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    City of Veils: A Novel
    City of Veils: A Novel
    City of Veils: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    City of Veils: A Novel

    Written by Zoë Ferraris

    Narrated by Kate Reading

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When the body of a brutally beaten woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Detective Osama Ibrahim dreads investigating another unsolvable murder-chillingly common in a city where the veils of conservative Islam keep women as anonymous in life as the victim is in death.

    But Katya, one of the few females in the coroner's office, is determined to identify the woman and find her killer. Aided by her friend Nayir, she soon discovers that the victim was a young, controversial filmmaker named Leila. Was it Leila's connection to an incendiary Koranic scholar or a missing American man that got her killed?

    City of Veils combines a suspenseful and tightly woven mystery with an intimate and nuanced portrait of women's lives in the Middle East.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 9, 2010
    ISBN9781400188376
    City of Veils: A Novel

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    Reviews for City of Veils

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    • 4/5
      This is not typical thriller. You don't race through it, figure out whodunit by page 30, roll your eyes when the heroine predictably bangs some FBI agent or her partner, and forget about it. Instead, this is a very thought evoking and eye opening story. As well as a murder mystery, this book includes an eye opening look at what life is like for women in Saudi Arabia. Some choose to hide behind the veil, some are tired of hiding behind the veil. Some dare to walk out of their homes without a male escort, some are too afraid. Very slowly, women there are beginning to timidly struggle towards equality. And there are the men that frown upon it and there are the men that are confused by what they feel and what the Quran says, like Nayir. Nayir struggles with his faith and his feelings for Katya thoughout the novel. Meanwhile, Katya is trying to move up the ranks of the police department, lying about her marital status. There's also an American woman, Miriam, searching for her lost husband who is in some way connected to a dead Muslim girl. Osama is working with Katya and he is having issues with his wife and like Nayir, struggling with cultural beliefs and his beliefs. I really enoyed Katya's and Miriam's parts, Nayir's not so much. I wanted to jump into the book and smack some sense into him. He's very contradictory in the things he does but even he realizes this. I think the man just may start to change and pull his head out of one of his orifices as the series continues. Very good book, but for a thriller novel, it was a bit slow moving at times. Thus, four stars.
    • 5/5
      Very well written with sensitivity to culture. The author to her credit does not stereotype. There are two interesting plots that intertwine and a depiction of a terrifying sandstorm that unfolded visually like on a screen.
    • 5/5
      Set in Jeddah, a more "progressive" city in Saudia Arabia, a woman is found washed up on a beach, brutally murdered.

      A murder investigation follows, involving the disappearance of the American husband of a woman recently returned from a trip home to America (and who is finding living away from the American compound hard, especially navigating all the rules placed on women), a woman attached to the police department and her friend who is really in love with her.

      Each person is trying (with various levels of success) to live in a world where both women and men are expected to live by certain behaviour, and how they struggle when it seems these rules are broken.

      The book makes no excuse for Islam (and it shouldn't) but shows instead how people try and live by the rules, circumvent them when they can or think it necessary, and that ultimately, many people are simply human.

