape, and that was unacceptable."

Care to take a look at a women's shopping mall? Or, why not a women's prison where the inmates experience their first taste of freedom?

The [prison] corridor was full of wonders. On the left was a giant studio littered with easels, palettes, and dirty smocks, walled in by large paintings of flowers, machinery, and strange humanlike forms. There was a reading room there, with books and tables where women could write. On the right they encountered a beauty studio. Through the window in the door Katya saw a row of empty hair dryers and six women painting nails and cutting hair."

Please, I invite you into the world of Saudi Arabia as penned by Zoë Ferraris. The experience will leave you in wonder and in shock.


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Series Review:

Zoë Ferraris moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. She lived in a conservative Muslim community with her then-husband and his family, a group of Saudi-Palestinians.

In 2006, she completed her MFA in Fiction at Columbia University. Her debut novel, Finding Nouf, (published as Night of the Mi'raj in the UK) and a follow-up novel, City of Veils, have been published in over thirty countries. Her third novel, Kingdom of Strangers, came out in June 2012.

She currently lives in San Francisco and is hard at work writing about subjects other than Saudi Arabia, the setting for her first 3 novels.

Just as we find with the Inspector O series, Zoë Ferraris sets before her the task of writing mysteries in which the very system in which the crime takes place is an obstacle to solving the mystery. Church, in his Inspector O series, places his hero within the North Korean political system, a system that is as much an obstacle to solving crimes as is the the crime itself. Ferraris, on the other hand, chooses the closed society of Saudi Arabia (or more the point, the city of Jeddah) for her novels' settings.

American readers of these novels will be reluctant to put these novels down. The riveting and intricate plots taking place in this part of the world are eye openers to what would surely mystify most readers in the West: an inside look at a closed system where women and men to this day remain segregated; where both genders come to terms and wrestle with their own views as laid down by the strictures and tenets of Islam; where heroism is defined by defying the often horrible restrictions imposed by such beliefs. The stories you will read are heroic; we certainly get the sense that Ferraris who has lived in this closed society condemns much of what she has experienced while simultaneously granting respect to the faith of Islam.

The books will shock you at the plight of Saudi women and simultaneously keep you glued to the pages as the various intrigues expand and ripple across the crescent shaped dunes in the Saudi desert. Part ethonography, part mystery detective, part literary the novels are all encompassing and are the mark of a new voice and an astounding talent on the mystery and literary fronts.

The heroes of this series are Nayir Sharqi, a male Palestinian desert guide, and Katya Hijazi, a Saudi female forensic lab worker. The mere pairing of these two of opposite genders by Ferraris is an act of defiance in itself, especially in a heavily segregated society. You will say, as a westerner: "what's the big deal in having a job?" The big deal is that women don't have jobs in this society. The fact that Katya even has a job is an act of defiance. Cloaked in public, the showing of her ankles, or even stopping to speak to a man in public may be reason enough for the religious police to throw Katya in jail.

And what about Nayir?

A devout muslim, this displaced Palestinian man was created by Ferraris to investigate all that is good about Islam. Frustrated with his desire for a female companion, often forced to confront the seeming contradictions between religious edicts and what he knows to be right, this desert man brings to us an endearment of Saudi Arabia, of Jeddah, a place caught between its role as the holy gateway to Mecca and the cosmoplitan city in an increasingly liberal world.

These books have my attention! They represent a new wave within the genre of mystery/detectives...and I do recommend this series to any who find that the above tickles their curiosity.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing conclusion (?) after reading the first two better books in this series. Zoe Ferraris continues to paint a depressing, but likely accurate picture of Saudi Arabia: a repressive society, where women are segregated and subservient, and here a large foreign population work as exploited servants. In the opening scene, a body is discovered on the outskirts of Jeddah, and many others are unearthed, leading to an investigation of a serial killer of these servants. While Ferraris does a good job on exploitation and human trafficking, she loses track of developing her main characters, Katya and Nayir (especially him), whose relationship concerns are not shared between them, even though they agreed to marry at the end of the prior novel. Most of the secondary characters were poorly developed, except for Ibrahim (and his daughter), whose family troubles are legion, including the search for Ibrahim’s lover, which may jeopardize his police career. Not a strong enough police procedural to stand on its own.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Zoe Ferraris is my new favorite mystery author. 50 or so pages into KOS, and it's like getting back together with old friends I have not seen for a while. These books for me are less about the mystery, and more about the characters lives in Saudi Arabia. I really want to go to Saudi Arabia someday, but only if I could spend a couple of weeks or so out in the empty areas. Finished. She is a great author.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can also find my review of Kingdom of Strangers on my book blog.

Kingdom of Strangers is the third crime novel in a series set in Jedda, Saudi Arabia. Some of the characters from the first two novels make appearances, but the novel could probably be read on its own. (That said, the novel is much more enjoyable when you know the history)

By now it is clear who is the undisputed hero of these novels: Katia, a female forensic scientist, working for the police, mostly stuck in a lab, but keen to have a more active role in the investigations. (The first novel centred very much around Nayir, a desert guide who got involved in a murder investigation and met Katia, but by now, Katia is the cornerstone of the narrative)

This time, the novel starts with the gruesome discovery of 19 dead bodies in the desert. A serial killer in Saudi Arabia - almost unheard of. And he's been busy for ten years...

Meanwhile, the newly arrived inspector Ibrahim, tasked with leading the investigation, is having an affair outside marriage - and, when he turns up at his lover's flat, she is missing.

