Tears of Pearl is Book 4 of the Lady Emily Ashton series, although at the start of this one, she is now Lady Emily Hargreaves. It wasn't vital to the story, but I was sorely disappointed at the lack of a wedding between Emily and Colin. They were engaged at the end of Book 3, and married by the start of Book 4.
What's vital to the story is their honeymoon to, what was then Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, and is now Istanbul in Turkey, due to Emily's love of history. A harem girl is murdered while the newlyweds are enjoying a night at the theater, and a rather complex story involving multiple murders, bribery, eunuchs, crazy sultans, lost siblings, and good old fashioned, if slightly unconventional detective work, arises.
Prior to reading this book, I actually read through the reviews on amazon and it was by far the least liked book out of an otherwise popular series. I opine this is due to the general readers unfamiliarity with Turkish culture, landmarks, and history. I enjoyed this book primarily because of its unusual setting. I spent two months in Turkey a few years back and therefore was familiar with most, if not all, of the bazaars, hamams, palaces, and mosques mentioned in the book. It's rare to find novels set in Turkey, especially written by American authors, especially more in the middle of series about the upper class of 19th century England. Well done Tasha Alexander.
The downside of this, however, is the smallish group of possible who-dunits. I didn't find myself voraciously reading this book to find out the killer the way I did the last one. Three people are murdered in the harem, and since harems are restricted access only, it narrowed the list of possible murderers to a tiny handful of people. Regardless, I also received Book 5 for Christmas, so I can't wait to dive into that one.
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