The Saladin Murders by Matt Rees

The Saladin Murders by Matt Rees (2008)
Read: September 2010

This is the second book in Matt Rees' Omar Yussef novels and I couldn't wait to get hold of it this summer. I'd now got all four in the series, but saved them until back from America and Canada and am still trying to space them out in my reading pattern.
This book follows on from the first book, but some time has elapsed for Abu Ramiz. He is still teaching, but is now an inspected and travelling into Gaza with a UN official to inspect a school there. He isn't actively looking to turn detective, but finds himself doing when a colleague is missing. Omar Yussef uses his position as a Palestinian (his other colleagues are American and Scottish) to delve into the intricacies of police, power and politics to find his colleagues.
Again what I love about these novels is the insight that I feel I get into everyday Arab life and the politics for the everyday people in the region. Seeing who he called "ustaz" and when, seeing who refers to him as Abu Ramiz (father of  Ramiz) and when. Omar Yussef is away from his wife as he is on this case, and he starts to show failings as he is attracted to one of the women in the book. But I think this is more that he is missing his wife and she reminds him of her, rather than actively looking for another woman to think about.
In the second half of the book they travel to a Commonwealth War Grave. The description really matches my experience here in Egypt, having visited that in Heliopolis and in El Alamain; a haven of green in a sea of grey.