A Dead Man in Istanbul [Audio Cassette]

Michael Pearce (Author), Bill Wallis (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2006

The Second Secretary of the Embassy in Istanbul has died in decidedly strange circumstances while attempting to swim the Dardanelles Straits, the passage between Europe and Asia, heavily used by warships, liners, and cargo vessels of all kinds. A romantic attempt to repeat the legendary feat of Leander, as the Embassy claims? Or was it an attempt to spy out a possible landing place for a British military expedition, as the Turks are insisting? Whichever, Cunningham has ended up with a bullet in his head. The suspicious circumstances of his death have to be investigated so the Foreign Office sends out an officer of the Special Branch known as Seymour. Istanbul is a fascinating and exotic place in 1908. It is famously the point where East meets West, a matter of some significance as the old Ottoman Empire crumbles and, in the expectation of war, the Great Powers circle for the kill. Very soon Seymour comes to suspect that Cunningham may have been swimming in deeper waters than the Dardanelles.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pearce's second espionage-flavored whodunit may strike even his fans as overly derivative of its predecessor, A Dead Man in Trieste (2004). The wry humor of the author's acclaimed Mamur Zapt historicals (The Camel of Destruction, etc.), set in colonial Egypt, is less evident in this series, and the shifting locales make it more dependent on its hero, Sandor Seymour, an unobtrusive Special Branch detective. In 1911, Seymour travels to Istanbul to solve a murder of interest to the Foreign Office—Cunningham, the undersecretary of the British embassy, has been shot, after attempting to swim the Dardanelles straits. As the victim had a reputation as a ladies' man, Seymour's circle of suspects includes the man's lovers, as well as a variety of political players attempting to shape the future direction of the tottering Ottoman Empire. The unsurprising solution, coupled with Seymour's relatively undefined personality, leaves room for improvement in the next installment. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Michael Pearce was raised in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, where his fascination for language began. He later trained as a Russian interpreter but moved away from languages to follow an academic career, first as a lecturer in English and the History of Ideas, and then as an administrator. He has a strong interest in human rights and in languages, both of which feature indirectly in his new series. Michael Pearce now lives in South-West London.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Sound Library (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792745345
• ISBN-13: 978-0792745341
• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Master of his genre, March 13, 2007

By 

Michelle M. Rudy (White Rock NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dead Man in Istanbul (Hardcover)

I have long enjoyed Michael Pearce's "Mamur" series. The "Man in" series, like those, convey the atmosphere and pace of times long gone in lands far away. The mystery exists as backdrop for describing an era, a geographic region, a way of life. The pace is usually even, with no wasted chapters. The characters are developed to represent, in a useful way, stereotypes of the times and/or to offer insights into attitudes of a particular social class of the era. If you don't need gunfire in the night or car chases, these books should appeal to you too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite likable, August 22, 2009

By 

Patrick Cabe (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dead Man in Istanbul (Hardcover)

I quite liked this book. I bought it on a whim, after reading many of the "Mamur Zapt" series (which I also quite like). There is a degree of similarity, not surprisingly, between them. The action in both involves a Britisher in a foreign land, dealing with a local problem that may (or may not) have international implications. The characters are, as another reviewer suggested, a bit stereotyped, but so are the characters in dozens to hundreds of other mysteries (how many Miss Marple look-alikes are there out there?). Seymour has his individuality, nevertheless, and Pearce constructs him in a believable manner. A negative reviewer found the book humorless; I'd disagree, although the humor is decidedly low key. With current international affairs crossing borders and making (and unmaking) alliances among multiple entities, this book seems right much more apposite than one might imagine. Plus the writing is generally quite good. Pearce can do dialogue well, for example, and one finds few to none of the typos and grammar mistakes that seem to mark so many present-day books.

Want to give it a low cost gander? Buy the first one used and see if you like it.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful to listen to, May 12, 2009

By 

Willie - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dead Man in Istanbul (Hardcover)

I just finished listening to this book from BBC Audio Books. I'm sure I enjoyed it more than I would have had I read it, as the narrator on the CDs was superb. He is remarkably adept with accents and this made listening very enjoyable. I visited Istanbul for the first time 18 months ago and fell in love with this exotic city so filled with history. The author evokes the exoticism and mystery very effectively. I recommend the book for pure escapism.