The novel is quick to set up its main plot strands, but chisels away at them at a pace that is steady, confident and not too rushed. It's not the sort of novel where each chapter ends on a cliffhanger, and each cliffhanger is more unbelievable than the last. Instead, the tension is amped up at a steady, confident pace, and the novel is engrossing all the way through. For a few chapters, I thought it might descend into stereotypes (serial killer toying with his pursuers, making it personal, etc.), but thankfully, the novel does not.

One of the big attractions of this series has always been that it is set in Saudi Arabia - a country most of its readers might never set foot into (I doubt I ever will), and a country with a culture that is about as far away from Western philosophies as it is possible to get. The book treats its characters with a credible level of complexity, and the reader with a degree of respect. As Westerners, the readers would miss a lot of information if it was not spelled out, and so it is, but never in an obtrusive way. We are simply part to characters' thoughts and analyses - and those thoughts are often determined by the expectations of the society around them, and their own internal conflicts whenever they chafe against the limits (or transgress). There is an awful lot of chafing in this novel, but it seems quite credible that regular people in Saudi Arabia have to tightrope walk on a very thin line all their lives...

The book is not entirely without flaws. Coincidence, that evil cheat, does affect the plot, and one big revelation is preceded by a cloaked premonition in a dream. Both are forgivable - the novel would have worked just as well without the latter, and the coincidences are small in number, and occur early in the timeline of the novel.

Of the three Jedda murder novels written by Zoe Ferraris, this has become my favourite. I breezed through it in two days (which is fast, for me), and was completely hooked all the way through. Encountering an actual adulterous character - and his unique crises of conscience, challenges, and the threats hanging over his head - was an incredibly effective source of tension. It made the serial killer mystery pale by comparison.

I enjoyed this book so much, I would honestly recommend this series to anyone. I would definitely recommend reading the first two books, just so this one can be appreciated fully (and they are both good books in their own right).

[Andrew H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saudi Arabia has become adept at sportwashing, hiding its appalling human rights record under a friendly face. Ferraris' novel is a powerful antidote. Her craft bends the traditional crime genre into a mode for analysing the life of women in a modern society with a medieval mindset.

Kingdom of Strangers follows Katya Hijazi, a forensic scientist (overreaching her humble social position) as she hunts a serial killer obsessed with order. Every move she makes is underpinned by one fact: "a woman is worth half a man."

Ferraris characterises well. Her psychological insights into human stupidity matter more than her grasp of psychopathic killers. This is a lively, well paced, probing novel that borders on tragicomedy. Imagine men investigating crimes against women when they dare not look on photographs of female bodies. Detectives that dare not sit where a women has sat in case her transferred heat causes sexual arousal.

Highly readable.

[Rick Slane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sad I have finished this series where I got the feel of Saudi culture without the dryness of non-fiction.

[Shomeret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kingdom of Strangers is the third in a mystery series by Zoe Ferraris that takes place in Saudi Arabia. This is my choice for Saudi Arabia in the Around the World challenge on Goodreads. It's also the best of the series at this point. I was intrigued by the first book, Finding Nouf , because it brought us into the world of the Bedouins. The second switched the primary viewpoint to Katya Hijazi who I find more complex and sympathetic than Nayir, the main protagonist of Finding Nouf , but I otherwise found it unmemorable. In this third book, Ferraris unites intense character drama with social commentary and cultural insight. So it's not only better fiction, but more provocative than the previous two volumes.

The narrative is enriched by a switching of perspectives between Katya Hijazi and Ibrahim Zahram who are both investigating a serial killer case that is centered on women who emigrated to Saudi Arabia for employment. There is a great deal of focus on the exploitation and abuse of these women. I imagine that many readers will think that the title refers to the foreign labor which has become a large proportion of the population of Saudi Arabia. Yet as I read about the lives of the protagonists and the secrets they kept from those closest to them, it seemed to me that Saudis are also very much strangers to one another.

For my complete review including research on a couple of intriguing Islamic practices, go to
https://www.maskedpersona.blogspot.com

[P.D.R. Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was a novel which made me sit up and say ‘Wow ’ It is a novel women should read if only for the purely educational reason of understanding what living in a Moslem country, Saudi Arabia, is like. There is more to the book than that, but it is a slap in the face to those of us females who fought for equal rights. How do these Saudi women stand their treatment?

‘Kingdom of Strangers’ is the third novel in a series of crime novels set in Jedda, Saudi Arabia. The first two are ‘The Night of the Mi'raj’ and ‘City of Veils’. It does help to have read the first two novels simply because the setting is so different, yet integral to the stories, and character names are not the usual western ones most readers are used to.

Katya is a rare bird in her country. She is a forensic scientist, and actually works for the police. She is mainly kept inside her lab, but longs to be an active part of investigations.
Her opportunity comes when 19 dead bodies are discovered by accident in the desert. This means there is a serial killer in Saudi Arabia and forensic work shows this killer has been at work for ten years for the victims are runaway immigrants not missed by anyone.

The new inspector, Inspector Ibrahim Zahrani, is heading the investigation, but he has another problem. He has been committing adultery, a punishable crime in Saudi Arabia. His affair with a charming young women has ended abruptly. He went to her flat as usual but she has disappeared. The inspector’s situation, his guilty conscience, the challenges, and the threats hanging over his head because he had committed adultery, make for real tension throughout the story. The serial killer mystery is minor in comparison, so the novel is not just another serial killer story. The inspector cannot openly hunt for his lover, but Katya can.

This gets her out and active, something her fianceé does not approve of, nor do her - mostly male - colleagues. She is under pressure to conform and yet perform.

