Reviews

The Baklava Club by Jason Goodwin

pjwhyman's review against another edition

2.0

I loved the earlier books, but this was seriously much blacker than the earlier stories and I just couldn't get into it. A shame. I'll miss Yashim.

jakennedy's review against another edition

3.0

The Baklava Club is detective Yashim's final "and most thrilling" adventure yet. The mystery follows three naive Italian's exiled in Istanbul who have bungled their instructions to kill a Polish prince. Instead they have kidnapped him and run off to a discreet country farm house. Unfortunately, they do not realize their revolutionary "cell" is being given false orders by an impersonator. It's up to Yashim to unravel the mystery for us.

Author Jason Goodwin does an incredible job describing Istanbul. There were several passages where I felt as if I was sitting in a Turkish bizarre watching the story unfold. Unfortunately, beyond the stellar description of the city, I could not get into the novel. Halfway through I had guessed the outcome, which is always disappointing me.

Perhaps if I had read the previous four novels and had more background on Yashim, I would have enjoyed the novel more. Still the book is very well written. If you enjoy mysteries and have travel time on a plane/train/bus, this is a great book to pass the time.

Reviewers comment: I received an advance copy of The Baklava Club courtesy of FSG Publicity. The above review is my opinion.

eososray's review against another edition

4.0

I am sad to know that this is the last book in this series. I have thoroughly enjoyed joining Yashim on his adventures and while I think every one of these stories was over the top, at the same time it rather fit with the decaying and dying Ottoman Empire setting.

janetreads's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

For me, each of these books has something a little off, but overall I enjoy them. I think the author’s real strength is his imagery of Istanbul as a city. This one what felt off was the ending and Yashim’s relationship to Natasha. The ending felt rushed. I was confused about what happened event-wise and emotions-wise. I expected a final chapter to kind of wrap it up. It feels like the author is trying to avoid the cliched mystery ending of watson & holmes having a last chat about the case. …but honestly those sort of endings are really helpful sometimes! Especially when you’ve developed a plot and story telling style that involves many moving parts and just catching glimpses of them. I’ve wanted a clearer ending with some of the other books in the series as well but this one especially. Just fast. Also Yashim doing the Bond thing and having a new girl every book, is a bit tiring after a while. But the idea that this girl is the one who really pulled his heart strings after everything is revealed… I just don’t buy it. And the sex season was uncomfy even before that. 
In sum, I’d trade in the clichéd new girl in each book for a cliche living room explanation of the case. (Especially since Pawleski and Yashim’s friendship is meant to be central). Or simply taking time with the ending. 

danilanglie's review

3.0

I think one one of the reasons why this book gets a lower rating from me is that it felt more episodic than the others. Don't get me wrong, each story stands on its own in the Yashim series, but this one... think about it. There are so many new characters. Giancarlo, Rafael, Fabrizio, Birgit, Natasha, Father Doherty. All of them get a lot of screen-time, so to speak... and when the dust settles at the end of the novel?

Spoiler

Every single one of them is dead.

. I also wasn't particularly compelled by the double-cross twist at the end? It felt like it was there just to be surprising, not because it was narratively earned. Really, the ways in which the separate plot-lines and motivations of these characters intersected sometimes felt really forced.

But as with the rest of this series, I wasn't really reading it for the story. I don't read a lot of mystery novels for this exact reason... it's not my jam. Why I really liked these books was because of the atmosphere, the setting, Yashim cooking a picnic, Yashim visiting the aging Valide (although her lack of a proper send-off was really disappointing), the warm friendship between Yashim and Palewski. And all of those things were still here in full-force, meaning I still enjoyed my reading experience!

smbla's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 but overall the series is a definite 4.5

jonjeffryes's review against another edition

5.0

Its hard to be objective when I love entering the world of these books so much. The mystery in this entry is weaker (more John LeCarre than Agatha Christie) but I didn't care so much. This is a series in which I would gladly read a non-mystery entry.

dinokadich's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

cspiwak's review

3.0

thought the ending was very tricky. Much like the ending of great expectations open to interpretation.
Sorry to see the series go. This one had all of the usual-food- sex despite the main character being a eunuch- the friendship of Yashim and the Polish ambassador. Wouldn't reccomend unless you were already familiar with the series.