"He imagined he saw her smile."
Despite the fact that the Middle East's role in world affairs increases as each decade passes, most Westerners have only a hazy comprehension of the region's culture and its people. And, ever since the chain of events that began with the September 2001 murders in New York City, what we do know is largely distorted by the media coverage that tends to deal almost exclusively with the terrorist segment of the Muslim world. That makes a novel like Finding Nouf, one that tells its story through the eyes of ordinary Saudi citizens trying to do the right thing despite the constraints of Saudi Arabian society, one of the more intriguing books of 2008.

When sixteen-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi disappears from her wealthy family's isolated home, it is at first hoped that she has simply run away, perhaps suffering a bad case of nerves about her impending marriage. But an examination of her body after she has been found dead in the desert leaves little doubt that Nouf has been murdered and Nayir ash-Sharqi, a family friend and desert tracker who failed in his quest to find her before she died, feels both the guilt of that failure and a responsibility to determine exactly what happened to the girl.

Nayir finds a ready ally in Katya Hijazi, a lab technician who, like Nayir, is a friend of the Shrawi family (she is the fiancée of Nouf's adopted brother, Othman) and who has been asked to keep an eye on the official investigation into Nouf's death. But Katya is more than Nayir, a strictly religious Palestinian who has had only limited contact with Saudi women, knows how to handle. He finds her aggressiveness and willingness to display her face in all but the most public of venues to be shocking, especially when he learns that she is engaged to his good friend, Othman.

But even more shocking to Nayir is his realization that Katya's personality and behavior make her so attractive to him that he has to continually remind himself that she is to be married to his best friend. Part of the charm of Finding Nouf is watching the relationship between Nayir and Katya evolve during their investigation into one of mutual respect and affection, something that neither could have dreamed would ever happen.

Nayir and Katya link their individual skills in a way that slowly uncovers the facts surrounding Nouf's disappearance and death and, although what they find brings them dangerously close to disturbing truths about the Shrawi family, they remain determined to bring her killer to justice. Zoë Ferraris has created two very likable amateur Saudi sleuths who deserve a sequel, a hope that the book's ending seems, in fact, to encourage.

Finding Nouf is a fun mystery that, along the way, allows the reader a look at ordinary Saudi citizens and their relationship to each other and to the wealthier class. It explores both the formal and informal relationship between Saudi men and women and wonderfully illustrates the pressures felt by both sexes in a society willing to deal out harsh punishment to those not strictly observing the sexual mores of Islam and Saudi Arabian culture. Zoë Ferraris has written a first-class mystery but what makes it special is the unique setting in which she has placed it. This one is not to be missed.

Well Crafted International Mystery
A Palestinian born and raised in Saudi Arabia, who works as a guide is hired by a wealthy family to find their missing daughter She is a 16-year old who disappeared just before her wedding. The girl's body is found and the cause of death is drowning; she was also pregnant. The family uses their influence to have the case closed, and then ask the man who led the search to quietly look into the girl's death.

A great international mystery, where the reader learns a lot about what it is like to live in Saudi Arabia.

A smart, solid debut that never falls back on easy answers or simple stereotypes
Life in Saudi Arabia is notoriously opaque. Closed to most outsiders and with women covered and often kept isolated, it is hard to imagine, much less penetrate, the social and personal customs and daily lives of the people who live there. First-time author Zoë Ferraris takes readers inside Saudi society with her exciting novel, FINDING NOUF. It is a tale of secrets and sensuality, propriety and identity --- and it is a good mystery as well.

When a teenage girl disappears from her isolated family home, a search is quickly organized. Fearing she was kidnapped, but lacking a ransom note, her parents and her many siblings and cousins are at a loss. Nouf ash-Shrawi seemingly vanished into the harsh desert, taking with her only a camel by her side. Could she have run away hesitant about her upcoming marriage, or feeling stifled by the religious laws and traditions that demanded modesty and subservience? Her brother Othman brings in a trusted friend to investigate. Nayir ash-Sharqi, along with his Bedouin comrades, begins to track Nouf, but her body is found at another site. Nayir's search continues, however. He hopes to solve the mystery of her death, understand the family he has known for so long and challenge himself personally and professionally.

Nayir is lonely for a real connection and longs for a wife and spiritual partner. He is strangely attracted to Katya Hijazi, a lab tech also working on Nouf's case. But her forwardness embarrasses him and forces him to rethink his beliefs about men and women and gender roles under Islam. He and Katya learn that they share a curiosity about Nouf as well as a relationship to the Shrawi family. The two continue to investigate Nouf's death and uncover her secrets, including a mysterious American who promised her a life of freedom in the U.S. But it is not easy work figuring out who killed her and why.