Much information has to be explained, but Zoe Ferraris does it well, mainly through her characters' thoughts which allow readers to see how the Moslem society’s strict laws pressure and demand patterns of behaviour, and how people are in conflict between society’s expectations and their own.

This is what makes the novels such a good read. The stories are excellent detective thrillers but go beyond that to show that the many crimes committed against women actually have their roots in the interpretation and misinterpretation of religion in a society with a different culture and values from ours. This applies to more countries than Saudi Arabia and reading the novel makes what is happening to women in India more understandable though no less unforgivable.

Inspector Ibrahim and Katya struggle to do the right thing. The end results of their investigations are dramatic and sad. The struggle to live in their society leaves both of them at sea although they do find solutions for themselves. This is a novel, a series of novels, well worth reading and rereading and leaves the reader with plenty to think about..

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is apparently the final installment in the series. Ferraris lived in Saudi Arabia at one time and her scathing opinion regarding the lack of rights of women comes through loud and clear. In fact, in the 2nd book, City of Veils, their plight seemed to be more the reason for the novel than the murder investigation. In this novel, there is more balance and I was happy to see that.

Katya Hijazi is a forensics specialist for the Jeddah police. Unmarried women are prohibited from holding such a position because they could come in contact with men to whom they are not related. Katya easily got around this prohibition by saying she is married. She lives in fear the department will find out she is single and that she will lose the job she loves. We know this from the first in the series, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded. Katya is a smart, intuitive, hard working woman and she would be an asset in any organization. Nayir Sharqi loves her. His characterization is more than that, but Katya is the star and the more fully-fleshed character. I like Ferraris' writing style.

While each novel could be a stand alone, I think it is better read in order. I will miss the opportunity to visit these characters again and again. This installment was my favorite of the three. I'm tempted to give it 5-stars, but I'll settle for a truly strong 4-stars.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found a copy of this third and final in the series in a used bookstore and read most of it flying home. I have really enjoyed the characters in these mysteries as well as learning more information about the very restrictive society of Saudi Arabia. Katya Hijazi continues to work as a forensic scientist in the Jeddah Police Department's crime lab. A grave has been uncovered in the desert and 19 women are found, all with their hands removed. Katya is allowed into the investigation by the senior officer in charge who is more liberal than some of his colleagues; however, he has a personal mystery that needs to be solved as well. Katya helps him, while trying to figure out how much she can share with her husband to be. A fitting finale to a favorite series.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the newest book in a contemporary mystery/crime series set in Saudi Arabia. It’s perhaps the weakest of the three, but it’s still a good read. It describes a rigid, repressive society where men and women are obsessively segregated, which poses obvious problems for those trying to solve crimes.

The title is a reference to Saudi Arabia’s large population of poor immigrants, many of whom work as servants, are ill-protected by the law, and are vulnerable to exploitation. The mystery plot involves a serial killer who targets these foreign women.

To its detriment, the book focuses more on the murder mystery and a bit less on the personal lives of the people involved. I was disappointed to get so little from Nayir, and so little interaction between him and Katya, despite the fact that they are together often. We hear their internal thoughts, their hopes and reservations about their relationship, but they rarely share their feelings with each other.

[Hanzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this book seems to hit home yet also manages to rub me off in the wrong way if that makes sense. I think I'm finally appreciating the author now, having read the final installation of this series. It’s really an outsider’s perspective on a culture/ country that is so closed off to the rest of the world. It's definitely interesting how our backgrounds affect our perception of the world, the way we see everything, and the way perspectives really matter in understanding those around us.

It’s a West meets East scenario where Ferraris has tried her best to understand a culture yet can’t help narrating it through her mind’s eye. I chose not to get riled up by the insufferable amount of inaccuracies and misrepresentation and focus on the actual mystery and plot and perhaps it's the only reason why I could enjoy this read.

I'd love to read more of the author's works if she were to research better for I loved the writing but hated the representation.

