The Kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris is the third book in her trilogy of mysteries that are set in Saudi Arabia and feature forensic technician, Katya Hijazi. These are well written, interesting books but I have to admit a certain amount of difficulty reading them as the Muslim culture, and in particular the treatment and rights of women is so foreign to me. Saudi Arabia has the reputation of having one of the most restrictive societies in the world and the contrast of this world and my own is almost indecipherable.

This particular book deals with the hunt for a serial murderer after the bodies of 19 women are discovered in the desert. The lead inspector Ibrahim Zahrani, has allowed Katya a certain amount of freedom in the working environment, but he is also dealing with a devastating mystery of his own, as his mistress, Sabria, has suddenly disappeared. As a married man, he enlists Katya’s help in this as he faces beheading if his relationship with Sabria is discovered. Katya is drawn into both investigations but faces a lot of distrust from her male co-workers.

A Kingdom of Strangers portrays the hunt for a serial killer as well as giving us an insight into the on-going trafficking of women, brought into the country under false pretenses. The author has also calmly pulled the curtain back to reveal how ordinary women are treated and expected to behave in this culture. Overall this was an intricate and fascinating read. ( )

A disappointing conclusion (?) after reading the first two better books in this series. Zoe Ferraris continues to paint a depressing, but likely accurate picture of Saudi Arabia: a repressive society, where women are segregated and subservient, and here a large foreign population work as exploited servants. In the opening scene, a body is discovered on the outskirts of Jeddah, and many others are unearthed, leading to an investigation of a serial killer of these servants. While Ferraris does a good job on exploitation and human trafficking, she loses track of developing her main characters, Katya and Nayir (especially him), whose relationship concerns are not shared between them, even though they agreed to marry at the end of the prior novel. Most of the secondary characters were poorly developed, except for Ibrahim (and his daughter), whose family troubles are legion, including the search for Ibrahim’s lover, which may jeopardize his police career. Not a strong enough police procedural to stand on its own. ( )

Third book in this series, and I think this one was trying to do too much. It does show the ugly underbelly (one ugly underbelly?) of Saudi Arabia, so still worth reading. ( )

Extremely interesting insight into life in Saudi Arabia cleverly woven together in an intriguing tale of love, murder and everyday struggles. I was a little dissatisfied with the ending as I never felt like there was a big climax, it just slowly tied everything together and came to a leisurely end, but I think it felt right in retrospect. ( )

Another deep look inside Saudi Arabia. A page turner of a whodunnit with layers of stories and characters. A missing girlfriend and a serial killer. ( )