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A review by frasersimons
A Deadly Divide: A Mystery by Ausma Zehanat Khan
4.0
Solid book; solid series. I’ve said this in my last review already but it’s such a pleasure to read a police procedural that’s inclusive and aware of the climate we’re in, here in Canada. Not to mention all the while being subversive of tropes in this genre. Both Esa and Rachel are well realized, they’re relationship doesn’t feed off of negative and zany sexual dynamics that too often mire series and plots like this. They themselves are against type and their lenses are both incredible useful for the full context of the plot every time.
This in particular is probably the one that hits hardest for me, as it’s based on real white supremacy flourishing in the country, particularly this brand in Quebec. And just this year the leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh was subjected to blatant racism from caucus members from Quebec! And then asked to apologize for calling them racist, which he did not, only to be chastised for it. I sometimes wonder if he was at all inspiration for the character of Esa, as Jagmeet’s public face is very much in character to Esa, in my mind.
But I digress. You can expect a highly nuanced portrayal of interactions between PoC and white people, code-switching and micro aggressions, to just out right racism. All of it with the overarching relevant themes, right up to political levels that are sometimes hard to parse. It’s really fantastic.
Really my only issue, we with others, is that the clarity is to overt that the prose are expository and nothing is left for the reader to infer. You want this for something like this, but it effected overall enjoyment. Also the scene with the killer was far too melodramatic for me, which solidified the 4 stars for me.
I highly recommend this series. It’s so good and pertinent and worthy of readers’ time. As usual there is the authors note explaining the real life events on which this is based and a suggested readers list, followed by the authors over qualifications for writing nuanced fiction like this.
This in particular is probably the one that hits hardest for me, as it’s based on real white supremacy flourishing in the country, particularly this brand in Quebec. And just this year the leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh was subjected to blatant racism from caucus members from Quebec! And then asked to apologize for calling them racist, which he did not, only to be chastised for it. I sometimes wonder if he was at all inspiration for the character of Esa, as Jagmeet’s public face is very much in character to Esa, in my mind.
But I digress. You can expect a highly nuanced portrayal of interactions between PoC and white people, code-switching and micro aggressions, to just out right racism. All of it with the overarching relevant themes, right up to political levels that are sometimes hard to parse. It’s really fantastic.
Really my only issue, we with others, is that the clarity is to overt that the prose are expository and nothing is left for the reader to infer. You want this for something like this, but it effected overall enjoyment. Also the scene with the killer was far too melodramatic for me, which solidified the 4 stars for me.
I highly recommend this series. It’s so good and pertinent and worthy of readers’ time. As usual there is the authors note explaining the real life events on which this is based and a suggested readers list, followed by the authors over qualifications for writing nuanced fiction like this.