Forfeit (Ikmen Mystery 23)

Barbara Nadel's gripping Ikmen mysteries are the inspiration behind The Turkish Detective, BBC Two's sensational eight-part TV crime drama series, out now.

GREED, LUST AND BETRAYAL LEAD TO MURDER in Barbara Nadel's twenty-third Ikmen mystery, as Ikmen and Süleyman work to uncover a tragic tale of dark secrets and double lives. . .

In the early hours of the morning, Turkish TV star Erol Gencer is found dead at his home on the outskirts of Istanbul. But he is not alone. Beside him lies a Syrian refugee whose stomach has been split open with a cheese knife. Did Gencer kill his guest before committing suicide, or are they victims of a sinister double murder?
The dead Syrian is soon identified as Wael Al Hussain, whose wife, Samira, is in prison for attempting to kill Gencer a year ago. At the time, no one believed Samira's story that Gencer's wife had planned the attack, but now Samira's sister begs Çetin Ikmen to re-examine her claim.

Meanwhile, Inspector Mehmet Süleyman is on leave with his teenage son, Patrick, who is visiting from Ireland, but when Detective Kerim Gürsel's transsexual ex-lover, Pembe, is also murdered, shortly after confessing that Wael Al Hussain had used her for sexual favours, Süleyman knows he must help Kerim solve this complex case.
Entering a world of the Syrian diaspora, where tales of mythical storytellers abound, Ikmen and Süleyman uncover a tragic tale of dark secrets and double lives where nothing is at it seems. . .