Faber are about to release the first Yashim story, The Janissary Tree, as an audiobook – which makes this quite a Summer along with the paperback edition of The Snake Stone and The Bellini Card itself.

Today I got the discs – a sneak preview.

The reader is Andrew Sachs, and he is brilliant. His voice is precise, quiet, companionable. He carries the book, delivering drama in surges – and for speech he does more than create accents. He makes characters.

I’m fascinated by the way he can suggest a woman’s voice, while using his own.

And now, for the first time, Yashim speaks!