[Vivone Os · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Ferraris je u ovom nastavku otišla korak dalje pa sad umjesto običnog ubojice policija ima posla sa serijskim ubojicom, kako neki tvrde prvim ikad u Jeddi. Zato traže pomoć američkog FBI-a koji im na sveopći šok muškaraca šalje ženu profilera. I ovdje je policijska istraga čvrsto isprepletena s muško-ženskim odnosima, zabranama i zakonima za žene i protiv ženske samostalnosti.
Katyina i Nayirova veza u ovom nastavku pada u drugi plan i skoro uopće nemamo Nayirovih razmišljanja, Nayirove perspektive i to mi je baš nedostajalo. Radnja se fokusira na Katyine pokušaje da se izbori za svoje mjesto u policiji te da, unatoč svim preprekama koje joj postavljaju muški detektivi i policajci, uspije otkriti ubojicu. U isto vrijeme pratimo inspektora Ibrahima koji osim serijskog ubojice pokušava (uz Katyinu pomoć) pronaći i svoju ljubavnicu koja se upetljala u nelegalne stvari i njen nestanak prijeti da će razotkriti njihovu preljubničku vezu što bi moglo utjecati i na Ibrahimov brak, a i život.
Sva ta pravila za žene u saudijskom društvu su me fascinirala, ali i strašno ljutila. Žena ne smije razgovarati ili biti u društvu s nepoznatim muškarcem koji im nije otac, muž ili brat. Ne smije voziti auto. Ne smije nigdje ići sama bez pratnje. Treba pokrivati kosu i tijelo. Neke su čak išle toliko daleko da nisu vezale pojas u autu da im se ne bi ocrtale obline koje neki muškarac može vidjeti. Naravno bračnog partnera obično bira obitelj. Žena često nema mogućnost odabira. Žene nisu smjele voziti bicikle. Moraš biti djevica kad ulaziš u brak i majke su često svoje kćeri vodile na pregled prija braka da bi se to potvrdilo. Žene nisu smjele raditi ili su mogle raditi samo na mjestima na koja su išle samo žene (primjerice shopping centri u koje je muškarcima bio zabranjen ulaz). Ekstremno se pazilo na žensku čednost. Muškarci koji nisu obitelj nisu smjeli, a često ni željeli pogledati ženu u oči, obratiti joj se ili joj odgovoriti na pitanje. Čak su se neki silili da izignoriraju ženu. Sve žene su imale muškog skrbnika koji je odlučivao u njihovo ime. Na sudu je ženin iskaz vrijedio kao pola muškarčevog. A ima toga još.
S druge strane, kad Amerikanka dolazi u policiju, nepokrivena, svi mušakrci zure u nju, nabacuju joj se, stvaraju joj neugodu. Ta dvosturka mjerila čine Saudijce u knjizi licemjernima.
E sad, čula već jesam za sve što sam gore nabrojala. Ali neke su mi stvari toliko šokantne da sam malo na internetu proučavala je li tako što moguće. Nažalost, sve što je Ferraris napisala bilo je istina u ono vrijeme (prije 20-ak godina) kad je ona živjela u S. Arabiji udana za Saudijca. Otad su se mnoge stvari promijenile pa žene mogu putovati same, voziti auto, natjecati se…, imaju puno više prava nego što su onda imale.
Da je ovo bio običan krimić sa serijskim ubojicom u zapadnom svijetu, ne bi mi bio ni upola toliko zanimljiv i fascinantan kao ova priča sa milijun slojeva društva, ljudsih ponašanja i pravila. Likovi muških policajaca su bili u rasponu od onih koji su u potpunosti prihvatili Katyu i njene kolegice i cijenili su njihov posao i trud, do onih religioznih fanatika koji su činili sve da ih se ograniči prostorom, poslovima pa čak i da im se da otkaz. Katya mi je bila odlična jer im to nije dopustila i uz pomoć Nayira (koji se hvatao za glavu u šoku videći ju kako radi i morao je preispitati svoja vjerovanja i tradiciju) i par policajaca koji su je podržavali uspjela riješiti i ubojstva i Ibrahimov problem. Ferraris je ispreplela zanimljivu i slojevitu priču koja mi se baš svidjela.
Na svom blogu je još 2023. godine napisala kako priprema četvrti nastavak Nayirove i Katyine priče. Zasad nema više informacija o tome, ali zaista se nadam da će ju napisati (a možda i još koju poslije) jer njihova priča ima toliko potencijala i bilo bi mi žao da tu završi.

A-Z 2025.
Globalni ciljevi: druga kultura, nastavak serijala

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

She had heard the anti-immigration cry from other countries—Europe wanting to send its Muslims home; America keen to close its doors to the Mexicans—but Saudi had let itself become a kingdom of strangers. It welcomed its immigrants because they lent the illusion that all Saudis could afford hired help, because the immigrants did the jobs that most Saudis would never dream of doing—housekeeping, trash collecting, taxi driving—and because without them, absolutely nothing would get done.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This offbeat mystery set in Saudi Arabia was fascinating. The two detectives, one of whom is a woman assigned to the police lab, are trying to find a serial killer who has murdered 19 Asian housemaids.
While the mystery itself is intriguing, the main attraction of the novel is a depiction of the absurdity of daily life in Saudi Arabia, where men and women are segregated to a ridiculous extent, e.g., separate morgues for men and women.
Strict application of the "Virtue Laws," whereby adultery is punished by beheading, does not seem to make Saudi citizens more virtuous. In fact, wealthy woman set up shoplifting and burglary rings, using their burkhas to prevent being stopped and searched. The Asian servants (many recruited under false pretexts) on whom the Saudis are completely dependent, are brutally mistreated, generally with impunity.
The Chief Inspector is one of the few enlightened people in the entire police force, which means he is in constant danger from the religious fanatics he works with.
I never want to set foot in Saudi Arabia, but I might have to read the other two books in this series.

[Lisa Beaulieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly fascinating! We get a glimpse into Saudi life and culture, a society that has two sets of everything to keep women and men separated. Separate work areas, separate restaurants, even separate shopping malls. Early in the book, there is a description of what it is like to walk in dim light in a burqa - I was hooked from that point on. Things I never considered. Also, Ferraris educated me about the issue of foreign workers, esp Asian and Fillipino women, in Saudi Arabia. It's quite horrifying. And I had never heard about it before. I feel like packing my bags and camping out at the Manilla airport, spending my life dissuading these women from getting on planes to the Middle East.

I found myself anxious to get back to the story every time I put it down, and I truly did not care about the serial killer - I was most interested in the people tracking him and their lives. I hate learning things, and I learned alot from reading this book. I paid no attention at all to the quality of the writing - but I can assume it was very good, because it kept me rapt from beginning to end, and never seemed the least bit didactic or boring.

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of police/crime thrillers tell of the problems the detectives face. This book provides a new benchmark of problems. Women can't be seen, they can't be touched, they can't take a job of a man, they have to be unseen, always with all skin covered and their body shape protected. So when 19 women are found dead there is a lot of limits to protect their virtue. Then the dead are all Asian women probably staying in Saudi Arabia without a visa or passport and so no one knows or cares they are missing. As well the lead detective's mistress is missing and adultery is an offence punishable by beheading. These problems and the more general one of living in Saudi Arabia as a woman makes this book worth reading.

