The Golden Scales

Former police inspector Makana, in exile from his native Sudan, lives on a rickety Nile houseboat in Cairo, scratching out a living as a private investigator. When he receives a call from the notorious and powerful Saad Hanafi, he is thrust into a dangerous and glittering world. Hanafi is the owner of a star-studded football team and their most valuable player has vanished. His disappearance threatens to bring down not only the businessman's private empire but also the entire country.

Makana encounters Muslim extremists, Russian gangsters and a desperate mother hunting for her missing daughter, as his search stirs up painful memories, leading him back into the sights of an old and dangerous enemy...

“Richly evocative mystery novel ... delivers much more than efficient intrigue. Via the experiences of a family exiled from Sudan, we see and feel all the drama of Egypt on the brink of change” – Independent

“The Golden Scales shows modern Cairo as a superbly exciting, edgy and dangerous setting for crime fiction. Parker Bilal has delivered an absorbing, complex lively novel to match” – The Times

“His prose has a subtlety that is rarely found in crime novels” – Economist

“Bilal's powers of description and his sensible, wryly compassionate leading man make this an enthralling read” – Laura Wilson, Guardian

“Brilliant ... tremendously successful, satisfying ... and at the same time a deeply moving story of suffering and exile” – Independent

“A vivid, energetic work ... Set in 1998, the novel shows the extremes of wealth and poverty in Egypt before the Arab spring, while Makana's personal history offers heartbreaking insights into loss and exile” – Joan Smith, Sunday Times

“A subtle and politically observant thriller. Makana is a highly original investigator who immediately engages our sympathies and whose future exploits I am keen to follow. Parker Bilal's character-driven storytelling is reminiscent of Simenon at his restrained best” – Conor Fitzgerald

“Bilal expertly delivers a wonderfully rich thriller, at once multi-layered and intriguing. His character, Makana, is a thoroughly self-assured and fascinating character, and it was a joy to have been so effortlessly engaged. A rare and special treat” – R.J. Ellory

“Bilal deftly weaves past and present in this complex and compelling mystery set in 1998 Cairo ... Wonderfully detailed, the narrative reveals Cairo as a teaming, chaotic, and ungovernable. One looks forward to the sequel” – Publisher's Weekly

“A vivid picture of an effervescent Cairo, a city that could have been tailor-made as a crime-fiction backdrop. In Makana, Bilal has created a private detective who ticks all the usual boxes of doggedness, valour and ragged nobility, but it's his backstory, and the political ferment in neighbouring Sudan, that mark him out as a fascinating protagonist ... an auspicious debut” – Declan Burke, Irish Times