The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Dead Djinn Universe) Kindle Edition

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 is a wonderful detective story with fantastic world building, strong writing and fascinating mythology. There is really nothing to not love about this novella and I already can’t wait for whatever is next in this series.The alternate-history version of Cairo is fascinating, and the depth and history given in such a small amount of pages is really amazing. On top of that, setting what starts out as a run of the mill haunting of a tram car to a background of women’s suffrage is so expertly done. I found myself caring for the outcome of the suffrage almost as much as seeing the case of the tram car through to conclusion. It’s such an easy story to get lost in.I could honestly read so many more stories in this series. I’m beyond excited to see what P. Djèlí Clark does next. A very highly recommended novella and a very, very easy 5 stars.

I read this book as a recommendation from Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine (their reviews are usually spot on). I was NOT disappointed.One of the first things I look for in a novel that determines if I am going to continue reading it is the use of language. There is a rhythm to Clark’s language that pulls you in and you want to keep on reading.The plot is very fun.... a sort of Alt-History/Fantasy piece. The characters come alive through wonderful description and careful dialog. I just enjoyed reading this book.What I especially liked about this book was it came out in a Novella format. This means that the author is not just throwing words on paper to fill space. The story is long enough to introduce the players, set up the plot without other extraneous fluff and carry you along through the twists and turns of a well developed story. And set one up to read sequels which I see Clark has already written.I have already started on The Black Gods Drum and am very pleased at the difference in the language used.I have found my favorite new author.

Although this is my first visit to this Author’s strange Egypt, it was a most memorable one. Visions of a city transformed by magic set the surroundings for a visit to the most strange tram car. The inspectors work methodically and capably to a solution for what’s inside.I was most amazed by how much content and world building was contained within this size story. I can’t wait to visit the associated book. The author has quite a way with words.

I confess I enjoyed his other novellas, which I thought were outstanding, a little more than this one. But I still very much enjoyed this one, and definitely recommend it if you like his other tales set in magical Cairo. I’ll be interested to see if Hamed and Onsi wind up working another case with any of the women in this story.

I loved the combination of a classic story structure, almost like a British cosy, in a really interesting and compelling setting. It felt comfortable because I was familiar with the beats, but the world had my imagination going wild and I ended the story wanting more. Super clean writing that conveyed all it had to with no extraneous fluff, while still creating a living, complex world. I felt like I could turn down any corner on the street and find a new story that would be equally as compelling.

4.5 starsThis was a lovely little novella set in an alternate Cairo where Egypt was able to fend off colonializing Europe because someone accidentally opened a door to the magical realm of the djinn. Now the djinn hang out with humans as friends and power both somewhat sentient automatons and aerial tram cars in the "modern" city of Cairo.Enter Inspector Hamed and his new recruit and bibliophile assistant Onsi on the eve of Egypt's parliament deciding whether women can have the vote. Hamed is pleasingly bureaucratic and stuffy, despite being one of the "spooky boys", or police force devoted to magical issues.He's called into Ramses Street aerial tram station by a conductor because one of the tram cars is haunted. What ensues is a lovely little bit of sleuthing by Hamed and little jaunt through various kinds of magical beings I have little familiarity with (non-Western European, non-East Asian magical beings).There's also some fun politicking between Hamed and the train conductor as well as female characters basically saving the day (and one point where I almost stood up and cheered when women gathered to hear/protest about the vote managed to save the day instead).I will definitely be on the look out for ore P. Djeli Clark as this definitely was a tasty little mystery morsel flavored with Middle Eastern culture and sly humor.

P. Djèlí Clark is really good at building up a colourful, vivid world and interesting characters in very few pages. I loved the idea of the suffragettes in Egypt, as well as the method by which our MCs finally solved their haunting problem. :DI've read all 3 novellas by P. Djèlí Clark and can recommend them unreservedly. I hope the author more books in the planing, as I need more such books in my life.

The Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities is my very favorite government department now! Hamed and his mentee are wonderful characters, as are all the Cairenes. The author is a master at bringing this alternate Cairo to life. I’m looking forward to the next adventure there!

I was delighted to return to P. Djeli Clark’s alternative early 20th Century Cairo, a vibrant and powerful city after Egypt had expelled the British in the previous century with the help of native djinn. Two investigators with the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities are called to investigate a violent spirit that has taken up residence in one of the city’s aerial tramcars.This time, the vivid setting - a multiculural, largely Islamic melange - is set against a backdrop of the movement for women’s suffrage. As shown in A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Black God's Drums ( set in an alternate history New Orleans ) Clark has a wonderful eye for the alternative settings - the social and political, as well as the physical and technological - and the places feel alive and fully realised.P. Djeli Clark is one of a whole bunch of excellent writers I’ve had the pleasure of discovering in the last couple of years who are bringing fresh and hugely imaginative perspectives to speculative fiction. I am very much looking forward to reading more of his work, in this setting or whatever else he dreams up.

I'm loving this world, Mr Clark truly has something quite unique here.This book is the second offering in an alternate Cairo of 1912 series. This time out we join a new cast of characters from the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, and although I was hoping to revisit with Agent Fatma, from the first book, I quickly came to enjoy this new duo.The author was able to take a lot more time to linger in this story, lavish a little more detail and character into the goings-on and to expand upon his world, but managed not to force-feed us too much. Again, in this book as he did in its predecessor, the duo's sidekick steals a lot of the limelight by virtue of his character, he simply jumps off the page with depth, yes, even more intriguing than the main character. Which I personally very much enjoy, it gives the starring characters a far better dynamic as a team I think, as the main character doesn't dominate your thoughts when contemplating what may be over the next page.If I were to choose which book is best, Dead Djinn in Cairo or The Haunting of Tram Car 015, I would have to admit the former wins. But this isn't a competition, both books are fantastic reads. And I appreciate the fact that you could read each independently of the other. This all bodes well for the upcoming full length novel, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

I love this series. The underlying concept is a highly original interaction between djinns and Egyptians that propels 19th/20th century Cairo into the forefront of world civilisation. Against that backdrop, Djeli Clark produces well-structured police procedurals imbued with a wry wit and well-researched detail. An Islamic society is once more the exemplar it was in the high days of Córdoba and Baghdad. Progress has come, and along with it, new freedoms for men and women. The dark side is that along with this comes a new breed of supernatural criminal. Highly recommended.

This novella took me to Cairo!A great read, takes you right into P Djelli Clark’s alternate early 20th Century Cairo.You can almost smell Ramses Station travel interchange from the writing.If you like books like Gail Carriger’s Souless series, Ben Aaronovich’s modern day Rivers of London, you should give this series a go. A Dead Djinn in Cairo is the first novella featuring investigator Fatma, with an earlier short story The Angel of Khan el Khallili set in the same alternate Cairo in Clockwork Cairo collection of stories.If you haven’t read any of these yet, you’re in for a treat. As they would say in Cairo ‘mabrouk!’

Along with A Dead Djinn in Cairo, Clark has created an utterly brilliant world which is pure joy to read. I can't recommend this book enough, and yet don't want to spoil it, so it's fresh to people who know little or nothing about it.Clark is a master of his craft and look forward to more of his work in the future - I hope they're longer though!