The Bellini Card

"Let’s give Jason Goodwin’s series of mysteries a puff. His central detective character is Yashim, an Ottoman eunuch in 19th century Istanbul, a very clever man who solves crimes – which are ingeniously done. Goodwin can tell a good story, and it’s remarkable what he knows about the Ottoman empire. He knows it better than I do, in the sense that he can tell you about cooking and that kind of thing, or the layout of the old Istanbul streets. The Bellini Card is the third and best in the series, set in Venice. An old Bellini portrait has gone missing and the intrigue is all about who had smuggled it. It’s very well done. Oh yes, she’s very popular. I’m a little bit careful about ultra-modern stuff, because I mostly read old books. I’ve just got through the whole of Balzac all over again, and am about to launch into Maupassant. But the one Turkish writer they say is very good is [Ahmet Hamdi] Tanpinar. Orhan Pamuk regards him as a master."