Unquiet Dead

A Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak Novel

By: Ausma Khan

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Detective Esa Khattak is in the midst of his evening prayers when he receives a phone call asking that he and his partner Detective Rachel Getty look into the death of a local man who has fallen off a cliff. At first Christopher Drayton's death - which looks like an accident - doesn't seem to warrant a police investigation, especially not from Khattak and Rachel's team, which handles minority-sensitive cases. But it soon comes to light that Drayton might have been living under an assumed name, and he may not have been the upstanding Canadian citizen he appeared to be. In fact, he may have been a Bosnian war criminal with ties to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. And if that's true, any number of people could have had reason to help him to his death. As Rachel and Khattak dig deeper into the life and death of Christopher Drayton, every question seems to lead only to more questions, and there are no easy answers. Did the specters of Srebrenica return to haunt Drayton at last, or had he been keeping secrets of an entirely different nature? Or, after all, did a man just fall to his death in a tragic accident?

In her spellbinding debut, Ausma Zehanat Khan has written a complex and provocative story of loss, redemption, and the cost of justice that will linger with listeners long after turning the final tick.

©2015 Recorded by arrangement with Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press. (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"A spectacular debut. Khan has written a heartbreaking book that stays with you long after you've put it down." (Reza Aslan, number one New York Times best-selling author of Zealot)

"Evocative, surprising, and important. With its mesmerizingly personal voice, each lyrical sentence reveals another suspenseful layer of this complex and heartbreaking mystery. Harrowing and disturbing, its delicate strength creates tension on every page." (Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, and Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of The Other Woman)

"It would be enough that Ausma Zehanat Khan's The Unquiet Dead gives us an intriguing new detective team in Esa Khattak and Sgt. Rachel Getty. But it does far more than that. Khan creates an engrossing story that allows her to sift through the emotional rubble of real-world tragedy. In the end, it isn't just gripping. It's devastating." (Steve Hockensmith, Edgar-nominated author of Holmes on the Range)

Compelling story

The story, interwoven with perspective on the disaster that was the breakup of Yugoslavia, was very informative. It is even more instructive/alarming in light of the resurgence of fascism and nationalism globally. It seems awkward to describe this story as highly entertaining, great characters and plot, but in the context of genocide :( Now I have to read the rest of the series!

A great listen

I enjoyed this book, although the narrator fell a bit flat. I was looking for a new detective series and I will read the rest by this author. I was a little disappointed in Esa. It seemed odd to show such incredible weakness and poor judgement in the very first book of a series in what is presented as an otherwise stoic and wise main character. So far, he's no Gamache or Kincaid or Bruno Courrèges, which I guess is what I was expecting. And maybe I shouldn't have come in with such expectations, but I'm excited to see how his character and Rachel's character develop. Otherwise, the historical context of the book was incredible and incredibly sad, to learn about. A very well researched and written novel.

lest we forget.

Fascinating and horrifying, that war of the nineties that isn't over. We are all refugees.

Keeps alive a memory the west may prefer to forget

Khan's excellent debut novel goads one's conscience as it follows a new "odd couple" of investigators who I think could have a great future, based on the evidence here. Is the death they investigate a murder, suicide, or accident? She keeps you guessing, with skill and subtlety, telling a compelling story of brutality, loss, complicity, betrayal, vengeance and the elusiveness of justice. The backdrop is a crime of which few but the victims can claim total innocence--the Srebrenica genocide, the worst massacre in Europe since World War II. The narrator is competent and nuanced but I think a female voice might be a better choice. And in the next book, she should have Rachel actually playing hockey, not just being on her way to or from the rink.

Excellent series with international/political focus

I love historical and internationally-based mysteries so that I am learning something new along the way. Khan’s Getty & Khattak novels are really compelling in this way, with appealing characters negotiating serious human rights issues, like here the genocide in Bosnia, and in Dangerous Crossing, the Syrian refugee crisis. While these topics might be for some too intense the mystery genre, I think Khan pulls it off with a delicate balance of fiction and well-researched non-fiction. I like her author’s notes at the end where she explains that balance and offers further reading, some of which I already plan to pursue with my next credit. I did like Dangerous Crossing more than this one, but I plan to read them all.

Highly recommend this unusual detective drama

Author includes many details about a conflict and cultures I knew too little about. and she's created a very intriguing duo. As a first novel, there are a few minor style issues but I trust that with experience, the author will have matured past them and look forward to more in this series.
Narrator is a bit understated and slow, and I see that he narrates the whole series, but increasing the speed to 1.1 helped a lot.

Learned do much!

I am embarrassed to admit That I do not know as much as a sure about the bloody history of the former Yugoslavia. This book taught me all about the horrific genocide that occurred there. For that I am grateful. It’s a difficult read, but worth it! On to Book 2.

Very well done

Ausma Khan book was well written and provoked thoughts of how terrible man can be to each other. I look forward to the next in the series.

Unique and exciting new series

Would you listen to Unquiet Dead again? Why?

Yes, I would listen to the Unquiet Dead again because the characters and the setting and the story were so well written. Kattak and Getty are characters I have not read or listened to before. The narrator does an excellent job of letting the story and characterization unfold naturally.

More than a mystery

This was an interesting book not only a good mystery but an excellent history lesson about the war in Bosnia and the Srebrenica massacre of 1995.

Esa & Rachel handle minority-sensitive cases but their new case doesn’t seem to fall under that purview or does it. Christopher Drayton was murdered but why are Esa & Rachel on the case? Drayton had a secret a big one and some people knew did one of them kill him? Was he really who he said he was or was he a Bosnian war Criminal living in obscurity right next door to refugees?

I really liked this story, we get a nice background on our two main characters and how they ended up as partners. I will be curious in the next book to find out even more about Rachel and her brother. I also found it very fascinating to have some of the transcripts from the war tribunal as that really added a lot to the story. I also liked the setting in Canada and couldn’t help thinking of a crossover book with Inspector Gamache.

Peter Ganim’s narration was very good and I was glad to have the correct pronunciations to people’s names. There was only one voice that grated on me and that was the hysterical Melanie Blasant, just in the one section it got a bit screechy but she was an awful person so I’m not positive it was her or the voice I was reacting to. I would definitely listen to more books narrated by Peter Ganim.

I have already bought the 2nd book in this series and look forward to the 3rd book coming soon. I highly recommend this series, the writing was very good and the characters are ones I believe you will get behind and really like.

4 Stars