It was supposed to be a German-Turkish co-production. But filming comes to a halt when the director is found murdered in his suite at the Bosporus Hotel. What has this got to do with the German bookshop owner Kati Hirschel? First of all, the main suspect, actress Petra Vogel, is her friend. Second, she runs a bookshop for crime thrillers in Istanbul and sees the murder as a chance, at last, to try out her detective skills in real life. And third: Kati Hirschel is a curious person. She is completely integrated into life in Istanbul. She catches up with friends on a regular basis, for a chat over coffee with copywriter Yilmaz or for a manicure with the editor Lale. She speaks Turkish fluently and, with intelligent charm and oriental cunning, has men wrapped around her fingers. Who could be in a better position to solve the murder? ›Hotel Bosporus‹ is a novel in which German and Turkish prejudices vehemently collide, only to be swept from the table with effortless humour; a novel about international crime, but also about friendship beyond borders.

Two men are making life difficult for Ece. The first is her father. Since losing his arm in a work accident, he believes he has a right to be malicious and to tyrannise the members of his family whenever the whim takes him. The second is Tamer. Ece is in love with him – but he is married and, for many years now, has refused to leave his wife and children. Finally, the young woman departs her beloved home town of Istanbul to seek her fortune in London. But life as an émigré is not what she had imagined. There is no real integration to speak of; rather, the Turks live in a parallel universe in which they hardly ever come in contact with England itself – and when they do, it is always negative. While cleaning dishes in a cheap barbecue restaurant, Ece is suddenly awash with memories. Images of her grandfather, himself an emigrant; as an Armenian silversmith in Istanbul, he too had been forced to start from scratch. But in the process, he met the love of his life – Ece's grandmother.

Kati Hirschel interferes for the third time. What she interferes with is, of course, none of her business whatsoever. Kebab is no longer hip, as Kati has discovered the advantages of a healthy diet. She hopes that this will help her avoid botox injections and other artificial beautification procedures. She has recently taken to having lunch, together with her fellow employee and friend Fofo, in a small eatery near her bookstore specialising in crime fiction. Every day, a beautiful woman sits alone in front of her salad, diagonally opposite her. When the news is all over the press that the daughter-in-law of an industrialist, Cem Ankarahgil, has died, Kati immediately recognises the stranger from the restaurant in the photo. This arouses her curiosity. Although the police believe it was an accident, Kati suspects something more sinister has happened.

Kati is fed up. Her rent has been put up again. And although her apartment is in a lively area of Istanbul, the neighbourhood is definitely run-down. And she is fed up with her boyfriend, Selim, as well – he actually expects her to behave like the future wife of a lawyer and politely engage in small talk. To move in with Selim is thus out of the question. She would prefer to find out how to bribe the authorities in order to come by a flat of her own. At first, it all goes like clockwork: an official offers her a six-room apartment overlooking the old town and the Bosporus at an unbelievably cheap rent. The fact that the flat is in need of some renovation is of no concern to Kati – she learned in Berlin how to spruce up an apartment. In the event, however, bribery and a spot of renovation are not the end of the story. Shortly after her visit, a man is murdered inside this dream apartment – a parking-lot manager with a dubious reputation. A nuisance for the future owner of the apartment – not least because she herself is one of the suspects – but a challenge for that shrewd owner of a crime novel bookshop, Kati Hirschel.