arabvoices

AUTHORS

Mirna El Mahdy

Mirna El Mahdy is a dynamic bilingual translator and a leading pioneer of the contemporary Egyptian police procedural and psychological thriller. She is best known for her highly popular Noah Al-Alfi Investigations series (including The Cat’s Tail Case and The Fox Grape Case), which features a detective gifted with supernatural insight. Her literary versatility was formally recognized when her dark, satirical work My Grandmother’s Guide to Killing Scumbags was longlisted for the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel (2024). Blending fast-paced suspense with sharp social commentary, El Mahdy breathes vital new life into the Arabic crime genre.

My Grandmother’s Guide to Killing Scoundrels

A dark comedy and crime thriller where the narrator discovers his grandmother is a vigilante who murders abusive men (“scoundrels”). The novel uses this provocative premise to tackle sensitive social issues like sexual harassment, domestic abuse, and toxic masculinity in Egyptian society. The novel’s immense popularity and its use of a high-concept, genre-bending plot to address serious social commentary showcases a major shift in popular Arabic fiction. It demonstrates an appetite for narratives that are both entertaining and socially engaged, using the accessible framework of a thriller to open dialogue on taboo subjects.

FEATURED BOOKS

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Years of Freckles

Cosmetic Surgery

Kush Ko

Asha: The Scarab and the Moon

Without a Last Chapter

The Lady’s Tavern

Various Ways to Kill Ants