[Mehreen Shaikh · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the while I was reading this book, a thought kept poking me - I wish the author had chosen another country as the setting!
After completing this three part series, I'm more than convinced that Western authors have a really hard time understanding foreign culture and religion. There are so many instances in the plot where it's obvious that Ferraris is just not familiar with the nuances of the Saudi culture or locals' mindset.
However, I gave the book three stars because the murder mystery part was interesting and I liked the main characters.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Ferraris failed to disappoint with this third installment of the Nayir Sharqi & Katya Hijazi series.

I enjoyed the interplay between the main characters, as well as the side characters, immensely. My only small complaint is that I wish there were more interplay between Nayir and Katya in this book. I didn't feel like I saw enough Nayir in this book.

For not being written by an own voices author, Ferraris became as intimately connected with the lives of Saudis as you can get, portraying characters with depth and sensitivity. I liked her modern twist on making Katya, the female lead the more modern and progressive character and making Nayir the more traditional and conservative partner.

I will definitely will recommend this series to anyone looking for realistic fiction set in a different culture.

[Nhi Nguyễn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detective novel set in the religiously Islamic country of Saudi Arabia, what can go wrong? ^^

Mở đầu bằng việc phát hiện 19 xác chết phụ nữ bị cắt xén và chôn vùi dưới lớp cát sa mạc ở thành phố Jeddah - thành phố lớn thứ 2 của Ả Rập Xê Út, tất cả 19 xác đều bị chặt mất tay và chỉ có 3 bàn tay là được tìm thấy tại hiện trường, "Vương quốc những kẻ lạ mặt" dẫn dụ người đọc vào không chỉ quá trình điều tra phá án với những phát hiện rùng rợn về sự nhẫn tâm và điên loạn của kẻ giết người, mà còn cả một thế giới, một xứ sở đậm màu sắc tôn giáo sùng kính đạo Hồi và những uẩn ức, bất công ẩn chứa bấy lâu này trong lòng xã hội. Đó là xứ sở của những tên đàn ông sùng đạo đến vô lý, khinh rẻ phụ nữ và cho rằng một người phụ nữ như nhân viên pháp y Katya - một trong hai nhân vật chính của tác phẩm - không được phép làm việc chung với đàn ông, đặc biệt là khi mà công việc điều tra phá án chỉ toàn "đực rựa", từ đó gián tiếp tạo nên những chướng ngại ảnh hưởng đến việc điều tra phá án của cô và đồng sự.

Đó là xứ sở mà uy quyền của đạo Hồi thể hiện đậm nét, khi người phụ nữ luôn phải ra đường với mạng che mặt, không được lái xe hơi, không được ngồi chung xe, tiếp xúc và nói chuyện với đàn ông lạ mặt; ngân hàng, khu mua sắm hay tiệc cưới ở nhà hàng đều được phân chia làm hai khu vực dành riêng cho nam và nữ, và phụ nữ chỉ được phép lui tới những chỗ dành riêng cho mình. Đó còn là xứ sở của việc nhập khẩu lao động vô tội vạ, để rồi những cô gái Đông Nam Á đến từ Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia đến đây với mục đích kiếm tiền đổi đời, thì chỉ nhận lại được kết cục bị cưỡng hiếp, đánh đập bởi những ông chủ mà mình làm người giúp việc cho. Đó còn là xứ sở cực kỳ ác nghiệt với tội ăn cắp và ngoại tình, khi mà những kẻ ăn cắp sẽ bị chặt mất bàn tay, còn những kẻ ngoại tình nếu chứng minh được việc thông dâm của mình thì kết cục tồi tệ nhất là bị chặt đầu.

Tuy vậy, ở xứ sở này, vẫn còn đó những người đàn ông như Thanh tra Ibrahim - nhân vật chính thứ hai của tác phẩm - người có cái nhìn thoáng hơn và hiện đại hơn về giá trị và công việc của phụ nữ trong bối cảnh thế kỷ 21, biết trân trọng giá trị và thấu hiểu hơn cho tình cảnh của những người phụ nữ dưới sự chi phối quá lớn của nền tôn giáo hà khắc lâu đời. Vẫn còn đó những người phụ nữ như Katya, mạnh mẽ và kiên cường bất chấp sự coi thường, khinh rẻ của nhiều đồng nghiệp nam và cái nhìn khắc nghiệt dành cho phụ nữ làm công việc điều tra phá án như cô, để tiếp tục chiến đấu, quyết tâm tìm cho ra kẻ thủ ác thực sau đằng sau 19 cái xác đó, và để ngăn chặn hắn gây thêm nhiều cái chết tàn bạo và ghê rợn khác.

Song song với mạch truyện chính là điều tra về vụ giết người hàng loạt, câu chuyện còn đề cập đến cuộc điều tra bí mật mà Ibrahim nhờ vả Katya thực hiện, nhằm tìm ra người tình đã mất tích của ông là Sabria - vốn cũng là một lao động nhập cư được Cục điều tra thu nhận làm gián điệp nhằm triệt hạ một đường dây tội phạm, để rồi cô rơi vào lưới tình với vị thanh tra đã có vợ nhưng không hạnh phúc trong hôn nhân 20 năm nay. Quá trình Katya điều tra, tìm kiếm Sabria lại tiếp tục mở ra cho người đọc một thế giới khác, một hình ảnh khác của những tên đứng đầu ngành thanh tra Ả Rập Xê Út, và sự mục ruỗng , thối nát của chúng, khi những kẻ hành pháp như chúng lại chính là một trong những kẻ đi hành hạ, đánh đập, cưỡng hiếp những người phụ nữ nhập cư vô tội.

