Yashim is certainly there but so subtly that he seems only part of the background. That is how it must be in the early 19th century in Byzantium, for Yashim is a eunuch. He may have always enjoyed the protection and patronage of the great sultan, but the sultan is dying and there are forces at work that may make Yashim's continued existence problematic.

Then, a French archaeologist appears, asking pointed questions about treasures of antiquity. Shortly thereafter, the archaeologist's murdered body sprawls in the street in front of the French embassy. Circumstances implicate Yashim. There is no judicial inquiry, but it is clear to Yashim that he must discover the real assassin or lose his own life. Yashim understands subtlety, but there are more layers of concealment and possibility in this exotic environment than meets even his experienced eye.

Jason Goodwin traveled to Istanbul after getting his degree at Cambridge in Byzantine history and has apparently written a capable history of the Ottoman Empire. Now, with a try at fiction, he has shown that he has immersed himself in that time and culture sufficiently to re-create an exotic and mysterious atmosphere. Let the reader also be seduced by the mysterious East.