Ben Canaan doesn’t make a very good impression when we first meet him in A.E. Goldin’s dizzying new novel, Murder in Constantinople. He’s a proud member of the Good-For-Nothings, to his father’s despair, and is much more interested in causing a ruckus and getting one over on the richer residents of London. He’s got a decent life until he takes things too far and accidentally shoots a man in the leg. In an instant, Ben has to flee the country until things cool down.

Murder in Constantinople is one scrape after another for Ben Canaan, with increasingly dire stakes. To be honest, more than a few of these scrapes strains credulity. I was able to buy that Ben would be able to trade favors to get a fake passport and a trip on a steamer from London to Constantinople. (It was easier to fool the authorities in the 1850s.) It was harder to suspend my disbelief when it came to Ben managing to find exactly the person he needed in a city of millions, get witnesses to coherently cough up what they knew, or take a walk through the harem of the Topkapı Palace without any of the guards noticing.

Ben asked for a ticket to Constantinople in the hope that he might be able to find out what happened to a woman he loved and believed had died some years earlier, until he found a photo of her in the pocket of the Prime Minister’s coat. (See what I mean about suspending my disbelief? Ben has the luck of a Dickens protagonist.) This trail almost immediately leads Ben to being arrested by the Ottoman police after he turns up at a dead man’s lodgings. From there it’s one murder or double-crossing (plus one explosion) after another until the big climax at the Sultan‘s new Dolmabahçe Palace.

Murder in Constantinople reads more like a movie than a book; you’ll spend a lot of time visualizing fights and chases. Readers looking for a ripping yarn may enjoy it, though readers who’d like to know more about the Ottoman Empire or the Crimean War should look elsewhere. I’d’ve liked a bit more history in this thriller, as well as more character development, in this book.

1.5 stars

I went from "this isn't great, but at least it's readable" to being actively furious over the course of 350 pages, and that's a more interesting journey than any of the characters in this book went on.

I have no insight into the work the author (and, presumably, an editor?) put into this behind the scenes, so I can't say with any certainty that I did more research while reading this than the author did writing it, but it's frustrating that I have to wonder. This is so packed with cliches and anachronisms that once I started noticing them, it got harder and harder to keep reading, because I'd come to another snappy little phrase and have to decide whether I was going to let it go, screenshot it for later, or yet again drop the book and go to Google Ngrams. At one stage I watched a 40-minute video about the origin of the phrase "sweet summer child" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyD6SCAlLT0) after someone absolutely bafflingly addresses Ben this way. And Ben thinks he's funny, so I unfortunately had a lot of snappy little phrases to go and look up.

The historical setting doesn't feel either fully realised or well utilised. I really have to assume that the author knows more about Judaism than I do, but the way the community and practices are described in the book still felt othering to me. A couple of real world people are name-dropped for apparently no reason. The pacing is messy and the plot consists of Ben wandering from one scene to the next and having convenient realisations, without any need for him to be smart or interesting to actually solve the mystery. The prose and dialogue are wooden, but there's ample use of italics and exclamation marks to let you know when something is surprising! "And with extra punctuation in dialogue, even?!" Yes.

And after all that, to still have the gall to try and throw in lessons about the horrors of war and how our lives are built on the choices that we make? Absolutely not.

To damn this with some faint praise, I generally don't finish books I hate. So this really was an imperfect but adequate reading experience until I started to get too annoyed for it to be even that.

A Riveting Historical Mystery That Transports You to Another Era!

Murder in Constantinople by Goldin is an absolute masterpiece of historical fiction and mystery. From the very first chapter, I was completely immersed in the richly detailed world of early 20th-century Constantinople. Goldin’s vivid descriptions and meticulous research bring the city to life, making it feel like you’re walking its bustling streets alongside the characters.

The plot is brilliantly crafted, weaving intrigue, suspense, and complex characters into a gripping narrative that kept me guessing until the very end. The mystery is clever and well-paced, with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep the tension high without ever feeling overwhelming.

