The Hand of Fatima. - Ildefonso Falcones
The only thing that stopped this from being 5 stars for me was that it was overlong, and at times I wanted to just scan through the detail and get to the action, so to speak. However as a Muslim and a history buff I was aware of the Moors in Spain to a small degree, and this was therefore very educational and engaging.
I also have a connection to Algiers and it was interesting to read about the Barbary pirates, the Corsairs , and what was going on there at this time in history.
Overall I didn't feel I'd wasted my time ...