Born in 1964 in Abidjan to a Mauritanian father and a French mother, Karim Misk grew up in Paris before leaving to study journalism in Dakar. He now lives in France, and is making documentary films on a wide range of subjects including deafness, for which he learned sign language, and the common roots between the Jewish and Islamic religions. Arab Jazz is the author's first novel.
A brilliant debut
Guardian - Robin Yassin-Kassab
Exciting, informative, stimulating, and a little frightening
The Times - Marcel Berlins
Not to be missed
The Tablet - David Platzer
Miske's imaginative geography lies somewhere between the fantasy Belleville of Daniel Pennac..., the strange world of Fred Vargas, and the amoral fantastic of the television series Breaking Bad
Times Literary Supplement - Ruth Morse
Remarkable . . . a debut of notable assurance . . . Proof that French crime fiction is jostling its way to the top of the noir tree
Independent - Barry Forshaw
A brazenly political crime novel for our times, it tackles hard-hitting and topical themes of religious fundamentalism, drugs and urban alienation. With a gift for setting, Miske's narrative twists through the mosques, prayer rooms and synagogues, where street preachers hustle for power, vendors ply their trade and a male and female detective duo are determined to unveil the mystery.
The Lady
Fascinating police procedural that takes on a new dimension after the Charlie Hebdo massacre
The Sun
A poetic take on the traditional noir thriller
Scotsman - Natalie Bowen
'Intelligent and gripping' Tariq Ali.
Tariq Ali
'It's impossible to miss this dramatically contemporary crime novel about new Muslim and Jewish fundamentalists living together in France' Le Point.
Le Point
'Two police officers who could have been invented by Fred Vargas ... an author is born. And it's good news: once he gets going, it won't be easy to catch up with him' L'Express.
L'Express