The Janissary Tree

The Janissary Tree

First edition (UK)
Author	Jason Goodwin
Language	English
Series	Yashim the Detective
Genre	Historical mystery
Publisher	Faber and Faber(UK) Farrar Straus and Giroux(US)
Publication date	16 May 2006
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardback)
Pages	332
ISBN	0-571-22922-0
OCLC	64555080
Followed by	The Snake Stone

The Janissary Treeis ahistorical mysterynovel set inIstanbulin 1836, written byJason Goodwin.It is the first in the Yashim the Detective series, followed byThe Snake Stone,The Bellini Card,An Evil EyeandThe Baklava Club.The series features Yashim, aneunuchdetective, who is resourceful and learned in both the Ottoman culture and that of the West, enjoys the trust of the Sultan and high officials, and prefers to live in a rather bohemian lodging outside the palace complex. The novel deals with the fictional aftermath of theAuspicious Event,the disbanding (and mass killing) of the Janissaries, once elite troops of the Ottoman Empire.

The Janissary Treewon anEdgar Awardfor Best Novel 2007and has been translated into over 40 languages.

Plot

In June 1826, the SultanMahmud IIviolently disbands theJanissaries(an event now known as theAuspicious Incident), once elite troops of theOttoman Empirebut now an unruly military element beyond the control of the Sultan. Ten years later, the newly Westernized and modernizedOttoman Armywhich replaced the Janissaries are to perform a military exercise. Ten days before the event, four officers disappear; subsequently, one officer is found dead. The general entrusts Yashim the eunuch with solving the mystery. Meanwhile, the Sultan's newest concubine is murdered and theSultan's mother's jewelry stolen. Yashim must simultaneously investigate three different cases.

The cases bring Yashim in and out of the palace, to various embassies, a mosque, and the alleyways and streets of Istanbul. To solve the cases, Yashim employs the assistance of thePolishambassador and the wife of theRussianambassador. He discovers that the cases are related, and that they not only involve a plot for revenge by surviving Janissaries hidden somewhere but also the power struggle between the palace eunuchs and the military's extreme pursuit ofdemocratization.In the end, Yashim, against all odds, succeeds in preventing several conspiracies.

External links

• Review by Andrew Finkel,"Nothing but the sleuth",CornucopiaIssue 36
• Official site of Jason Goodwin, the author