I have kind of a love-meh relationship with these books! I love the portrait of Saudi life. I love (many of) the characters. But the mystery plots... they are the weak link. Not terrible, but they don't quite play by the rules of either the traditional mystery or the modern thriller, and not in a "messing with conventions" kind of way, just a "crap, how do I tie up this mystery?!" kind of way.

Also, as much as I love the characters, Ferraris has been introducing new ones every book, so that people I'd like to see more of get shoved to the background. Nayir, who was arguably the main character in [b:Finding Nouf|2302650|Finding Nouf (Nayir al-Sharqi, #1)|Zoë Ferraris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266714311s/2302650.jpg|2309056] is even further in the background in this book than he was in [b:City of Veils: A Novel|7168509|City of Veils A Novel (Nayir al-Sharqi, #2)|Zoë Ferraris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1279399390s/7168509.jpg|6680130]; Osama, whose story was central to [b:City of Veils: A Novel|7168509|City of Veils A Novel (Nayir al-Sharqi, #2)|Zoë Ferraris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1279399390s/7168509.jpg|6680130], is consigned to the periphery; and I fear that Ibrahim, whose story is one of the main plots of this book, will be similarly absent from the next book.

This series reminds me of Ruth Rendell's Wexford books - a similar weaving of crime-solving, social issues, and domestic drama. Even the settings, though outwardly very different, seem to share a similar sense of claustrophobia - the insular smallness of Wexford's small English town vs. the suffocating layers of restriction that Katya and the other characters encounter in Jeddah, from societal pressures to burqas and abaayas to the oppressive desert heat.

Anyway, for all that I'm bitching about the mystery plots, these books are competently written and feature compelling characters. I highly recommend them.