      Meanwhile there's also the crime to investigate which boils down to theft and blackmail
    • 4/5
      Excellent cultural whodunit. A muslim woman is murdered and there are few clues. The police department has few women on the force and women must be married. The taboos of interaction between men and women who are not in their family is a large part of this book and it was fascinating. Courtship and the American concept of dating is basically impossible in Saudi Arabia and everyone is kept in line by the religion police. This is a finely written book, a good mystery and well defined characters from Osama the head police detective who will bend the rules, Nayir, a traditional muslim who struggles to do the right thing and and Leila, the victim who was murdered perhaps because she was trying to expose the hyptoscracy of Saudi-Muslim taboos. And of course Katya our young police woman.
    • 3/5
      A murdered Arab woman, and a missing American man form the basis for this mystery. I enjoyed learning about the intricate rules and prohibitions of the culture, but the difficulties in the relationship between the two main characters grew to be tiring. Glad I read the book, however.
    • 5/5
      City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris is the second book in her mystery series that is set in Saudi Arabia. I read these books as much for the information about this closed society where woman are considered chattels and are forced to go in public in long black robes and with their faces covered. Many men appear to fear women and blame them for the desires they can inspire. Even though these books are set in the more ‘liberal’ city of Jeddah, there are still incidents of public floggings and executions. The main characters in these stories are Nayir Sharqi, a Bedouin guide who also assists the police in their inquiries, and a female forensic scientist named Katya Hijazi. Although Katya works for the police, she has to maintain a lie that she is a married woman in order to keep her job. Nayir is in love with Katya but hesitates to say anything as he is unsure of her feelings toward him. The mystery involves the discovery of a young woman’s body on a beach. She was brutally beaten, burned and stabbed before being discarded into the ocean. The case is a complicated one and eventually involves an American who is working in Jeddah and his wife. The murder mystery is gripping and at one point involves a particularly hair-rising sandstorm in the desert.This is an excellent series with interesting police cases that also help to shed light on this strange and exotic culture. I highly recommend this original and creative series.
    • 5/5
      I liked everything about this book - interesting plot, a story set in Saudi Arabia, great characters, fast pace and above all unpredictable ending of a mystery story. A book to definitely recommend!
    • 5/5
      Set in Saudi Arabia, this is a fast-paced murder mystery. The author's knowledge of the land, culture and religion is clearly demonstrated and brought alive to the reader making this a fascinating read on so many levels.
    • 4/5
      This is the second book of a fascinating mystery series set in modern day Saudi Arabia, a country well known for enforcing its brand of conservative Islam, where women, hidden beneath full-length burkas, remain anonymous and unimportant. In the first book, "Finding Nouf" we met the two main characters, desert guide Nayir and Katya, a tech in the coroner's office. These two have great chemistry, and they work together once more to solve the mysterious death of another young woman whose mutilated body is discovered on the beach.

      The body turns out to be that of Leila Nawar, a young woman who had recently started work as a documentary filmmaker. She was living with her overly protective and very conservative brother, the wealthy owner of a successful lingerie shop. Could the killer be her religious brother, ashamed at her lifestyle? Other suspects include a collection of various Saudis threatened when caught by her camera? In a parallel story we meet Miriam Walker, an American woman who had recently moved to Saudi Arabia with her husband, Eric, who works as a bodyguard. Her husband has gone missing while out to pick up food. At first, Nayir and Katya believe these cases to be separate but the reader already knows they will somehow be connected.

