Lead Review (City of Jackals)

• Book: City of Jackals
• Location: Cairo
• Author: Parker Bilal

Review Author: tripfiction

No. 5 in the Makana mystery series

This may be the fifth outing for Makana but this novel can certainly be read as a standalone. Makana is a widowed Sudanese investigator, and soon he is tasked with tackling multiple incidents: there is a severed head (in the river, in a bag which also contains a catfish munching on the remains); he also has to contend with a missing student, and a serial killer preying on refugees. The police force has its own vested interests…

He gently but assertively goes about his business, generally eschewing more modern investigative technology. This is not only a novel of crime sleuthing, but the author also introduces contemporary social and political issues facing the characters, all set against a Cairo that is generally more hidden from the tourist eye. A city of corruption and division, with crumbling buildings and infrastructure, really adds a textured backdrop to the evolving story.

A good series to transport the reader to Cairo and Egypt (and Sudan).

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