Book Review: In Poisoned Ground by Barbara Nadel multi cultural PI team Lee Arnold and Mumtaz Hakim investigate two very different cases and believe me she pulls no punches!

Poisoned Ground is the third in the Hakim/Arnold PI series by Barbara Nadel.  I haven’t read any others in the series but this reads easily as a stand alone, with Nadel unobtrusively filling in any necessary back story. 

Mumtaz Hakim, a Bengali woman who wears Hijab is asked by the wife of a psychiatric nurse accused of bomb making and terrorism to prove her husbands innocence.  Mumtaz’s investigation involves her working undercover as an advovcate in a London psychiatric hospital where she finds evidence of patient abuse and a wall of silence.

Meanwhile Lee Arnold is asked by a solicitor friend to investigate the whereabouts of a client’s husband. Despite absconding with a large sum of money the wife is only concerned for his safety and doesn’t want to prosecute.  Arnold suspects the case isn’t as simple as he supposed.

Barbara Nadel bravely takes us on an investigative journey involving Egyptian Nadel  terrorists, drug trafficking, and into the realms of Female genital mutilation and gangsters.  This is an exciting novel set between multi - cultural London and the casino world of Southend.  She pays due attention to historic detail and has opened up a whole new experience of London’s Albert Docks. Hakim and Arnold make an unlikely but very believable combo and it’s good to see some of the existing stereoptypes of Muslim women challenged in Mumtaz Hakim a strong, independent and brave woman with a tragic background.  Lee Arnold is a taciturn loyal and tenacious investigator whose best friend is a mynah bird named Chronus.

Having found the Arnold and Hakim duo deliciously addictive I will certainly be catching up on the previous novels in the series.  Definitely recommended for those who like PI thrillers with a bit of a difference and who like complex believable storylines.

Available on Amazon kindle £6.49 HB £16.58

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poisoned-Ground-Hakim-Arnold-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00JIV9QP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423067428&sr=8-1&keywords=poisoned+ground+by+Barbara+Nadel