      While I didn't enjoy this book as much as Finding Nouf, I still remain fascinated by the setting, as well as the two main characters, Nayir and Katya. Nayir is a religious man who is scared of his feelings for Katya. He even finds even riding in a car with an unrelated woman to be agonizing. Katya, on the other hand, pretends to be married so she can continue to have a job. Claustrophobic and totally original, this is modern crime fiction at its very best. I recommend reading Finding Nouf prior to reading City of Veils to completely understand the culture and the characters.
    • 2/5
      I almost put down City of Veils after reading the first 100 fair-trial pages that I try to give any novel. That despite a jacket blurb calling it the "Muslim Da Vinci Code," which, in my opinion, serves as negative advertising. However, the novel came to my rescue on a bad night when I needed a non-demanding read to take my mind off things. Pedestrian, and then predictable, plotting is coupled with mostly thin characterizations (in particular, some potentially interesting secondary characters who are summarily dismissed as if the author just realized she had too many balls in the air). Ferris lived for a while in Saudi Arabia, so I am guessing that her depiction of Saudi social mores, male/female relations and her characters' struggles with issues of adherence to religious prescriptions and proscriptions is at least passably accurate. As Saudi Arabia is considered by many Westerners (and others too perhaps) to be one of the most, if not the most, conservative (and restrictive for women) countries in the world, it is this aspect of Ferris's novel that best held my attention.
    • 4/5
      Nearly as good as book one.As with the first book, The Night of the Mi'raj (also titled Finding Nouf), the strengths of this book lay in the complex problems caused by women's position in Saudi society. Imagine trying to solve a serious crime where the victim is a female, but men and women cannot interact without the presence of a male family member.The book opens with a brutally murdered young Saudi woman, dragged from the sea. She is unrecognisable - her face and fingerprints have been burned off with acid. If she is just another housemaid, there is little chance that the murder will be solved, but Katya happens upon some identification which turns the tables.Katya is an independant young woman who we met in the first book. She works in the medical examiner's office and although she does cover herself up, she is less constrained by rules and determined to have a career of her own. Her boss, Detective Inspector Osama Ibrahim, respects her determination and finds her invaluable in bridging the gap bewteeen his male staff and females who need to be questioned.Meanwhile, an American, Miriam Walker, returns from vacation in the States, to her husband Eric. He meets her from the plane, goes out for takeaway and disappears. She struggles to be taken seriously - perhaps he has just gone away for a few days? - perhaps he has another woman? - Nothing to worry about.The two cases gradually appear to intersect, aided by Nayir, a desert guide. He has feelings for Katya, though he can't express them. How do men and women ever meet, we wonder? Nayir was also in the first book, where his character was a little more convincing. Here he is used more as a policemen and that didn't feel quite right.I listened to the unabridged audio version of this book, but unfortunately my listening was spread over about a month. Perhaps this was why I didn't feel that the who-done-it aspect of the novel was particularly strong. Or maybe it was the over-use of coincidences. For me, the book is a great reflection of the problems caused by the restrictions of Saudi culture, rather than a crime novel, which was secondary.This week I begin Kingdom of Strangers for a book group. Others have already spoken enthusiastically about it and I am looking forward to a good read.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this story set in Jeddah.It tells well from "Katya 's view,what goes on in Saudia Arabia,the women,their males that keep the women "in their place" the religous police,and the every day rules for everything to do with a Saudi woman,Add to this a murder,and Katya,who works in the medical examiner's office,and she works with a detective,together they work this murder of an American who was filming about the Saudi woman/for the local tv stations.The snigglet I give here does not even touch on the great story this is,this story has alot to offer,I so totally enjoyed it,I have to go Back,and read Nouf.
    • 4/5
      This is a rather complex and involved murder mystery story set in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. I was intrigued by the details about the way women must dress and how they are treated in public by some men. No one, man or woman, is immune to the religious police who roam the streets looking for those who aren't acting or presenting themselves in a proper way. Enjoyed the small rebellions of some of the women who at times left their faces uncovered. The scene in the book that I found most compelling was two characters being caught in a sandstorm in the middle of the desert dunes and the things they did in an attempt to survive. I will now be reading Ferraris's first book, Finding Nouf.