Một tác phẩm trinh thám hay, vừa có sự lôi cuốn của những phát hiện bất ngờ về động cơ, âm mưu và tâm lý kẻ giết người, vừa có sự hòa quyện một cách nhức nhối, đớn đau của cái bối cảnh Ả Rập Xê Út nặng nề về tôn giáo và truyền thống, để làm nên một bực tranh vừa đẹp đẽ vừa có cái gì đó xót xa và bi thương cho những thân phận con người trong câu chuyện, đặc biệt là thân phận của những người phụ nữ phải đối mặt với những bất công.

[DubaiReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great insight into life in Saudi Arabia.

As in her previous novels, the who-done-it aspect of this book is secondary to the taste of Saudi that it offers. The author expertly weaves in so many little gems of information about how this enclosed society operates, particularly with a view to its women. These are illustrated around the resulting impossibility of conducting a crime investigation where men and women cannot directly communicate without the permission of a male family member. Our heroine, Katya, resists these strictures, resulting in some interesting interactions.

Not one, but nineteen dead bodies are found early on in this novel, hidden under the sand in the depths of the desert. Only thanks to a sandstorm are parts of them revealed. The hands have been removed in all cases, although three had been buried with the bodies. An American criminal investigator is called in to help work towards a profile of the criminal, but Charlie turns out to be a woman, minus head coverings and with frighteningly 'bouncy' hair.

Katya is a forensic scientist, working in the all-female lab where some of the investigative work is done. She is desperate to escape the lab and become more involved but, at the same time, a woman working in such a job should be married and Katya has lied about this, so she doesn't want to make too many waves.
Katya's love interest is a man we have met in the two previous books, Nayir, the desert ranger. He's a very different character to her, much more devout - so how can he reconcile with the job she does and its inevitable contact with men from outside the family?

Referring back to my Kindle, I have highlighted several interesting points which might serve to show some of the broad scope of this book:
An insight into the desperately poor people camping in megre shelter under the Sitteen Street Bridge. These were house maids who had escaped abusive employers, some who had come to Saudi Arabia for housework, only to find themselves working as prostitutes. Some had come for the Haj and had overstayed their visas. Still others, women who had escaped from violent husbands. This strikes a stark contrast with the wealth and opulence of the hugely extended royal family.
The impossibility of arresting a woman for shoplifting unless her husband was present and willing to let her be searched. A policeman chasing such a woman down the street would be accused of impropriety and would most likely be arrested and tried himself.
The fact that by marriage, a husband ties himself to years of driving his wife around, as women are not permiited to drive themselves. The author commented in an interview that she wanted to highlight this aspect of a man's commitment to his wife; he becomes both husband and taxi driver, whether he likes it or not.
In a society where men and women are not permitted to mix, men would Bluetooth naked pictures of themselves to anyone in a sixty-foot radius!
Something that I was not aware of - in the Quran, the word 'prayer' appears five times, echoing the fact that Islam has five compulsory prayer times. The word 'month' appears twelve times and the word 'day' appears 365 times.

I loved one comment made by a feisty woman, "I don't care which direction Mecca is in, we live on a globe. No matter where I put my head, I'm facing Mecca".
These are the aspects of the book that, for me, outweighed any failings of the crime investigation. This author just keeps getting better, I'm not generally a fan of crime novels but I plan to read anything written by Zoe Ferraris.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading and loving Finding Nouf and City of Veils-- the previous two books in this trilogy-- and knowing that there have been no further books from Ferraris, I've been hoarding Kingdom of Strangers like it's the last bar of gold in Fort Knox. However, after visiting her website and learning that she's working on four novels that will take her a decade to complete, I decided it was time to turn myself loose.

I was immediately whisked away to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, one of the most closed cultures in the world. Even though it had been about three years since I last visited, I had no trouble whatsoever in picking up where I left off in the lives of Katya Hijazi and Nayir Sharqi. Nayir is a very traditional Muslim male who wants to marry Katya Hijazi. Katya works in the forensics department for the Jeddah police. Although she, too, has been raised traditionally, she does not want the life of a traditional Muslim female. Through hard work and subterfuge, she's managed to find Ibrahim, a police inspector who realizes how good Katya is in these investigations, and he's willing to work with her.

The mysteries concerning both the serial killer and the disappearance of Ibrahim's mistress are well plotted and certainly worth the price of admission for those readers who are simply looking for a whodunit to solve, but there is so much more depth to this book (and the other two in the trilogy) than merely solving crimes.

The deep seam of gold running through all three books is the total immersion of the Western reader into a very alien culture. While the two crimes involve issues that Westerners are familiar with-- serial killers and human trafficking-- it's the culture that is at times almost mind-blowing, especially for Western women. From simple things like the weekends being Thursday and Friday instead of Saturday and Sunday to a few of the laws of virtue, Westerners are going to know that they're not in Kansas anymore. The author is a Westerner who lived the life, so she knows whereof she speaks. In Kingdom of Strangers, an American is brought over to help the police profile the serial killer. The American is a woman, and readers have the opportunity to see this world through her eyes (and to sympathize).

Even though I turned down a job offer to work in Saudi Arabia years ago, I believe all cultures deserve some measure of my respect, but I do have to admit that I think the "virtue police" have run amok there. (For example: A man cannot sit in a chair recently vacated by a woman because he may find the warmth of the seat arousing.) To Westerners, that sounds insane, doesn't it? But to be fair, extremism isn't just happening in Saudi Arabia.

