"Okay?" Hani demanded.
Murad nodded.
She could hear her cousin humming softly as he climbed first one marble step, then another, stopping at the point where his proclamation would begin. It took Hani a second or two to recognize the tune.
Emir Murad al-Mansur, Ifriqiya's ruler and bey of Tunis was humming the chant from "Revolt into Nakedness," street song of North Africa's disposed. The new Cheb Rai/Ragged Republic version obviously.
He'd managed to find it that morning on his radio.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to the Pathology Guy for information on human decomposition. Hassan in Tunis for taking me up onto the roof of the souk to look at the Great Mosque of Zitouna. Aziza and Hafida, cooks from the Maison Arabe (Marrakech) for not laughing too much at my attempt to make chicken tagine. Antony Bourdain for writing the best insider book on kitchens ever written (plus some seriously sick/slick crime novels). The Yugoslav girl with no knickers in the kitchens at Oslo airport for giving me the idea of the knife. And the soldier on the train outside Palermo who insisted on showing the backpacker opposite his scars.
A tip of the hat to the usual lunchtime crowd, including Kim Newman, Paul McAuley, China Miéville, M. John Harrison and Pat Cadigan (all of whom I'd happily buy in hardback). New Scientist again, obviously enough, for the usual reasons. Farah Mendlesohn, for providing supper every time I finish a script. JJ for commissioning the Ashraf Bey novels in the first place. Juliet Ulman for buying the books in the US and for arguing (very calmly) about point of view.
Finally, thanks to Moritz, for letting me steal his name on a couple of occasions. (The deaths were nothing personal . . . )
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Malta and christened in the upturned bell of a ship, Jon Courtenay Grimwood grew up in Britain, the Far East and Scandinavia. Currently working as a freelance journalist and living in London and Winchester, he writes for a number of newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian. He is married to the journalist Sam Baker, editor of UK Cosmopolitan.
Visit the website www.j-cg.co.uk.