"Arab Jazz", by Karim Miské

Novel, 2015

While the settings and particularly the characters in the book are a little off-genre, this book is, essentially, a piece of detective fiction. Nothing wrong with that, and at the beginning of the book, the combination of a fairly familiar form and some more contemporary aspects combine to hook the reader. The power diminishes, to some extent, after a high number of popular cultural or religious references and one edgy druggy encounter too many. The whole piece still flows well and is very entertaining. 

"Half Blood Blues", by Esi Edugyan

Novel, 2011

A story of betrayal and part reconciliation, looking at the relationships between members of a jazz band who'd split after the Nazi crackdowns in Berlin and then the invasion in Paris. This is an entertaining, vividly drawn work which occasionally veers perhaps a little too far into a retelling of history, but which nonetheless effectively tells a good story evolving round Sid, who's slowly revealed as an interesting main character. Maybe some of the historical detail caused very infrequent lags in the pacing, but then again, an interesting as well as informative and enjoyable read.