    • 4/5
      Better than its predecessor - 'City of Veils' has better characterization and more interesting supporting characters. The plot again takes second place to place and ambiance, but there's enough story line to keep things going. Is is possible to read this book and not comment aloud as you go?
    • 3/5
      not knowing that this was a second book with these characters. I like the inside of the women/men segragation and how women deal with it but also how complicate it is to segregate in the daily life. Plot was a little bit weak and I concentrated more on the atmosphere of the country.
    • 4/5
      This intriguing mystery set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia features the characters first introduced in Finding Nouf. Once again a young woman is brutally killed, and Katya and Nayir find themselves thrown together trying to discover the killer. Once again, the mystery itself is not as interesting as is the story of Katya and her life in Jeddah. In the months that have passed since the end of Finding Nouf, Katya and Nayir have drifted apart as she has focued on her new job. She finds herself working with a new detective, Osama Ibrahim, a detective with a liberal outlook at work that he soon learns doesn't extend as far into his home life as he himself believed it did. Once Nayir finds himself drawn into the investigation, he is forced to confront his feelings about a young American expat whose husband is missing, and about Katya.Ferraris paints a vivid picture of life in Jeddah, and does a good job of showing some of the many complications that women face in this strictly gender-segregated environment. Katya is a wonderful character, and I can't wait to read the next installment in her story.
    • 5/5
      Excellent!
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't read [Finding Nouf] which was the first book about these characters, so I wasn't disappointed in this one. It was most interesting to have a murder mystery set in Saudi Arabia, because I haven't read much of anything about Saudi Arabia. There was a great deal of information about everyday life in Jeddah, which according to Wikipedia is the most cosmopolitan and tolerant of Saudi cities, while also being the gateway to Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest cities. I thought Nayir was pretty dorky at first with his agonizing about being attracted to a woman, but I don't have any idea if that's typical of young Muslim men or not. He did become more self-aware and tolerant as the book progressed. I did feel sympathy for Miriam Walker, an American ex-pat whose husband disappeared, when terrible things befell her. I thought the author showed quite dramatically how dangerous it is to do anything that the "religious police" disapprove of, even for Muslims, let alone a foreign woman. Other characters showed development in their own lives and self-expression. Plus the mystery kept me reading avidly.
    • 4/5
      Not as good as the first one, Finding Nouf, but still...Two engaging main characters that keep reminding me of the best Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries. These are set in Saudi Arabia and the meliu of the novels adds much, but it is the two characters of Katya and Nayir that will drive me to read the next book. Some interesting comments on Saudi society and how Islam may be lived day to day.
    • 3/5
      Ferraris' first book, Finding Nouf, was one of my favorite reads for 2010. City of Veils brings back the same characters with a new mystery to solve, but I found this sequel so much less satisfying than the first.One of the things that I liked so much about Finding Nouf was how complex the characters were, struggling with sexual and religious stereotypes in the harsh setting of Saudi Arabia. In City of Veils, however, I found the characters to be stereotyped, even those that had been more interesting in the first book. Nayir, the desert guide cum detective, has been reduced to a religious conservative, and even when in unusual situations, does not seem to have the depth he did before. The only time I found him interesting was when he returns to the desert. Other characters are the clueless American woman, the Western Quran basher, and the rebel investigating the seamy side of life behind the veil.In addition, I found City of Veils to be rather strident in its message of veiled women as repressed, oppressed objects of men’s dominance. I was hoping for a more nuanced approach to the subject, uncovering the subject from different perspectives, something I appreciated in the first book. Here the veil is thrust in your face like a challenge, and I began wondering if this American author who spent a few unhappy months in Saudi Arabia with her ex-husband could really write authentically on the subject. So although parts of the mystery kept me reading, overall I found this sequel a distinct disappointment. But perhaps I was expecting too much from a young American mystery writer.
    • 5/5
