Here is a presentation of the author by his publisher :

Born in 1964 in Abidjan to a Mauritanian Muslim father and a French atheist, Marxist mother, KARIM MISKÉ moved to Paris as a young boy before leaving to study journalism in Dakar. He now lives in France, and makes documentary films on a wide range of subjects including the common roots between Judaism and Islam. He runs a Senegalese restaurant in Paris’ 11th arrondissement and has started writing TV scripts. In Arab Jazz, his debut novel, Karim Miské demonstrates a sharp eye for character and an evocative sense of place, moving seamlessly between the sensual streets of Paris and the synagogues of New York to reveal the truth behind a horrifying crime. Set in the 19th arrondissement, a cosmopolitan district where multicultural citizens live, love and worship alongside one another, Arab Jazz is not only a nail-biting thriller but also a visceral denunciation of religious fundamentalism.