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