A Deadly Divide by Ausma Zehanet Khan – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

IN A TOWN FULL OF SECRETS, WHO CAN YOU TRUST?

In the aftermath of a mass shooting in a mosque, small town tensions run high. Clashes between the Muslim community and a local faction of radical white nationalists are escalating, but who would have motive and opportunity to commit such a devastating act of violence?

Detectives Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty from Canada’s Community Policing Unit are assigned to this high-profile case and tasked to ensure the extremely volatile situation doesn’t worsen. But when leaked CCTV footage exposes a shocking piece of evidence, both sides of the divide are enraged.

As Khattak and Getty work through a mounting list of suspects, they realise there’s far more going on in this small town than anyone first thought…

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I don’t think that I will be the only reader who finds books that concern hate crime difficult to read. What this author does so well is make it so real without baffling the reader with the politics, which is something I have struggled with in books by other authors. It is evident that a lot of research has taken place, it’s not propaganda or make believe. This is something you see too often in the media, in many, if not all parts of the world. 

The case itself is only a small part of the novel. There is the trouble brewing on campus, the radio shows, the online chat where I spent a lot of time trying to see the true identity behind their usernames. There is the attitudes of the politicians and the police, many of who could do with some lessons on how to deal with other faiths. 

But there are also the characters, both returning and new. The ones I was routing for, the ones who I was hesitant to form an opinion on and the ones I detested as soon as they made an appearance. I won’t say who these are, if you read this book you will find them soon enough. I really hope I never meet anybody similar to at least one of them!

This is a wonderful series, a different country to my own but sadly some of the views are similar. It is an educational but also intriguing crime series with likeable lead characters who deserve an easier life. I’m looking forward to what happens next.