From Arséne Lupin to Nick Carter, well-known characters of a number crime novels have had adventures in Turkey. The detective created by Agatha Christie, a popular mystery writer known as the ‘Queen of Crime,’ Poirot, spends a few days in Istanbul in the novel the ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ one of the writer’s timeless works, which was also filmed many times.
Turkey has been the setting of a number of a number of episodes in detective fiction since the early 20th century. From Arséne Lupin to James Bond and Nick Carter, world-famous fictional characters have long had adventures in Turkey.
According to Oğuz Eren, who discussed some selected works of detective fiction in book review Virgül, Turkey was the setting for a number of crime novels and novellas during two periods in particular. The first is the period during which the settings in classical crime fiction tended to be exotic cities and countries. The second is the Cold War period, during which Turkey was both a neighbor of the Soviet Union, represented as the biggest enemy in classic spy novels, and an ally of the West. Thus, Turkey was the stage for clashes between British or American spies and their Russian counterparts in spy novels written during the Cold War era.
Below are some examples of world-famous crime novels in which Turkey is the setting:
“Les Confidences d'Arséne Lupin” (The Confessions of Arséne Lupin): The original title of a short adventure of Arséne Lupin in a small mansion in Istanbul. Written by French author Maurice Leblanc and published in 1913, the book was introduced to Turkish readers after being translated into Turkish under the name “Arséne Lupin Istanbul'da” (Arséne Lupin in Istanbul).
“Charlie the Detective”: Charlie Chaplin also became the hero of a 16-volume crime parody series. Chaplin's adventures in Istanbul were published under the Turkish title “Şarlo Polis Hafiyesi: Gülünçlü Sergüzeştleri” (Chaplin the Detective and his Adventures) in 1924. These adventures were translated into Turkish by Bedia Servet -- a pseudonym used by well-known Turkish novelist Peyami Safa. In the volume titled “Chaplin in Istanbul,” Chaplin's fiancee comes to Turkey upon the death of her aunt, who used to live in Istanbul. The book includes parts in which Chaplin first feels a bit afraid of the Turks but then comes to understand he has quite mistaken feelings about them. In the same volume he also expresses his admiration for the ancient city of Istanbul.
“Murder on the Orient Express”: The most popular work of Agatha Christie, the famous English crime writer known as the “Queen of Crime.” In the book, Hercule Poirot, Christie's famous detective, is returning from an important case in Syria and boards the Orient Express in Istanbul. He spends a few nights at the Tokatlıyan Hotel in Pera (Beyoğlu).
“From Russia With Love”: The “father” of James Bond, Ian Fleming, visited Turkey in 1955 to attend an international conference for the Sunday Times. He witnessed the eruption of the events of September 6-7, during which the properties of some non-Muslim inhabitants of Istanbul were looted. After his return to England, he wrote a crime novel, in which the setting was Istanbul and the Turkish police were negatively represented.
“Istanbul-Manning Lee Stokes”: Another fictional figure, Nick Carter, who first appeared in magazines in 1886 and is even older than Sherlock Holmes, comes to Turkey to carry out his mission of killing four men in the adventure that was titled “Istanbul-Manning Lee Stokes,” published in 1965.
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax: Mrs. Emily Pollifax, the heroine of a series of comic spy-mystery novels by Dorothy Gilman, comes to Turkey as she was traveling from country to country in the name of CIA in one volume of the series. In the volume published in 1970, Mr. Carstairs, the CIA superior of Mrs. Pollifax, gives her an assignment in Istanbul. Her mission is to bring Russian spy Magda Frenci-Sabo to the United States of America. In the book, Mrs. Pollifax also pays a visit to Central Anatolian province of Yozgat before she leaves Turkey. The book also contains two wit and droll trickeries by Nasreddin Hodja, Turkeys best-known trickster.
From:Anatolia News Agency
