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Bringing 1950s Morocco vividly to life, Jane Johnson's masterful new novel, The Black Crescent, is a gripping story of murder, magic and divided loyalties...Hamou Badi is born in a mountain village with the magical signs of the zouhry on his hands. In Morocco, the zouhry is a figure of legend, a child of both humans and djinns, capable of finding all manner of treasure: lost objects, hidden water.But instead, Hamou finds a body.This unsolved murder instils in Hamou a deep desire for order and justice: he trains as an officer of the law, working for the French in Casablanca. But the city is trapped in the turmoil of the nationalist uprising, and soon he will be forced to choose between all he knows and all he loves...Praise for Jane Johnson'An irresistible story-teller' Barbara Erskine'Page-turning stuff' The Times'Jane Johnson writes with such grace' Carol Drinkwater'Beautifully written' Mail on Sunday'Johnson writes the sort of books you want to tell everyone about' Katie Fforde