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The Wooden Library

Published
May 2025
Main Genre
Police Procedural Police Procedural
Series

About This Book

The twenty-seventh mystery featuring Inspector İkmen, star of BBC Two's gripping crime drama series The Turkish Detective.

Inspector Mehmet Süleyman is on holiday in Romania when his distant cousin calls. Nurettin Süleyman has bought the Wooden Library, an ancient building in Istanbul once owned by their ancestor. He needs help cataloguing its priceless contents and who better for the job than Mehmet's old friend Çetin İkmen? As İkmen sets to work, he detects a terrible smell pervading the library that leads to the discovery of a rotting corpse. The dead body is that of Senol Ulusoy, the man who sold Nurettin the library . . .

A long-running feud between the two families comes to light, as does the bitter rivalry between the three Ulusoy brothers, fuelled by their father's cruel manipulation. Then pathologist Arto Sarkissian makes a shocking discovery that turns this case on its head, and Süleyman's detective team must dig deep to reveal a truth that is rooted in the past as well as the present . . .

Praise for Barbara Nadel's İkmen mysteries:

'Complex and beguiling: a Turkish delight' Mick Herron

'İkmen is one of modern crime fiction's true heroes, complex yet likeable, and the city he inhabits - Istanbul - is just as fascinating' The Times

'Barbara Nadel's distinctive Istanbul-set Inspector İkmen thrillers combine brightly coloured scene setting with deliciously tortuous plots' Guardian

Series Placement

Book 27
🔄 Best Read in Order

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Paperback

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Trade Paperback
Jan 2026 Headline (UK) ISBN 1035419009
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Hardcover

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Hardcover
Jan 2026 Headline (UK) ISBN 1035418975
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eBook

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eBook
First Edition May 2025 Headline (UK) ISBN 1035418983
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eBook
May 2025 -- Not Selected ISBN B0DGG1G16H
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Audio

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Audible
May 2025 -- Not Selected ISBN B0F3JRY7HF
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