The Return of Faraz Ali

A gripping read — everything beautifully evoked, from the alleys of the Old City to the atmosphere of corruption and secrets.

A spellbinding debut set in Pakistan during the anarchic late '60s — a tale of family, belonging and the politics of power.

As riots erupt on the streets of Lahore, Inspector Faraz Ali returns to his birthplace, the red-light district in the walled inner city. Wrested from his mother as a child by his influential father to give him a chance at respectability, Faraz has kept his roots secret ever since.

Now his father has sent him back: to cover up the murder of a young prostitute. But for the first time in his career, Faraz finds he cannot obey orders. Nor can he resist searching for the mother and sister he left behind.

Chasing down labyrinthine alleyways for answers that risk shattering his carefully constructed existence, he is unaware that his sister faces returning to the old city too, and to a life she thought she had escaped.