Parker Bilal is the pen name of the British-Sudanese author Jamal Mahjoub. Under this name he writes crime fiction: the six-book Makana series set in Cairo, and the Crane and Drake series set in London. Below you will find all books by Parker Bilal in order and who the man behind the pseudonym is. We also show where a cozy mystery reader should start.
Who Is Parker Bilal? The Novelist Behind the Pseudonym
Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, a critically acclaimed literary novelist. He was born in London in 1960, to an English mother and a Sudanese father. He grew up in Khartoum, where his family lived until 1990. Since then he has lived in the UK, Denmark and Spain, including Barcelona. Today he lives in the Netherlands.
Under his own name, Jamal Mahjoub has published critically acclaimed literary novels about Sudan, Africa, Europe, identity and origin. His work has been translated into six languages: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch and Turkish. In 2012 he began to write crime fiction under a second name, and Parker Bilal was born. So the relationship is simple: Parker Bilal and Jamal Mahjoub are the same writer, and the pen name marks the crime novels.
Books by Parker Bilal in Order: Both Crime Series
Parker Bilal has published two crime series so far. There are no standalone crime novels under this name. Read each series in publication order, because the characters and their past carry over from book to book.
The Makana Mysteries (Cairo)
The first series follows Makana, a former police inspector from Sudan who now works as a private detective in Cairo, Egypt. The six books were published by Bloomsbury.
- The Golden Scales (2012)
- Dogstar Rising (2013)
- The Ghost Runner (2014)
- The Burning Gates (2015)
- City of Jackals (2016)
- Dark Water (2017)
See our Makana Mysteries series guide for more on each book.
The Crane and Drake Series (London)
The second crime series is set in London and published by Canongate. Detective Sergeant Calil Drake works with Dr Rayhana Crane, a forensic psychologist. The first case starts with two bodies on a building site in Battersea.
- The Divinities (2019)
- The Heights (2020)
- The Trenches (2022)
Literary Novels Published as Jamal Mahjoub
If you want to read the literary novelist, these are the books published under his own name:
- Navigation of a Rainmaker (1989)
- Wings of Dust (1994)
- In the Hour of Signs (1996)
- The Carrier (1998)
- Travelling with Djinns (2003)
- The Drift Latitudes (2006)
- Nubian Indigo (2006)
- A Line in the River: Khartoum, City of Memory (2018, non-fiction)
- The Fugitives (2021)
The Makana Series: A Sudanese Detective Set in Cairo
Makana was a police inspector in Khartoum. He lost his wife and daughter when their car went into a river, and he fled Sudan after the government was overthrown. In Cairo he lives on a rickety houseboat on the Nile and takes whatever work he can get as a private investigator. As an African migrant he is easy to overlook, and he uses that. In a city where nobody trusts the police, people with a problem hire an outsider.
The six books are set between 1998 and 2006, in Mubarak-era Cairo. Corruption, politics and the refugee experience run through every book. In The Golden Scales, the powerful Saad Hanafi hires Makana to find the star player of his football team, who has vanished. The Ghost Runner takes the Sudanese detective Makana out of the city to the Siwa Oasis, where a string of murders begins.
Let us be honest with cozy readers: this is not a cozy mystery. The Makana books are noir-leaning private detective novels. There is violence on the page, and the police are often part of the problem. What they offer is a detective from the Muslim world, created by an author who grew up in Khartoum. That is why he has a place on this site.
Parker Bilal Awards: The Ghost Runner and Critical Acclaim
The Ghost Runner, the third Makana book, was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. In French translation, The Golden Scales was a finalist for the Prix du Polar Européen, a European crime fiction award, in 2015.
As Jamal Mahjoub he won a Guardian prize for short stories in 1993. In 2005 he was on the shortlist for the Caine Prize for African Writing. He also won the Mario Vargas Llosa prize in 2006.
Where to Start With Parker Bilal: The Golden Scales
As a cozy mystery reader, start with The Golden Scales. It introduces Makana, his houseboat and the Cairo he moves through, and every later book builds on it. If you prefer a police procedural with a thriller pace, begin with The Divinities instead.
Did you come here looking for mysteries with Muslim characters and settings? See our Muslim fiction authors page. There we collect cozy and crime writers in this category. For more authors, browse all cozy mystery authors on the site.
Frequently Asked Questions About Parker Bilal
Is Parker Bilal a real person?
Parker Bilal is a pen name. The author is Jamal Mahjoub, a British-Sudanese novelist born in London.
How many Makana books are there?
There are six books, from The Golden Scales (2012) to Dark Water (2017).
What are the most popular Parker Bilal books?
The Golden Scales is the usual starting point. The Ghost Runner was longlisted for the Theakston crime novel award.
Where can I find reviews and interviews with Parker Bilal?
The Los Angeles Review of Books has a long essay on the Makana series. Al Jazeera published an interview with Jamal Mahjoub in 2014. Reader reviews are on Goodreads.
Where can I find Parker Bilal’s full bibliography?
This page lists every book. Canongate, his current publisher, also has an author page.
Are the Makana books cozy mysteries?
No. They are darker private detective novels, but readers who like a strong sense of place often enjoy them.