A series of gruesome murders shakes the city of Casablanca. The killer knows exactly how the police will pursue him and how to obliterate evidence that could lead them to identify his victims. Fear spreads throughout the city as rumors abound that a serial killer is on the loose. Detective Hanash, despite his reputation, has hit a dead end. But he knows the killer will make a mistake, and it is up to him and his team to hunt down and capture this brutal criminal. Then comes the most audacious homicide: the victim is found on the first day of the Eid holiday, directly outside the police headquarters in the center of town. Is the killer taunting the police and its famous detective? And could this be the crime that contains the clue that Hanash has been waiting for?

Praise for Abdelilah Hamdouchi:


“A winner"—M. Lynx Qualey, The National


“This is a pithy, moving and crisply written crime novel featuring Detective Hanash.”—Peter Kalu, Banipal


"Abdelilah Hamdouchi seems to have found the formula for the emergence of the Moroccan detective novel."—Libération Kaleidoscope


"Hamdouchi is an artful storyteller"—Tank Magazine


“A great introduction to Moroccan "policiers"—Paul French, Literary Hub


"Detailed and strikingly alive"—Omotola Otubela, Wawa Book Review



Praise for The Butcher of Casablanca:


“A world rarely presented in crime fiction” —Kirkus Reviews


"The Butcher of Casablanca is entertaining, at times very funny but it always has that thread of social critique about it that pulls the reader up, we are laughing at dark things sometimes”—NB Magazine

Abdelilah Hamdouchi, born in Meknès, Morocco, in 1958, was one of the first writers of police fiction in the Arabic language. Three of his police novels, which touch on democratic and human rights reform, Bled Dry, Whitefly, and The Final Bet, have been translated into English and are available from AUC Press. Hamdouchi is also an award-winning screenwriter with many film and television scripts to his credit. He lives in Rabat, Morocco. Peter Daniel, a longterm resident of Egypt, has worked as teacher of Arabic as a foreign language and an Arabic to English translator for many years.