Mehmet Murat Somer – författare

Something''s gone seriously wrong in Istanbul - a killer is on the loose, and transvestites are being murdered, the modus operandi becoming increasingly bizarre with each death. Our protagonist - fellow transvestite, nightclub owner and glamour puss extraordinaire downs her lipstick and ups the ante in the search for the religious nut. Not an easy task with the pressures of everyday life - investigations have to be slotted in between leg and chest waxes and rotating lovers. Luckily she''s the perfect investigator: she knows everyone on the scene, her maitre d'' is the biggest gossip in town, her web skills are rivaled only by the most nerdy computer geek and she''s very, very persistent. As the killings accelerate, our girl struggles against the odds in her pursuit - after all, everyone knows that running in stilettos and a black leather cat-suit is hell ! Can she end the slaughter without breaking a nail?

Late one night, our glamour-puss nightclub manager receives a visit from Buse. For many years, Buse has kept letters and photos of a compromising nature, from a former relationship with a powerful lover. But her apartment has been ransacked and Buse worries about the consequences.Being an obliging sort, our detective agrees to help out, but what initially appears to be a personal favour turns out to have repercussions that run much deeper. When the web of intrigue reveals that an arch-conservative politician and maybe even the Mafia are involved, it''s time for our private eye to send out an urgent SOS via the underground Istanbul grapevine.

Devastated by the end of her relationship, our heroine swaps her catsuit for pyjamas and hides away from the world. But her friends from the nightclub refuse to let her waste away in self-pity and drag her out to make up the numbers for a party. Only full make-up will suffice, and there''s serious grooming to be done before our girl''s up to the challenge - her state of misery has left her so thin that even her favourite Audrey Hepburn number doesn''t cling the way it should. At the soirée, she becomes entranced with a powerful married man, but it''s unlikely their paths will cross again. Until a body is found in the street, stabbed to death - the victim, a gigolo, has connections to the object of her affection. And it seems that the gigolo lifestyle can leave one, ahem, exposed to hidden dangers. Our girl valiantly agrees to take on the case - any meetings with her beloved are an incidental added bonus.