FINDING NOUF is a well-crafted mystery with several logical suspects, plenty of doubt and dead ends, a compelling corpse and likable investigators, in addition to a unique setting. The Saudi Islamic culture is, in fact, more than a setting; it is fascinating and very important to the tale. Yet it never distracts, and Ferraris never makes readers feel ignorant or like tourists. She brings us neatly into the worlds of Nouf and Nayir.

Ferraris also deftly plays with symbols and themes. The desert is a character of sorts, almost unknowable, revealing its secrets to those with patience. The evil eye crops up now and again to offer protection and signify tradition. For Nayir, a coat bought at the market on a whim acts like a talisman and allows him to don a new layer of self to confront the case and work with Katya. Many of the characters are outsiders to the rigid and traditional society in which they are living: Othman is the adopted Iraqi son of the Shrawi family, Nouf is passionate and curious in a world where she is expected to be quiet and restrained, Katya is educated and bold and seems to some immodest, and Nayir is a Palestinian raised by an uncle as a quasi-Bedouin in Saudi Arabia. Each searches for acceptance and peace but often finds danger, discomfort or worse. Perhaps, though, Nayir can find happiness once he puts Nouf's case behind him.

FINDING NOUF is a solid debut. It is interesting, smart and never falls back on easy answers or simple stereotypes. The characters are finely portrayed, and the strict Islamic culture is shown honestly but with great respect. Nayir is the Saudi man we don't commonly imagine: traditional yet kind, religious yet sensitive. The book is more literary than many murder mysteries but just as entertaining and is sure to please readers who wouldn't normally pick up a mystery. Saudi Arabia is a country most of us will only travel to in books, and Ferraris's story brings it to life for readers with a well-told narrative.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

Great Saudi mystery, Awesome first book
I LOVED this book. Everything about it speaks to Zoe Ferraris's arrival as a major (and enormously talented) novelist. I especially enjoyed the developing friendship, cooperation and love between Nayir and Katya (the novel's two principal characters) as they work to solve the murder of 16-year-old Nouf, the daughter of an ultra-rich Saudi family. (Nayir, by the way, is a *WONDERFUL* male protagonist who strikes the perfect balance between masculine strength and tenderness.)

Praiseworthy as well are Ferraris's magnificent descriptions of the city of Jeddah and the Arabian Desert (which, through the author's lyrical detailing, become not just settings, but characters in and of themselves). One of the novel's best passages, for instance, tells of Jeddah's bestial heat and how the city is so hot that the rubber soles of Katya's sandals melt and stick to the concrete.

Also worth mentioning is Ferraris's skillful crafting of Nouf as a complex and enigmatic character. For, although her murder is heartbreakingly callous and brutal, Nouf herself is not particularly sensible or sympathetic (at least she wasn't for me). And yet it is through Nouf that the novel gets its name, tone and direction ... and that Nayir and Katya find each other.

Finding Nouf is not just a fictional glimpse into everyday life (and death) under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic laws. It's also a phenomenally well-written view into how hatred, jealousy, passion, deceit, sex, humor, and love function in that society because (and in spite) of those laws. Finding Nouf is one of the best novels I've ever read, and it's one of the best summer reads I've had in a LONG time. Major kudos to Zoe Ferraris, and I look forward to reading her future books.

Great Read
Finding Nouf is one of those books that I am thinking about weeks after I've read it which speaks tons for a book as far as I'm concerned. Reading a book such as Finding Nouf is a great way to learn history and culture and this one did it for me. And, without badmouthing Saudi, well, I guess I am; but being joined at the hip with a country socially mired in the Middle Ages in light of our own culture and dependence on them for oil is disheartening to me. The author appears to be more kind to the Saudi culture than I would have been, i. e., I just read where the religious police now are confiscating people's pets as this might force men and women to acknowledge each's presence. Please! All that aside, I found this book delightful. A page turner that taught me a great deal. It sounds a little snobbish but when this book appeared on the San Francisco best sellers list, it confirmed my belief that when I read the books on the list, I an not disappointed.

I would be less than candid if I failed to admit that the scalding review on this site actually encouraged me to read the book. My experience on Amazon is that the readers are never as personal as this reviewer appears to be. I had to think, "what is this reviewers agenda?"

Since I always order more than one copy of a book, one went to my adult daughter. A voracious reader, she thought it was simply grand and kept calling me trying to entice an answer of "who was the killer?" Now, this is what a book is suppose to do. I've learned history, confirmed my prejudices about how backward Saudi is, shake my head that we have invaded probably the most secular country in the Mid East and all of this insight because of a really super book. I love this book and cannot recommend it enough.