If you're the type of reader who not only loves a good mystery to solve but also loves being immersed in the culture of another country, I cannot recommend this trilogy of books more highly. They are marvelous... and although I wish Ferraris would write faster, I shall be patient. I know her books will be worth the wait.

[Abdullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Kingdom of Strangers مملكة الغرباء" هي الرواية الثالثة للروائية الأمريكية زوي فيراريز بعد روايتي "Finding Nouf البحث عن نوف" و "City of Veils مدينة الحجاب" والتي تتمحور جميعها حول المرأة و حقوقها في المجتمع السعودي. عاشت زوي في مدينة جدة مع زوجها السعودي لمدة تسعة أشهر في أوائل التسعينات قبل أن ينفصلا و تعود إلى أمريكا حيث بدأت في كتابة رواياتها المستلهمة من تجربتها القصيرة للمجتمع السعودي.

في حفل توقيع روايتها في جامعة قراند فالي ستيت فرع هولندا في يولو 2013 صرحت زوي بتعاطفها مع الرجل السعودي مقابل المرأة السعودية على عكس انطباعها الأولي، حيث أن الرجل السعودي يعمل صباحاً لكسب قوته و قوت أسرته ليعود مساء ويعمل أيضاً في قضاء شؤون أسرته و منزله و "مشاوير زوجته". هذا التصريح تناقلته بعض الصحف والمواقع الالكترونية الخليجية في حينه وأثارت حملة سخرية و "طقطقة" طريفة من قبل "السعوديات" على الكاتبة من خلال حسابها في تويتر.

تدور أحداث هذه الرواية حول قضية تحري جنائية في مدينة جدة عن سفّاح يختار ضحاياه بعناية من الخادمات الآسيويات. تبدأ القصة بعد اكتشاف راعي أغنام وعن طريق الصدفة لجثة مطمورة في تل من الرمال خارج مدينة جدة ليكتشف بعد ذلك فريق التحري الجنائي ثماني عشرة جثة أخرى في نفس الموقع ومما زاد القضية غموضاً و إثارة هو أن معظم الجثث قد تم بتر أيديها من مفصل الكف لتتوالى بعدها رحلة حل اللغز وفك شفرات رسائل السفّاح في أروقة قسم الشرطة و شوراع جدة من الكارنتينا و الكندرة إلى شارع فلسطين وطريق الكورنيش.

المفتش ابراهيم الزهراني و فنية الطب الشرعي كاتيا حجازي و خطيبها ناير الشرقي و الخادمة صابرينا هم شخصيات الرواية الرئيسة والتي من خلالها رسمت الكاتبة و أسست الأرضية لتطرح قاضاياها مثل: الحجاب واستغلاله في التستر، تناقض طموح المرأة السعودية مابين العمل والترقي الوظيفي من جهة و الحلم في بيت وعائلة و أبناء من جهة أخرى، المجتمع الذكوري و الفصل بين الجنسين على كل المستويات، ثأثير ذلك على حياة الرجل و المرأة في عدم القدرة على اختيار شريك الحياة والاستعداد لتعويض ذلك عند أول اختبار عاطفي عن طريق العلاقات المستترة تحت أي غطاء آخر، مشاكل العمالة المنزلية الوافدة والخادمات بشكل خاص و ضياع حقوقهم والتعسف في معاملتهم بداية من سماسرة الاستقدام إلى أرباب العمل في ضل غياب قانون رسمي يحميهم.

الرواية بشكل عام ممتعة و شيقة؛ تستحوذ على اهتمامك من صفحاتها الأولى إلى نهايتها بإثارتها وطريقة السرد والانتقال من حدث لآخر، لكنني و بعد قراءتها تبادر إلى ذهني هذا السؤال المنطقي والمتشعب خصوصاً وأن روايات زوي ترجمت إلى لغات مختلفة و تم نشرها في 45 دولة:
إلى أي مدى ممكن أن تبني تصورك عن مجتمع مجهول و مغلق بالنسبة لك من خلال رواية أو بناءاً على رأي وانطباعات كاتب عاش مؤقتاً في ذلك المجتمع ولمدة تعتبر إلى حد ما قصيرة؟ وإلى أي مدى يمكن تثق في النظرة الناقدة من الخارج وبعيون مختلفة ثقافياً و دينياً و قيميّاً لمجتمع تعيش داخله منغمساً في مشاكله و قضاياه و صراعات تياراته المختلفة؟

كمحاولة للإجابة على هذا السؤال أخذت جولة على الكثير من تعليقات قراء الرواية من جنسيات وخلفيات دينية واجتماعية مختلفة، فازددت يقيناً أن الإجابة على مثل هذا التساؤل وبكل تأكيد ذات شجون.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in this wonderful mystery series that features a woman trying to advance in the man’s world of Saudi Arabia. Katya is officially a forensics tech. She wants to be a detective but that is not allowed. There is push back now about even allowing women to work in the police department at all. Some people only want women to do things men absolutely can’t like search female suspects and handle female corpses.

Katya has set out to make herself necessary. Now a gravesite with nineteen women has been found and she wants to help with the case. When an expert on serial killers is brought in to help with the case and she turns out to be female, Katya is excited but worried about the hostility this brings up in her male coworkers.

She is also worried about her secret getting out. Only married women are allowed to work for the police. She isn’t married but has been pretending that she is. Now she is actually getting married and her father wants to invite everyone. She is also having concerns about the marriage. Nayir, her fiance who she met in the first book, is much more conservative than she is. She can tell that he is uneasy about her working with men. Will he try to control her once they marry even if he claims that he won’t now?

