Matthew Beynon Rees is a Welsh novelist and journalist. He is the author of The Palestine Quartet, a series of crime novels about Omar Yussef, a Palestinian sleuth, and of historical novels and thrillers. He is the winner of a
Crime Writers Association
The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...
Dagger for his crime fiction in the UK and a finalist for the
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Free Press), about Israeli and Palestinian societies.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called ''The Collaborator of Bethlehem'', the first of his Palestinian crime novels about Bethlehem sleuth Omar Yussef, "an astonishing first novel."
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
'' called the book "a masterpiece." Rees's writing has been compared with the work of
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
,
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
,
Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Early life and education ...
and
Henning Mankell
Henning Georg Mankell (; 3February 19485October 2015) was a Swedish crime writer, children's author, and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most noted creation, Inspector Kurt Wallander. He also wrote a number of ...
. The French magazine
L'Express
''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''.
History ...
called him "the
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...
of Palestine." Rees's books have sold in 25 languages.
Rees was born in Newport, Wales. As a journalist, Rees covered the Middle East and lived in Jerusalem for 20 years. He was ''TIME'''s Jerusalem bureau chief from 2000 until 2006, writing award-winning stories about the Palestinian intifada. He also worked as Middle East correspondent for ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'' and ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
''. He is married to the American humorist and author Devorah Blachor.
Books
Rees published a nonfiction account of Israeli and Palestinian society called ''Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East'' in 2004 (Free Press). His first crime novel, ''The Collaborator of Bethlehem'' (UK title ''The Bethlehem Murders''), was published in the US in February 2007 and is set in
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
, West Bank, against the backdrop of the Palestinian intifada. It involves the gangs of gunmen operating in the town and the situation of the Christian Palestinian minority. It won the Crime Writers Association John Creasey New Blood Dagger in 2008, was also named one of the Top 10 Mysteries of the Year by Booklist, and in the UK Sir
David Hare David Hare may refer to:
*David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist
*David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer
*David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...
made it his Book of the Year in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. His sleuth Omar Yussef was called "
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashiel ...
fed on hummus" by one reviewer and "
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
meets
Miss Marple
Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Chr ...
" by another.
The second book in the series, ''A Grave in Gaza'', appeared in 2008 (under the title ''The Saladin Murders'' in the UK). Omar Yussef travels to Gaza, where he struggles against corrupt security chiefs who are smuggling weapons. The Bookseller called it "a cracking, atmospheric read." The third book in the series, ''The Samaritan's Secret'', was published in 2009. Set in
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
, it takes place against the backdrop of the city's ancient
casbah
A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territo ...
and the small community of
Samaritans
Samaritans (; ; he, שומרונים, translit=Šōmrōnīm, lit=; ar, السامريون, translit=as-Sāmiriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group who originate from the ancient Israelites. They are native to the Levant and adhere to Samarit ...
still living on a hilltop overlooking the West Bank town. ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'' called it "a wonderful detective thriller." Rees's fourth novel, ''The Fourth Assassin'', appeared in 2010 and showed Omar Yussef to be "one of the most beguiling of current sleuths", according to ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
''. Omar goes to New York for a UN conference and uncovers an assassination plot.
''The Palestine Quartet'' novels approach the Middle East conflict from an often unexpected direction. There are almost no Israeli characters, and the novels maintain a focus on Palestinian society, good and bad. Rees has written that this perspective was dictated by his discontent with news reporting of the conflict, which focused on stereotypes of Palestinians as either terrorists or victims. Instead, Rees writes, the diversity of Palestinian society awakened him creatively and made him look at the Middle East from a different angle. For example, Gaza "is the most beautiful spot imaginable", he has said.
''Mozart's Last Aria'', published in 2011, is a historical crime novel set in Vienna in 1791.
Nannerl Mozart
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart (30 July 1751 – 29 October 1829), called "Marianne" and nicknamed Nannerl, was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and daughter of Leopold Mozart, Leopold (1719–1787) and ...
, the great composer's sister, comes to the Imperial capital to investigate Wolfgang's death. She uncovers a plot involving illegal
Masonic
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...
meetings, espionage, and a secret hidden in her brother's last great opera ''
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...
''. The book is based on real historical research into Mozart's last days. ''A Name in Blood'' follows the mysterious disappearance and death of the Italian artist
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...
. Like ''Mozart's Last Aria'', ''A Name in Blood'' takes a real historical mystery and new historical research to create a fictional account of what might have happened. The Bookbag recommended ''A Name in Blood'' "even if you're art-averse." Rees learned to play piano as part of his research for ''Mozart's Last Aria.'' Working on ''A Name in Blood'', he learned to paint with oils and to duel using a seventeenth-century rapier.
''The Ambassador'', published in 2015, was co-written by Rees and
Yehuda Avner
Yehuda Avner ( he, יהודה אבנר; December 30, 1928 – March 24, 2015) was an Israeli prime ministerial advisor, diplomat, and author. He served as Speechwriter and Secretary to Israeli Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol, and as Advi ...
, a former adviser to Israeli prime ministers. The book's premise was that Israel was founded in 1938 and the main character is the new state's ambassador to Hitler's Berlin. During the writing of the book, Avner was dying of cancer. Rees has described how the experience of writing a thriller with a man suffering a terminal illness was fulfilling for him and Avner. The book was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction.
Publishing history
Nonfiction
* ''Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East'' 2004 (Free Press).