What truly sets this book apart is Goldin’s ability to blend historical context with a compelling murder investigation, creating a story that is both educational and thoroughly entertaining. The characters are multi-dimensional and relatable, each with their own secrets and motivations that add depth to the story.

If you love historical mysteries with rich settings, intricate plots, and unforgettable characters, Murder in Constantinople is a must-read. Goldin has crafted a captivating novel that will stay with you long after you’ve finished it. Highly recommended!

"Alfred Hitchcock meets Indiana Jones in this acclaimed, globe-trotting historical mystery about a wayward Jewish kid drawn into a sinister plot.

This entertaining historical mystery is the exciting debut novel from London-based musician and screenwriter A.E. Goldin. Thrillingly paced and with an enchanting historical setting, it launches an unforgettable new hero in a series that provides all the nostalgic reading pleasure of classic Sherlock Holmes.

London, 1854. 21-year-old Ben Canaan attracts trouble wherever he goes. His father wants him to be a good Jewish son, working for the family business on Whitechapel Road, but Ben and his friends, the 'Good-for-Nothings', just want adventure.

Then the chance discovery of an enigmatic letter and a photograph of a beautiful woman bring Ben an adventure more dangerous than anything he'd imagined. Suddenly he is thrown into the heart of a mystery that takes him away from everything he has known and all the way to Constantinople, the jewel of an empire and the centre of a world on the brink of war.

Ben's only clue is 3 words: 'The White Death.' Now he must find what links a string of grisly murders, following a trail through kingmaking and conspiracy, poison and high politics, bloodshed and betrayal. In a city of deadly secrets, no one is safe - and one wrong step could cost Ben his life."

Hey, if you go looking for adventure you can't be put out when it comes knocking.

An interesting premise for a story. It took a while to get into, it did feel a bit disjointed and elements did not link up very well. Story with promise.

This was a superb read.
From Whitechapel to Constantinople Ben Canaan escapes scrapes to fashion himself as 'the English detective.'
The main character is well described and the locations are totally immersive.
With the backdrop of the Crimean War we are thrown into the fight between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. (nothing changes does it!)
Benjy- as he was known had been drawn from education to tailoring and then into a bad lad - escapes London after a chance meeting and finding a mysterious note that reminds him of love Elizabeth who came into his life briefly.
The plot was fast and furious and took us from back streets to the Topkapi Palace and the Sultan and his Harem.
Who and what is the 'White Death' and when meeting Shoshanna and the Carmino Family he discovers murder links to Ben's past love.
Intrigue, spies and high society in Constantinople all are captured in this extremely visual and entertaining novel. There is drama and death and a pleasing conclusion.
Definitely worthy of a second outing for our young Ben in other exotic places working undercover.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc

DNF at 10%

This book just didn't click with me at all, I didn't understand much from the foreign words spliced in and the writing didn't excite me. Just a personal preference, I don't think I'll enjoy this book, but that's not to say it's not good.

London, 1854. 21-year-old Ben Canaan attracts trouble wherever he goes. His father wants him to be a good Jewish son, working for the family business on Whitechapel Road, but Ben and his friends, the 'Good-for-Nothings', just want adventure. And adventure is what he finds. This is a fun, wild read with some history around Turkey that I was never aware of. The only issue I had with this book was that it did seem to jump around quite a bit and was a little wordy describing things but for a debut novel it was pretty amazing. Highly recommend!

This book would be good for readers looking for historical political intrigue, unrest, social historical issues, and conspiracies.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those readers.

The book is touted as “Alfred Hitchcock meets Indiana Jones,” but I felt neither of those things. None of the suspense and tension I would expect from Hitchcock nor the adventure and action of Indiana Jones.

