Among The Ruins by Ausma Zehanat Khan – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

The murder of renowned political filmmaker, Zahra Sobhani, brings Esa Khattak’s cultural holiday in Iran to a sudden halt.

Dissidents are being silenced and Khattak’s mere presence in Iran is a risk. Yet when asked to unofficially investigate the activist’s death, he cannot resist. Soon, he finds himself embroiled in Iran’s tumultuous politics and under surveillance by the government.

When the trail leads back to Zahra’s family in Canada, Khattak calls upon his partner, Detective Rachel Getty, for help. As Khattak gets caught up in the fate of Iran’s political prisoners, Rachel sees through to the heart of the matter: Zahra’s murder may not have been quite what it seemed.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. Among The Ruins is the third book to feature Khattak and Rachel. It does take place in Canada but unlike the others it also takes place in Iran. 

Their working relationship is one I really admire and enjoy reading. They are both loyal to each other, they have a good friendship but also respect each others privacy. You get to know their private life, a lot less this time with Khattak but it was good to see more of Zach, Rachel’s brother.

I have to admit that Iran is a country I know little about. I wasn’t aware of the beautiful buildings, the parks and the strength of its people. Many of who had to stay  quiet about their beliefs and actions. All I knew was what is portrayed  in the media. 

There are some very short chapters in this novel that showed the more dubious side of what happens there. These chapters will be ones I will thinking about for quite a while. There was also mention of drawings, one in particular left me chilled with its description.

Whilst Khattak was investigating in Iran, Rachel was trying to help from Canada. The author demonstrates the difference in attitudes, how hard it is to visualise what happens in a country where it can be dangerous to speak when you live in a free world. I found this much easier to read. I feel this is because I know so little about Iran, I struggled to understand the situation initially. This is no reflection on the novel just my failing. I did find it easier to understand the more I read. The latter parts of the novel were extremely sad, they left me wondering what I would do if I was in the same situation. I can honestly say, I don’t know.