Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, British Sudanese writer of successful literary fiction.  With seven books under his belt already, The Golden Scales sees Bilal dipping a toe into crime genre waters, and on the strength of this outing, he’s more than welcome to stay.

The story follows Makana, an exiled Sudanese police inspector living in Cairo, as he investigates the disappearance of a high-profile young footballer by the name of Adil Romario.  Adil is, apparently, the very epitome of the working class kid made good.  He is the darling of the people and, more significantly, of Saad Hanafi, wealthy father figure with a shady past.  As Makana sets about tracking down Adil, Bilal deftly juggles themes of wealth, economic inequality, religion, persecution, parenthood and exile, all against the turbulent backdrop of Egypt in the late 1990s.First, to Makana.  A fascinating character, he is upstanding and morally committed, but steers well clear of cliché territory.  Living on a floating raft on the Nile, in a state of perpetual indebtedness to his landlady, Makana ekes out a living in unconventional style, in stark contrast to the existence of his wealthy employer.  As the story progresses, Makana shows himself to be genial but dogged, and indeed in the later scenes is shown as the sane man in a world gone mad.  He is ethically courageous, but never to the point of lacking humanity.  If Bilal has the taste for it, there can be no doubt a character of Makana’s warmth, subtlety and complexity could sustain an entire series.

Not only is it driven by a thoroughly engaging protagonist, but The Golden Scales is also a rich source of themes.  In the wake of the Luxor terrorist atrocity, militant Islam pervades the narrative, hostile to free thinking and to democracy but also to the status quo.  The status quo is that Egypt is riven by economic inequality.  Wealthy men like Saad Hanafi seek both to beguile the masses with their apparent generosity, and to terrify them into subjugation using their undoubted power.  Alongside their world of gilded statues, vulgar fountains and vast building projects, bazaars teem with vendors trying to squeeze a few meagre pounds from tourists.

To this thematic fertility can be added Bilal’s remarkable gift for depicting place.  The Egypt of Western imaginings can often be little more than a desert nation filled with pyramids and aggressive street vendors.  For Bilal, the nation is so much more.  Its streets are filled with history, its architecture is possessed of timeless beauty, and its people, though trodden down by economic reality, have an energy and warmth that is a joy to behold in print.
In terms of crime writing, this is right up there with the work of RJ Ellory (who, appropriately enough, provides the blurb for the front cover).  Bilal is able to flesh out complex characters, engage in social commentary and tell a deeply moving tale, all while still attending to the bread and butter of a ripping crime yarn.  The Golden Scales is a thoroughly assured novel, dazzling in its dexterity, and undoubtedly one of the best books of the year so far.

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