It takes too long for a murder to occur (or be discovered, as it were). As someone who reads a lot of murder mysteries, this just isn’t the format I prefer. I expected it to be a murder mystery involving action and adventure to find the culprit. But murders aren’t actually being investigated until 47% of the way through. To boot, the culprit is revealed at 64%. So approximately 15% of this book is spent sleuthing and putting together clues, which is a lot less than I expect from a mystery.

Part of the problem is the pacing - a lot of segments, such as the backstory in the beginning and the boat ride to Constantinople, could have been a few paragraphs long so we could jump into the real meat of the story earlier. Every time the pace would pick up with an action scene, it would slow down again in the next chapter, sometimes with characters just waiting around in one place for information.

There are a lot of characters, relationships, and politics involved in the story. Ben is a relatively likable, if not all that quick-witted, protagonist, and I enjoyed Ismail and Shoshanna as well. I found the villain to be both predictable and one-note and the overall mystery to be disappointing. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for some historical fiction with an emphasis on Constantinople and particularly how its history is shaped by the religious affiliations within the city.

But if you’re looking for Hitchcock meets Indiana Jones, keep searching.

What a sensational start to a new series.

A.E. Goldin has crafted a page-turner of a mystery with a protagonist who is complex, charming and cunning. The character went through a believable, yet dramatic, transformation and maturation and drew the reader into his adventure seamlessly.

I wasn’t initially sure I would bond with the “ bad-boy” persona of our hero, but adversity truly made a man out of him as the plot effortlessly unfolded into an international intrigue.

This was a wonderful adventure story and I can’t wait to encounter another intriguing novel in this new series.

I'm always down for a mysterious, silly, quick read, and this gave me exactly that! I devoured it whole, and I have no regrets. I would especially recommend it to Jennifer Lynn Barnes' fans who want a little historical added to the mix too.

3.75 rounded up

This historical fiction novel is a detective story that takes place in Constantinople during the Crimean War. The protagonist Ben is a young Jewish man who is the black sheep of his family. Due to circumstances that arise he is forced to flee his family home in London for the Continent.

I am not very familiar with Jewish or Turkish Culture or the Crimean War so I can't say whether the details are accurate. There weren't any mistakes egregious enough to take me out of the story. The language is modern and not what would have been used in the mid 1800s but that doesn't bother me as it is very difficult to mimic archaic speech and attempts to do so are usually really jarring.

The novel was nicely paced with plenty of action and likeable characters. I would classify this as a cozy mystery although there are one or two disturbing scenes. The stakes just never felt that high and things were wrapped up with an ease that is typical for cozy mysteries.

I liked the setting as it is unfamiliar to me but described well enough for me to conjure up an image that gave life to the scenes.

The story got a bit melodramatic at points and I rolled my eyes a couple times when Ben was making a speech but overall, the writing was clean and direct.

It seems to me that the author has set the character up to be recurring in a series, and if this is the case, I am on board to read the next adventure.

My thanks to Netgalley and Steerforth & Pushkin for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm glad that the characters were written speaking English as I know no Turkish. There are lots of nitpicks in the tale but the story was so much fun and the nitpicks only made me go snooping into the real truths without detracting from the flow of the story.
The characters are so well depicted that I would recognize them in a crowded airport or train depot by their mannerisms alone. The connection between London and the capitol of Turkey was real at that time (1854), and so was the author's family history of being milliners in London in the 19th century.
There's action, adventure, coming of age, suspense, and more in this first thriller in a new series.
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from Steerforth & Pushkin | Pushkin Vertigo via NetGalley. Pub Date Oct 14, 2025 ****review
#MurderInConstantinople by @a.e.goldin #BenCanaanMysteriesBk1 @pushkin_press
#historicalresearch #familyhistory #Crimea @amateurdetective #Turkey #London #suspense #culturalexplorations #cozycrime #historicalthriller

This is a fun book, maybe not quite 5 stars- the ending drags on as if it doesn't really know how to make a clean ending, and the Americans in Constantinople were such bad caricatures that they dragged that part of the book down a lot for me. Still, on a 5 star system this book rounds to 5 stars. Historical fiction set in the 1850s, initially in a London that reminded me of Dickens, with urchins, dens of pickpockets and thieves, and a poor but honest tailor with his family just trying to get by. A Jewish family, stereotypically good at handicrafts and business, though not enough to be rich, just successful enough to make suits for the rich. Then, stuff happens, and the protagonist is off on a grand adventure, launching what seems like the first of a series of espionage adventures set in the Europe of the 1850s and 1860s. This could be a fun series to follow.

