City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris

It is rare that a follow-up book is better than the first, but as much as I really enjoyed Ferraris’ first Saudi Arabia mystery, Finding Nouf, the second one is even better. The main characters are Nayir, a devout Muslim desert guide, and Katya, a forensic analyst caught in the dilemma that is Saudi’s policing system - there is strong disapproval of women who have jobs; men are not allowed to interview female suspects or touch female corpses; there must, therefore, be female police officers and analysts, but women shouldn’t have jobs… You get the picture.
In City of Veils, a young woman’s body has been discovered and Katya would like to be part of the team that solves the murder. She is lucky to have an ally in a convention-breaking senior detective, Osama, who allows her to participate in the investigation. As they go about solving the girl’s murder, Nayir is drawn into helping Katya again and their uneasy connection is tested and made stronger.
I was surprised, in both books, at Ferraris’ ability to allow me to relate to characters whose lives would seem to be so very different from my own. I was on the edge of my seat from the story, while at the same time thinking about the lives of men and women in Saudi Arabia in a way I hadn’t before.

Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris

At its base, Finding Nouf is a murder mystery. A young girl has run away from home and her wealthy family calls in a friend to help look for her. The family friend becomes intrigued by the girl and begins to track down the details of her life. If that was all there was to this novel, I would still recommend it. I liked the twisting (but not falsely complicated) nature of the story. I liked the main characters, their flaws, their interesting lives.
But, there's more to the story - it is set in a coastal city in contemporary Saudi Arabia. Nouf lead the life of a very sheltered, rich Muslim girl. She runs away from home shortly before her wedding to a man who has never seen her face. Nayir, the family friend, is a devout Muslim who faints at the sight of too much female flesh exposed. The forensic investigation is carried out by a woman with a PhD  who has shamed her family by wanting to work.
All the little details add a fascinating other level to Finding Nouf. One of the strengths of this book is that they give insight into what life would be like for the characters, but never feel like they've been brought up to say, "look how strange they are, look how different they are from us." Instead, I found myself understanding a little better why a woman might choose to wear a headscarf.