The author lived in Saudi Arabia and that shows in the small details of her writing. The story seems to have a strong sense of place in Jeddah. There are many issues brought up in this book.
The mistreatment of Asian women

Many Asian women are brought to Saudi Arabia to work as maids. Abuse is rampant. The women are charged fees to get jobs. They can’t always pay back the fees and end up in virtual slavery. Some are repeatedly raped. The mystery in this book focuses on the difficulty of solving crimes involving these women because so many run away from the abuse and are not reported missing.
Morality as a weapon

Enforcement of morality is a theme in several parts of this book. The investigation is dragging on because the head coroner won’t let men handle the bodies of the murdered women to preserve their modesty in death. But, there aren’t enough women to process the bodies quickly because they don’t like to hire women.

Old case files have the pictures of female victims removed because of modesty making it hard to compare them to new cases.

A missing woman can’t be reported missing because the only person who knows that she is gone is her married lover. If it is found out that they were together, she will be charged with prostitution and he will be charged with adultery.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

[Sheryl_at_Ubookquitous · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well done, layered novel that explores Saudi culture through an investigation of a serial killing. The narration is largely through the eyes of 2 characters, although there are moments narrated by other key characters.

The key plot of the novel is about the pursuit of a serial killer by Detective Ibrahim Zahrani and a female lab worker Katya Hijazi. The details of the killings, and the investigation are well thought out and intriguing. The additional twist of the male/female interaction and relationship rules in Saudi Arabia adds complexity to an already difficult case, which is further compounded by the nature of the victims (foreign women, most probably illegally in the country).

The author Ferraris does draws excellent secondary characters who are more than stock - the passed over detective, the chief who is aware of the politics of the station, the daughter-in-law who is unhappy. Through them, we begin to see the complexity of a society largely unknown by and misrepresented to most Americans. She does this by giving us glimpses into them as people instead of just having them perform a function in the story.

Ferraris true success comes however by the complexity of the main characters. Hijazi is a intelligent woman who wants to help people by solving crime, but faces a system that has little place for her. We watch her not only struggle at work, but in her relationship with her fiancé, largely conservative man. How that would all turn out was a mystery on a different level. Likewise, Detective Zahrani is also complicated and flawed. He is not particularly religious, and has a miserable marriage. His relationship with another woman, an illegal worker, is a key plot point and that relationship's connection to the serial killer investigation is played out over the course of the novel. Ferraris manages to deftly weave the realistic personal stories, the societal complexities and the thrill of a serial killer investigation into one well written novel.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zoe Ferraris said at a booksigning that when she started writing her crime series set in Saudi Arabia, she would only write three books. That was all she felt she could mine out of the material, that she could say all that needed to be conveyed about life in that country so baffling to outsiders. Granted that each book can stand on its own although reading them in order gives a full picture not possible to form if only one or two are read. But what she has done is provide that totally immersive reading experience that makes this reader remember why I love to read in the first place. Yes it's an exotic setting, but writing from first-hand experience and filling in with extensive research, Ferraris also snags the imagination with rip-snorting yarns and populates her pages with intriguing people that you really care about. At the center of the investigation is Katya, a forensic scientist, and through her we learn what it means to be a professional woman living in Jeddah and gain further insight into her acceptance of her life. I do so hope that the author will continue with further books -- I can't believe this is the end of the series.

[Sabina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third of Zoe Ferraris' murder mysteries set in Saudi Arabia, the first two being The Night of the Mi'raj and City of Veils. Like the others, this one drew me in immediately and was a page-turner from beginning to end.

During an investigation into a serial killer, Inspector Ibrahim Zahrani's mistress goes missing, something he cannot report - as a married man he'd possibly face the death penalty. He turns to his colleague, forensic pathologist Katya Hijazi, to find out what happened to her.

Ferraris did live in Saudi Arabia, being married to a Saudi-Palestinian bedouin, and is therefore well placed to give an insight into the life, customs and attitudes of everyday Saudis, especially women. She describes a society I find incredibly similar to our (Western) world, yet in other ways so alien it might as well be on the moon.

I would have liked to hear a bit more about Katya's and Nayir's story, the central characters from the first book, and see their relationship develop. Develop it did, but more or less off-screen, which is why I liked this just a little less than the previous two. I do hope there will be another book in this series soon!

[Jenan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book a two-star because the plot was good, other than that... I really don't know when was the last time the author has been to Saudi after moving back to the States! Because Saudi Arabia has changed a lot since the 90s! There were a lot of inaccuracies about women's life in Saudi in the novel, like the bank scene, or work conditions for women, and other things as well. It seemed convenient for the author, to have any female character being continually oppressed by the society at all times! That being said, I'm not trying to dispel the fact that Saudi Arabia remains one of the most oppressive countries in the world towards women. But how do you think a lot of ambitious open-minded Saudi women go about their daily lives then?
You hear a lot about about Saudi women who challenge society's restrictions on women everyday, and these are just few examples of those who stand up fully supported by their families and loved ones.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in this suspense series set in Saudi Arabia. Katya is a young woman trying to advance from the woman's only section of the forensic lab in a country where the virtue police have much power. She wants to be a detective and is very good at finding connections in crimes that other miss. It is fascinating, reading about this country and the limited rights of woman as well as the male reaction to a woman who wants to better herself. The plot lines are always well developed, the case to be solved interesting and I just love all the characters. Definitely recommend to mystery and suspense lovers who like character based story-lines, set in a country very different from my own.