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From kirkus reviews

No, there never really was peace in the Middle East. Six months into his tenure as Chief of the Damascus Prefecture, Nikolai Faroun has gone through four assistants, been abandoned by his German girlfriend and his cat, and been told by his superior that he has five days to solve the case of the corpse in the murky Barada River before the case is handed over to his rival Philomel Durac, who handles state security for the Surete. Why was beautiful Vera Tamiri sliced up, weighted down in a burlap bag and dumped in the river, a fate previously reserved for traitors? Did one of her many lovers kill her in a jealous rage? Was it her gambling debts, the shame she brought to her brother Umar and the family honor, someone bent on avenging matters dating back to King Faisal's 1918 Land Trust? Or did the answer lie in a ledger Vera kept that seemed to implicate the five warring Damascus political/religious factions? A mute child at the Hotel Nurredine, where Vera and her lovers trysted, helps identity three suspects. Although one confesses, it's torture, not truth, that makes him speak. Undeterred, Faroun soldiers on, withstanding enmities begun 2,000 years ago that fuel the area's current political chaos. Highland (Ghost Eater, not reviewed) is the perfect guide to understanding just how wrong-headed the Westerners have been about Levantine politics.

 

from harriet klausner

In 1930s French controlled Syria, Chief of the Damascus Prefecture Police Inspector Nikolai Faroun investigates the gruesome murder of modern westernized woman Vera Tamiri. Nikolai always tries to do a thorough job, but this time the pressure is higher than normal as the victim comes from an affluent powerful local family.

Nikolai assumes like most of the brass that an angry jealous lover killed Vera for dumping him though who remains an issue. However, being a professional he begins to also look elsewhere amongst her friends, family, and business associates; especially the latter as Vera was deeply involved in many philanthropic projects demanding social changes to grant rights to the abused and oppressed women and children, who in the her mind were treated as being less than slaves.

NIGHT FALLS ON DAMASCUS is actually a complex somewhat convoluted historical mystery that brings to life Syria during the 1930s French occupation. Readers will follow the exploits of Faroun as he investigates the murder, but also learn how angry the locals are with the European neo-colonial occupation. Though two decades later, Frederick Highland’s fine mystery will remind the audience of the Mamur Zapt tales by Michael Pearce. Sub-genre fans will appreciate this whodunit and want more appearances from Police Inspector Faroun.

Harriet Klausner
October 01, 2006

book rating: 9 out of 10
Reference link: BookCrossing.com

from publishers weekly

Set in 1930s French-occupied Syria, Highland's engrossing third novel (after 2003's Ghost Eater) centers on the efforts of Nikolai Faroun, "chief of the Damascus Prefecture," to solve the murder of Vera Tamiri, a beautiful, modern woman from a prominent Damascus family. That a jealous lover is the culprit is only the most obvious explanation, and Faroun suspects more complicated motives behind the demise of a philanthropic woman working for social change in a politically volatile city. His inquiries disturb the unwritten rules and double standards—especially regarding women—of the many closed societies uneasily coexisting in Damascus. Born to a Maronite Christian father from Beirut and a Russian mother, Faroun is an unusual protagonist. While some of the murky intrigue is hard to keep track of, it adds to the sense of mystery. (Dec.) 

Reviewed 2006-10-02
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