      A fisherman reports finding a dead body on the beach near Jeddah: female, young, but with whole sections of her face missing.Nayir the desert guide is preparing to take another too wealthy family on a desert excursion, but the family keeps shortening the length of the planned trip, until eventually business gets in the way and they don't go at all.It is 8 months since he has spoken to Katya, despite all the promise of the final days of their first investigation (FINDING NOUF/THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ) At first Katya had phoned Nayir every week or so, but eventually stopped as it became obvious that he was unable to respond.Katya has begun a new job. Thanks to a government initiative to get more Saudi women into the workplace, a number of positions had opened at the crime lab in police headquarters and Katya had won one of those jobs. The dead body on the beach is assigned to her boss Osama.Miriam is an American woman rejoining her husband Eric in Jeddah. Eric has a military background and is working as a security guard. He speaks Arabic and has great respect for Muslim culture and wants to be part of it.Miriam has been on holiday in the US for four weeks, and expects Eric to collect her at the airport. When he fails to turn up she is bundled into a room for unclaimed women. When Eric eventually arrives he seems distracted and has no good explanation for his lateness. Miriam and Eric live in an Islamic neighbourhood, something which upsets Miriam as she feels threatened and out of place. In the month she has been away Eric has done no cleaning and he has bought no food, so he leaves Miriam in their flat while he goes out to buy local food. Miriam thinks she hears him return and when she goes to the kitchen the food is there but Eric isn't. Her worst fears are realised when it becomes apparent that Eric has disappeared.CITY OF VEILS skilfully draws these story strands together, blending a murder investigation with a commentary on Saudi culture and in particular the status of women. We feel this commentary in the precariousness of Miriam trying to find out what has happened to Eric, in Katya and Osama trying to discover the identity of the body on the beach and what led to her murder, in Osama's relationship with his wife Nuah, and also in Nayir and Katya exploring their feelings for each other.In much the same way as in THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ you suspect that Zoe Ferraris didn't actually set out to write a murder mystery, but it certainly becomes the vehicle for the exploration of relationships in an Islamic society. For me it was a pointer to how little I really understand about Islam. In some ways Zoe Ferraris seems to be pointing to the social shortcomings of Saudi society, but on the other hand you are aware that she is treating the culture with great respect. The story raises so many issues for you to think about.CITY OF VEILS is really another of these novels that crosses out of the crime fiction genre and really deserves a literary "tag" too.
    • 5/5
      City of Veils is the second book in this series by Zoe Ferraris. While I preferred the first book over the second, I still was caught up in reading it, fascinated with its layers of meanings/themes. The basic story centers on Katya, one of the few women in the medical examiner's office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Katya attempts to solve a murder but lives in a society where women's lives are subject to Islamic laws. She enlists her friend, Nayir for help. As a man, Nayir is able to help her travel and gain entry to people and places that, as a woman, Katya would have difficulty in accessing.Still, the reader sees that the law is complex and just by being alone with a man is suspect in the eyes of the society. Leila, the murder victim, also led a complex life... which we learn leads to her demise.Nayir finds himself torn by his beliefs and his emotions. Which will win?Definitely worth reading.
    • 5/5
      Inside the society of a heavily Islamic country - eye opening but written with a sensitivity
    • 4/5
      Our Bedouin friend from Finding Nouf returns. Once again, there is a tragically murdered young woman. But the real bones of this story come through the interplay of the main characters. Nayir is pleased to rekindle his acquaintance Katya (still in forensics, hoping to move to investigation) when their paths cross over a questionable death. But Nayir's charm still remains his uncertainty about how to handle interviewing or working with women he is not related to. I was very impressed with details Ferraris used in the story that underscore a very different life than the one we live in America. Both of her novels are ones I highly recommend.
    • 5/5
      A young woman’s body is discovered washed up on the beach north of Jeddah. It’s pretty clear that she was murdered, but is she just another in a string of housemaids who’ve been killed or does her death mean something else? Shortly after that gruesome discovery, American Miriam Walker is flying to Saudi Arabia to re-join her husband, Eric. She’s only back a short time when Eric goes missing. She files a report, but it largely goes ignored until it’s determined that his disappearance could be related to the young woman’s death. But are they related, and if so, how?I found City of Veils by Zoë Ferraris to be a fascinating book! Not only is it a well crafted mystery but it’s also an enthralling peek into life in Saudi Arabia. Since the author lived in a conservative Muslim community in Saudi Arabia for a year, I assume the portrayal of life