City of Dreams (Fallon)

In this historical murder mystery, Makoud, a middle-aged apothecary, has come to Málaga with his family to work. Shortly after they arrive the khalifa Yahya I dies and there are rumours that he was poisoned. Makoud is worried that the poison used by the assassins was bought from his shop. His son, Umar, now a soldier in the khalifa's army, decides to investigate but he underestimates the power of the people behind the assassination, and instead he finds himself arrested and accused of murder. His father, family and friends pool all their resources to try to help him but the closer they get to the truth, the greater the danger they are all in. In the first novel in a new historical series set in Moorish Spain, Joan Fallon sets the action in the busy medieval port of Málaga. Following on from the successful al-Andalus series, we meet up again with the younger members of the family who had escaped from the besieged city of Córdoba.

Set in 11th century Málaga, 'The Pirate' is the second book in The City of Dreams trilogy. This fast moving and exciting historical novel takes the reader into the medieval world of the merchants and seafarers who sail along the western coast of the Mediterranean, and the pirates who terrorise them. Early one morning, the ambitious pirate captain, al-Awar, makes a lightning raid on the shipyard in Málaga and kidnaps Bakr, a master shipbuilder, and two of his workmen. Before anyone can do anything about it, they have disappeared. No-one has any idea why the pirates have taken them or where they have gone, but everyone agrees that only one of two fates await them: death or slavery. When Bakr's wife receives the news, she is heartbroken but refuses to listen to those who say there is little hope of ever finding her husband alive. Instead she is determined to discover where the pirates have taken him. With the entire Mediterranean to hide in, finding the kidnapped men seems to be an impossible task, but she refuses to give up and motivates her family and friends to search for him. At the heart of this novel is the tender love story of Aisha and Bakr's deep feelings for each other. It is the thought of her that helps to keep him alive while he is in captivity with little prospect of ever seeing his home and family again, and it is her love for him that gives her the strength to never give up hope of bringing him home.

The Prisoner is a fast moving story of adventure and romance set in the exotic and vibrant 11th century city of Málaga, and is the third novel in The City of Dreams series. It opens when a young Moorish prince wakes to the filth and stench of his new home; at first he can't understand what's happened to him. Where is he? Gradually he remembers what his brother Hasan has done to him, but the question remains, why? His brother is the new khalifa of Málaga but instead of welcoming Ben-Yahya, with open arms, he has him thrown into prison. He can only guess what Hasan is plotting, but one thing he does know is that no-one gets out of these dungeons alive. Against this unsettled period in the history of Moorish Spain, where life becomes even more turbulent as intrigues and treachery within the royal household threaten the stability of the city, Salma and her family arrive in Málaga, hoping to follow their dreams and make new lives for themselves. However they soon discover that life in the city is not all they had hoped for; she and her husband share a secret, which if discovered could mean they would face exile or even death.