Jason Goodwin has unleashed his talent on a series of mysteries set in nineteenth-century istanbul and starring the unlikeliest and most engaging of detectives: yashim the eunuch." Is the first in the series, and the yea...Jason Goodwin has unleashed his talent on a series of mysteries set in nineteenth-century istanbul and starring the unlikeliest and most engaging of detectives: yashim the eunuch." Is the first in the series, and the year is 1836. Europe is modernizing, and the sultan of the ottoman empire feels he has no choice but to follow suit.