there is fairly accurate. I knew a little bit about what it’s like for a women to live in Saudi Arabia, but parts of this book were real eye-openers for me and I think Carl got tired of hearing about them. It gave me a lot to think about and a lot to be thankful for.The mystery was written so well, it kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. I had to know what had happened to the murdered woman and to Miriam’s husband, Eric. I was totally captivated by Miriam – she and her plight felt very real to me. I cannot imagine trying to deal with something like that in a country with a totally different language and culture – it would be bad enough in your own country!I only have one complaint about City of Veils, and it’s a small one. I felt like the last twenty five or thirty pages drug on a little – it got a little too bogged down in details for me. The ending could have been wrapped up a little more quickly and been just as satisfying for me. Don’t let that minor complaint keep you from reading this book, though – overall, I loved it!
    • 5/5
      In the sequel to Finding Nouf, Zoe Ferraris once again gives readers a glimpse into Saudi Arabian society where women’s rights and freedoms are challenged, even when it comes to solving crimes against them. The novel opens with the partially clothed body of a woman on a beach. She has been brutally murdered and her identity is difficult to ascertain. Dubbed “Eve” by the police, her murder investigation falls on the desk of Detective Osama Ibrahim – a man who bucks the conservative attitudes toward woman in his job, but has difficulty accepting his wife’s modern views. Katya, one of the few female investigators in the coroner’s office, quickly becomes involved in the case. Her friendship with a desert guide named Nayir involves him in the murder investigation as well. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent than any one of a number of people might have reason to murder the victim: a Koranic scholar with unpopular theories, a missing American whose wife is left to fend for herself in the paternalistic Saudi society, the brother of the victim who harbors barely contained anger towards his sister’s activities as a filmmaker, to name a few.Fast paced, gritty, and riveting, City of Veils is a thrilling ride. Ferraris has brought back familiar characters from her first novel and continues to develop them here. She writes in multiple viewpoints – a technique which allows the reader to understand each character’s motivations, strengths and weaknesses.City of Veils revisits themes from Finding Nouf – women’s rights, the struggle between the modern and traditional cultures of Saudi Arabia, and male/female relationships in an evolving society where traditionally men wield all the power. Ferraris easily balances the mystery aspects of her book with the deeper issues of Arab culture.I really loved this novel – in fact, I found it hard to stop reading once I got into the final 100 pages. Ferraris’s writing has grown since publication of Finding Nouf which results in a novel that fully captures a veiled society while dazzling the reader with a mystery that has many twists and turns before the killer is finally revealed. Readers who love a good mystery and want to learn more about Saudi culture will not want to miss City of Veils.Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      I thought Ferraris' debut book, Finding Nouf, was very good, but City of Veils is so much better. The detail is very rich, not only about the people who live in Jeddah but also of the city and the surrounding desert. Reading CoV, one can't help being caught up in the frustration that women especially feel in their daily lives, subject to so many rules, pettiness, and prejudices. As expected some deal with it, others rise above it, and others let it defeat them. And though this is crime fiction, and there are dead bodies to deal with, it is this challenge that women face every day that is what this book is all about, and it is riveting. Reading CoV made me angry, frustrated, tense, and even satisfied and a bit hopeful at the end. What's the story about? A dead woman on a beach, an American husband who disappears, a young couple very much attracted to each other but struggling with differing views on their religion. Along the way, there are two scenes that will stay with me for a long time - a public execution, and a sandstorm so violent that it buries the SUV our hero was driving. Can't wait for the third book.
    • 5/5
      First Line: The woman's body was lying on the beach.I am always looking to broaden my armchair traveling horizons, so when I read that City of Veils was set in Saudi Arabia, my interest was certainly piqued. If I'm honest, it was also piqued for another reason.In the mid-1970s, I was being recruited for a teaching position in Saudi Arabia. I was very interested. I love travel, I love adventure, the vacation accrual made my jaw drop, and so did the salary. I took all the information home, and I began to read. When I'd read everything, I went back to read the one paragraph that had made my blood pressure spike. That paragraph persuaded me that I didn't have the proper attitude for the job. What in the world was in that paragraph? The instructions on precisely what kind of undergarments I was