How do you solve a murder in the middle of a war zone?

In 2014, when Ammar Bseiso's dead body is found, his death is written off as one of the two thousand or so casualties of war that year in Gaza. However, Zahra, his wife, is convinced that he was murdered by a fellow Palestinian and not an Israeli airstrike. Zahra spends two years looking for a detective who will agree to take on her case as her family and friends dismiss her suspicions.

When Detective Nouman El Taweel agrees to investigate the crime, Zahra begins to regret it almost immediately as the policeman uncovers the truth behind the murder, along with a network of deception, lies and corruption. A Death in the Old City is a simultaneously warm and deeply poignant mystery novel about love, betrayal and class, set in Gaza.