Among the Ruins by Ausma Zehanat Khan
The only thing better than a mystery or thriller book is when it is set in a cool location where you get to learn a lot about that place in addition to being enthralled by the story. Whether it’s the Venice of Donna Leon’s Comissario Brunetti series, John Burdett’s Bangkok, Mark Billingham’s London or dozens of other books where the place is as much of a character as the detective, nothing adds to the pleasure of reading a thriller than learning about a new place in the process.
In her third novel in this series, author Ausma Zehnat Khan moves the action from Canadian-muslim Inspector Esa Khattak’s home base of Toronto, to Iran. As with all her books she grounds the story in real life events, which is no surprise since she holds a Ph.D in international human rights law. What this book does is flesh out our understanding of Iran, the country and the people.
While strolling the beautiful gardens and mosques of the stunning Iranian city of Esfahan Khattak is approached by a Canadian agent seeking help to get to the bottom of the death of a Canadian-Iranian filmmaker, Zahra Sobhani, who dies in Iran’s notorious Evin prison seeking the release of a well-known political prisoner. She was too smart to show up at the prison for show, she had a purpose. What did she know that allowed her to think she could get away with such a provocative act? Was it do with her own film making or did it go deeper, and how was her former husband involved?
Soon Khattak gets caught up with a group of dissidents who want answers too and who also are keeping the flame of the 2009 pro-democracy Green movement alive. He’s also under surveillance by the Iranian authorities. The case stretches back in history to the Shah of Iran and across the world to Zahra’s family in Canada, where Khattak’s partner Rachel Getty joins the investigation.
Iran is a country that is depicted in a mostly one dimensional fashion in American media, focused primarily on the nuclear threat, and massive crowds with their denunciations “death to America.” Khan redresses that balance by describing a place that frankly most of us couldn’t imagine.
Her mystery pulls together Iran’s history from the CIA overthrow of the Iranian government in the 1950’s and the installation of the Shah, through the 1979 revolution up to the present day’s democracy activists and Iran’s pariah diplomatic status. Don’t worry, there’s a handy timeline for reference at the beginning of the book and she mostly resists the temptation to get too bogged down in the history which ultimately is really just in service of her plot.
Iran’s population is predominantly young and the country is as modern as many western nations, and it is full of contradictions. As Khattak’s fellow Canadian agent observes “it’s layered isn’t it? There’s so much natural beauty, so much architectural brilliance –so much cultural complexity. It fascinates me. What the world thinks of Iran seems ludicrous when you deal with people in your daily interactions.”
As the plot develops we learn about the vibrant youth of Iran, the educated women who are 60% of the university population, the 85% literacy rate, the incredible sacrifices of the Iran-Iraq war. “Khattak re-examined his assumptions yet again. A black chador said nothing about a woman’s thoughts or hopes or her engagement with her country’s political future.”
Khattak is in receipt of regular letters from a source, he does not know who, who provides a graphic and vivid picture of the treatment of political prisoners in Iran. And this is what makes Khan’s book so effective, she captures the multi-faceted personality of this place, a nation that has embraced modernity in so many ways, but is also brutal in putting down dissident opposition.
The action moves back and forth between Iran and Canada as the investigation unfolds but it is in the descriptions of Iran that Khan really shines. A country of extraordinary natural beauty and a deep history, Khattak’s partner Rachel is overwhelmed when she visits the Nasir al-Mulk mosque in Shiraz, and is moved to her core. “She wandered off to a corner, struggling with a puzzle. Her thoughts of Iran had been limited to a scowling Ayatollah, to a region in turmoil, and lately to the nuclear negotiations. What she hadn’t imagined was this ample tranquility, this amphitheater of joy. The dignity of the mosque tore at Rachel’s heart.”
The descriptions will leave you wanting to visit the country or at least see a movie version of this story since it is so cinematic, all the way up to its finale on the Caspian Sea. It’s just a shame that the chances of such a movie being made on location are slim to none.
BEFORE YOU READ
Length: 347 pages
Genre: mystery, thriller
Themes: history, political intrigue, international relations
Commitment: A deep read that combines a vexing mystery with a window into a misunderstood country.
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