Joseph Braude (web­site | Twit­ter | Face­book) has a new book called“The Hon­ored Dead: A Story of Friend­ship, Mur­der, and the Search for Truth in the Arab World” (book review). It is a smart, nonfiction book written in lyri­cal prose and engag­ing story. Mr. Braude was kind enough to answer a few questions about “The Honored Dead”, publicity and Middle East culture. Q. How did you come up with the idea for this book? A. It started in my head, evolved in my gut, and finally came full circle. I embedded with the Casablanca police for a street-level view of the tension between an Arab security service and the society it controls (or tries to). You can see the tension I mean on TV every night, with cops and demonstrators clashing in nearly every Arab capital. But I stumbled on one particular homicide that I couldn’t stop thinking about: there were Muslims and Jews involved, rich people and poor people, and a murder victim who was an enigma to everyone who knew him. The victim’s best friend couldn’t sleep until he learned the secret behind the crime, and his suffering moved me. So I became as much a private investigator…