Blackwater Falls

June 1, 2022

Though immigrant girls have long been disappearing in Blackwater Falls, CO, frantic calls to investigate are ignored until the bloodied body of star Syrian student Razan Elkader is found laid out ceremoniously at the mosque. Now Det. Inaya Rahman and Lt. Waqas Seif of the Denver Police are in charge, launching a new series from the author who gave us Det. Esa Khattak. With a 60,000-copy first printing.

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Starred review from September 5, 2022
At the start of this stunning series launch from Khan (the Esa Khattak series), the corpse of high school student and Syrian refugee Razan Elkader is found nailed to the door of a mosque in Blackwater Falls, Colo. Lt. Waqas Seif of the Community Response Unit, a small team assigned to cases involving vulnerable and minority groups, selects detective Inaya Rahman for the investigation, her first hands-on case since moving to Blackwater six months earlier. Rahman discovers that two Somali girls who were friends of Razan’s disappeared months before, but were dismissed as runaways by Blackwater’s powerful sheriff, who’s known to mistreat minorities. Though the girls’ bodies haven’t been found, Rahman fears they too may be dead. Activist-attorney Areesha Adams and criminal psychologist Catalina Hernandez offer Rahman both support and assistance as the investigation leads to the aerospace company at which Razan had interned, the meatpacking plant that employs the three girls’ fathers, and an anti-Muslim evangelical church. When Seif unexpectedly starts to oppose Rahman’s efforts, she wonders whether he has an agenda other than solving the crime. Khan brilliantly depicts the complexities of her characters and the tensions of a multicultural American community struggling with bias, fear, and corruption. At once suspenseful, moving, and thought-provoking, this is not to be missed. Agent: Danielle Burby, Nelson Literary.

September 15, 2022
Xenophobia and greed foment violence and corruption in a small mountain town. Racial tension runs high in Blackwater Falls, Colorado, thanks to the evangelical, anti-immigrant Resurrection Church and its "outreach branch" of motorcycle-riding vigilantes dubbed the Disciples. Members of minority groups have filed multiple complaints against Resurrection crony Sheriff Addison Grant and his like-minded deputies, so when the corpse of 16-year-old Syrian refugee Razan Elkader is found stripped of her hijab and nailed to the door of her local mosque in a "gruesome emulation of the Crucifixion," the Denver Police Department's Community Response Unit takes over the investigation. Led by Lt. Waqas Seif, the CRU's mandate is to provide accountability and transparency to overpoliced communities. Seif taps Det. Inaya Rahman to run point; though she, her parents, and her younger sisters only moved to the area six months ago, the Rahmans worship at the Blackwater mosque, and Inaya has prior experience working homicide. With help from Det. Catalina Hernandez and civil rights attorney Areesha Adams, Inaya probes Razan's murder while searching for two missing Somali girls whom Grant previously dismissed as runaways. Seif pushes back on efforts to implicate Grant, prompting Inaya to question his allegiance. Khan's third-person narrative unfolds largely from Inaya's perspective, detailing her struggles to reconcile her faith with the realities of her law enforcement career. Occasional chapters from Seif's POV add context and heighten tension. The mystery's denouement is convoluted, and the supporting cast is studded with stereotypes, blunting the tale's impact, but Inaya is a complex, compassionate protagonist perfectly poised to helm a new series challenging the outmoded conventions of police procedurals. A timely, nuanced take on a staid formula.

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Starred review from November 1, 2022
Detective Inaya Rahman is a Muslim woman and a police officer, which she knows puts her in a precarious position in Blackwater Falls, Colorado. As part of the Community Response Unit, Inaya and her colleagues are tasked with looking after the needs of the community by holding the existing police force accountable. When an immigrant Syrian teen, Razan Elkader, is found murdered in the town's mosque, Inaya is put in charge of the investigation. Soon the suspects are climbing in number, including local law enforcement, a Christian biker gang, and the pastor of the Resurrection Church. Connecting the earlier disappearance of two Somali girls to Razan's murder, Inaya finds herself thrown into the middle of a raging, racially-inspired war. Khan's novel, the first in a series, offers a fine portrait of female power under adversity. Inaya projects strength through vulnerability, which endears her immediately to readers. Enthralling and intense, the plot unfurls a perceptive exploration of faith, race, gender roles, immigration, intolerance, and community. This is a masterfully crafted thriller that doesn't disappoint from beginning to end. Readers who enjoy strong female leads and compulsive police dramas will want to read this one and will look forward to more from Khan.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2022

This new series from Khan (A Deadly Divide) features Inaya Rahman, a member of Denver's Community Response Unit, a reform effort in response to police misconduct. Rahman is called in to a murder investigation in Blackwater Falls, at her own mosque, where the body of Razan Elkader, a teenage Syrian refugee, is found nailed to the door in the manner of a crucifixion. Rahman contends with traumatic memories of anti-Islam bigotry from her previous job, murky small-town politics that include a crooked local sheriff, a biker gang of white supremacists, and a xenophobic megachurch. The approach of exploring post-reform policing feels fresh, but the members of the Community Response Unit fall into traditional habits of fictionalized hero cops, making the idea feel a bit like a missed opportunity. The complexities Rahman grapples with--balancing her identity as a Muslim woman alongside her role as a police officer--give the book added texture; that depth may carry readers when some of the plot development and character relationships feel clunky. VERDICT Readers who enjoy a meatier mystery that grapples with contemporary themes, along the lines of a James Lee Burke thriller, will find much to admire.--Jon Jeffryes

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.