Jakob Arjouni, born in Frankfurt on the Main in 1964, author of the Kemal Kayankaya-mysteries (published in English by No Exit and Melville House) died in Berlin Wednesday, after a long battle against pancreatic cancer. (Booktrade). He was only 48 and has published novels, short stories, theatre and radio plays. His first “Kayankaya” novel Happy Birthday, Turk! was made into a film in 1991, directed by Doris Dörrie. Jakob Arjouni received the “German Crime Fiction Prize” in 1992 for One Man, One Murder. His publication Idiots: Five Fairy Tales was on the bestseller list for months. His most recent publication was Cherryman Hunts Mister White. (Words Without Borders). See also Jakob Arjouni entry at Fantastic Fiction and New Books in German.
I was hugely saddened to hear about Arjouni’s death this morning. Kayankaya is, and always will be, one of my favourite detectives.
I must admit I’ve not read his books yet, but he was in my radar and was planning to read him soon. It is sad indeed, he was far too young.
Just realised that you introduced me to Jakob Arjouni in your blogpost ‘Jakob Arjouni’s Turkish-German Kayankaya series’ http://mrspeabodyinvestigates.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/jakob-arjounis-turkish-german-kayankaya-series/ Thanks Mrs P.
I read the obituary by Mark Lawson in The Guardian at the weekend and was really sorry to hear of this. You can read it here: http://bit.ly/UnPpNB