The second Omar Yussef mystery

Get the US edition, or the UK edition. Download it from audible.com. Get the UK audiobook on CD.

It is a blistering morning in Gaza, as Omar Yussef struggles along the uneven streets to carry out a school inspection. When he learns that a fellow teacher has been jailed for alleged links to the CIA, his suspicions are aroused. The more Omar investigates the arrest, the murkier his search for the truth becomes. With the police, the military and Gaza’s most powerful gangs all out to silence him, Omar must face the terrifying realization that he’s no longer fighting to save his colleague – but himself.

Reviews

A frightening and mighty thriller about an infamous corner of reality which still burns as I write this. – Politiken, Denmark

Rees has created a stunning sense of place and memorable characters for his impassioned story. – The Sunday Telegraph

In its vivid portrayal of the violence and degradation of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, Matt Rees’s second book, “The Saladin Murders”, is outstanding. — The Economist

Omar Yussef returns. Here is the Hercule Poirot of the Near East immersed in the Gaza Strip. With this second volume in the Omar saga, Matt Rees confirms his mastery of the genre. We await the third with impatience. Insh’allah! — Le Figaro

If Simenon gives you canal-side France and Henning Mankell a desolating Sweden, then Rees wants you to experience the West Bank in all its complexity and despair. – Sir David Hare, in The Guardian

Rees combines solid mystery plotting with a literary novelist’s emphasis on character and the small human dramas that happen within the broader sociopoltical landscape. And, unlike many crime writers, he writes with great power, style, and emotion. — Bill Ott, Booklist