DNFing at 54%

I really tried to get through this book since I don’t like dnfing but I’m so bored. The story started way too early in my opinion we just didn’t need to see what we did before Ben got to Constantinople it just didn’t add much to the story so by the time it finally began to pick up halfway through I just didn’t care.

Unfortunately this book just isn’t for me.

idea is interesting and the mystery WOULD be propulsive if not for the constant anachronisms making me very annoyed. 2.5 stars. tysm for the arc.

This is exactly what I want in a historical mystery - a rich atmosphere, fast pacing, and a lead character who’s both flawed and magnetic. The setting bursts to life without ever feeling like a history lecture, and the tension never lets up. I loved the balance of intrigue, danger, and sly humor, and the cultural detail gave it an extra layer that made it stand out from the crowd. A confident, stylish debut that left me grinning at the end and eager for the next installment.

I love historical mysteries, especially when they're set in times and places that I don't know much about. This book fits the bill. It's set in Constantinople during the Crimean War, and I don't know much about that time period.

I thought that the author did a great job of explaining the conflict and the way that it affected Europe at the time. I liked the intricacy of the language being spoken in the Ottoman Empire. I liked the insight into the customs of the time period. I also really liked the commentary on the Jews of London at that time.

The only criticism I have is that the language felt a bit too modern for the time period. Some of the things that the characters said just didn't feel authentic to the early 1800s and pulled me from the scene.

Overall, very enjoyable and I will definitely read the next book in the series.

Thanks to Net Galley for the book to review.

3.75/5

As someone born and raised in Istanbul, my expectations for this book were high—and I’m happy to say it did not disappoint. It is a fast-paced, gripping murder mystery set against the backdrop of 1850s Istanbul, skillfully weaving historical events and political intrigue into its narrative.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is how it immerses the reader in the city’s rich and tumultuous past, particularly the wars and shifting alliances of the era. The pacing is excellent, keeping me engaged from start to finish. The mystery itself was well-crafted, with enough twists to keep me on my toes.

That said, I couldn’t help but notice some anachronisms—most notably, the way nearly every character seemed to speak perfect English. Given that even in today’s Istanbul this wouldn’t be the case, it did pull me out of the story at times. Aside from this, the book delivered a compelling plot, atmospheric storytelling, and a fascinating glimpse into a crucial period of Istanbul’s history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for providing an eARC in exchange for my review.

Murder in Constantinople is an engaging and captivating historical mystery that transports readers from the gritty alleys of London’s East End to the vibrant, complex world of the Ottoman Empire. The story follows Ben, the son of a humble tailor, whose quiet life is upended when he becomes entangled in a murder that forces him far from home—and deep into a web of intrigue.

What begins as a local mystery quickly evolves into an international adventure, as Ben is drawn across the ocean and into a richly imagined Constantinople. Along the way, he forms unlikely alliances with a colorful cast of characters, each adding depth and nuance to the journey and investigation.

The author’s writing style is fluid and immersive, balancing suspense and historical detail with ease. I particularly appreciated the worldbuilding—Constantinople comes alive on the page with its mix of cultures, political tensions, and hidden corners. The characters, too, are memorable and well-drawn, with Ben’s growth and determination anchoring the story.

Overall, Murder in Constantinople is a well-crafted mystery with heart, atmosphere, and a satisfying blend of action and character development. A thoroughly enjoyable read for fans of historical fiction and crime novels alike.