allowed to wear. Once my mother no longer bought them for me no one has the right to tell me what underwear to wear!City of Veils is written by Zoë Ferraris, who moved to Saudi Arabia shortly after the first Gulf War. She lived in a conservative Muslim community with her then-husband and his family, a group of Saudi-Palestinians who had never before met an American. But enough of the extraneous. Let's get to the book!When the body of a woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, the police are content to dismiss the case as an unsolvable murder. If the victim is yet another housemaid killed by her employer, finding the person responsible for her death will be all but impossible. At about the same time, an American woman reports her husband-- a security contractor-- as missing.Only Katya Hijazi, a forensic scientist working in the police department, is convinced that the murdered woman can be identified. She asks her friend Nayir for help and discovers that the victim was a young filmmaker whose controversial documentaries made her many enemies. As Katya and Nayir search for clues, they form a very unlikely alliance with the American woman whose husband has disappeared.I am such a stickler for reading series in order! If I'd realized that this is the second book in a series, I doubt that I would've read it. I'm glad that I was blissfully ignorant, otherwise I would've missed out on one of the best books I've read all year.City of Veils is written in such a way that you do not have to read the first book in order to understand what's going on. I'm going to get my hands on a copy of Finding Nouf simply because I fell in love with Ferraris's setting and characters.The mystery is intriguing and well-paced. It had a coincidence or two that stretched belief a bit but not enough to lessen my enjoyment. The characters are multi-faceted and fascinating. If the plot and the characters are the jewels, the setting is the Muslim culture-- and without doubt this setting shows the jewels to perfection.What I found so incredibly strong in this book is that the Muslim culture is shown from so many angles: the devout Muslim man, a more progressive Muslim man, an American man totally captivated by the place and the culture, a young Muslim woman who's comfortable with her place but still feeling the restrictions, and an American woman who is so completely a stranger in a strange land that it's painful.I had to know what would happen next, so it was almost impossible to put this book down. From my personal anecdote at the beginning of this review, you may have guessed correctly that City of Veils had me talking to myself on several occasions. It's that sort of book: you live it while you read it. It was also a learning experience on so many levels. Muslim women following several paces behind their men had always made me roll my eyes and mutter. Now I know that those several steps behind are also a safety measure. If you're a woman wearing all that garb, you can't see where you're going. (I felt a bit doltish after one of Ferraris's characters explained that to me!)If you're looking for an intriguing mystery set in a land with a fascinating culture and populated with wonderful characters, do not hesitate. Get yourself a copy of City of Veils!
    • 4/5
      Zoe Ferraris’s second novel, City of Veils, is a follow-up to her debut, Finding Nouf. A literary mystery set in Saudi Arabia, City of Veils is a different kind of suspense thriller. Among the cloaked town, hidden in the desert or behind a burqa, a killer has taken the life of a woman whose body washes onto the beach. Badly burned, beaten, and stabbed, the investigation into her murder involves more than one detective and citizen of Jeddah. Pushing the boundaries of expectations, both religious and legal, Ferraris’s characters delve into the mystery of the woman’s death with the hopes of bringing her killer to justice.My favorite thing about this novel was the fact that it was set in Saudi Arabia. An unlikely place to serve as the backdrop for a thriller, my interest in Ferraris was piqued and I looked on her website and checked out some interviews to discover she once lived in the town of Jeddah, and has first-hand experience of the area and the people who live there. It gave her writing an authentic voice, and though it’s hard for me to imagine the rigid expectations women face in Saudi Arabia, I know from her background that what Ferraris writes under the guise of a fiction thriller, can and does occur outside the cover of a book.Aside from the location and the language placing this novel in a foreign setting, Ferraris’s writing was natural and her plot was intriguing. I didn’t know going into it that this was a follow-up novel, but I didn’t feel disconnected, or as though I missed too much of the background story. Some of the past events were explained, so I understood why Nayir and Katya had a tortured history.I enjoyed the murder-mystery and suspense value in City of Veils. It’s not your everyday sleuth adventure when a burning, grinding, sand-storm is rushing toward you. It’s not a generic persons-go-missing and turn up okay later. People die and the villains are punished, and through it all, Ferraris’s writing carries on from one perspective to the next, making each character determined and endearing.