After meeting the author and listening to her talk about her book, the history of Iran and what it was like as a Jew in Iran, I was intrigued and bought the book. I found it engaging and educational with just the right amount of magic and mystery for my taste. There are many stories within stories and the way they weave over and under each other was enjoyable for me to read. I also found it incredibly sad even though there are what should be hopeful and uplifting messages. Still, I was left feeling sad. Partly for what happens to the characters and even more because I will miss reading their stories now that I finished the book.

Found myself slightly hanging at the end; I really didn't feel that things were resolved, in many ways. But it was pretty amusing for the most part, though a little tragic really.

Really more of a 3.5 star review. Nahai writes about the Persian Jewish community from an insider's perspective. In addition to the details about Persian-Jewish life and culture, the authentic L.A. details add snap and pizzazz to a story about a no-good evil man whose apparent murder is rejoiced upon by many and seemingly deserved. There's a lovely magical realism, too, and it not only works in historical flashbacks, but contrasts nicely with the contemporary settings.

Nahai's take is a little more cynical than I'd like, and it rubs me wrong that she bashes nearly every character who exhibits religiosity as a hypocrite. She tears apart the characters so hard that it's difficult to like any of them or to keep reading, at times. And the ending is a bit unclear. Has our Iranian-American detective really solved the case? I would have liked a bit more attention to the details of the investigation. And do we really need the fake blog post at the end? (It doesn't sound like a blog post, is part of my problem, and it's very meandering in structure.)