SET IN ISTANBUL, THIS THRILLING TALE CONVEYS THE MYSTERY AND MAGNETISM OF THE OLD IMPERIAL CITY AT THE CROSSROADS OF EUROPE AND ASIA. Nuri bey is a Turkish philosopher and scholar who lives for his books. An innocent and dreamy man, he yearns to go to Oxford, but with his relatively poor background it's a dream that may never be realised without the help of his wealthy mentor, Madame Miasma. When she asks him to deliver a parcel to a friend of hers at the airport, Nuri bey obliges, and events bring him in touch with a side of life that is dark and dangerous. A security guard is shot, and Nuri bey flees the scene, because the last thing this philosopher wants is to be involved with a nefarious crime in a country where convicted murderers are hanged in public . . .