Golden Scales

Former police inspector Makana, in exile from his native Sudan, lives on a rickety Nile houseboat in Cairo, scratching out a living as a private investigator. When he receives a call from the notorious and powerful Saad Hanafi, he is thrust into a dangerous and glittering world. Hanafi is the owner of a star-studded football team and their most valuable player has vanished. His disappearance threatens to bring down not only the businessman's private empire but also the entire country. Makana encounters Muslim extremists, Russian gangsters and a desperate mother hunting for her missing daughter, as his search stirs up painful memories, leading him back into the sights of an old and dangerous enemy...

Richly evocative mystery novel ... delivers much more than efficient intrigue. Via the experiences of a family exiled from Sudan, we see and feel all the drama of Egypt on the brink of change, The Golden Scales shows modern Cairo as a superbly exciting, edgy and dangerous setting for crime fiction. Parker Bilal has delivered an absorbing, complex lively novel to match, His prose has a subtlety that is rarely found in crime novels, Bilal's powers of description and his sensible, wryly compassionate leading man make this an enthralling read, Brilliant ... tremendously successful, satisfying ... and at the same time a deeply moving story of suffering and exile

Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub. Mahjoub has published seven critically acclaimed literary novels, which have been widely translated. He has written four Makana Investigations, titled The Golden Scales, Dogstar Rising, The Ghost Runner and The Burning Gates. Born in London, Mahjoub has lived at various times in the UK, Sudan, Cairo and Denmark. He currently lives in Barcelona.