It was supposed to be a great adventure. But for the two young women, born in the Netherlands of African parents, and considered Dutch, their badly planned trip to Morocco, home of their forefathers, begins with some expensive minor bother with a rented car. It ends in a ghastly tragedy, which leaves at least one of the girls questioning her humanity.

The gifted Dutch writer Tommy Wieringa is a bold, intelligent stylist, unafraid of exposing the ugliness of society juxtaposed with the vagaries of human nature. In this taut, intense contemporary thriller of multiple exploitations, he initially appears to be studying the dynamics of a young female friendship set against the broader theme of cultural assimilation.

Tough, sexually confident – and liberated – Thouraya, a beautician, considers herself to be an independent European woman. She is streetwise, sort of. Her sidekick, Ilham, is a good deal more tentative; she worries about her body shape and fears that although living in Holland, she will still end up as a traditional Moroccan wife. Either way, these girls each have two passports: “They were the children of two kingdoms, they carried the green passport of the Royaume du Maroc and the red-lead one of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but in both countries they were, above all, foreigners.”

Soon after their arrival in Morocco, besieged by flies, filth and poverty, they discover, even as tourists, the difficulty of ordinary existence for unaccompanied women. They are overcharged at the garage for poor-quality repairs and are annoyed. Then help appears to be at hand in Saleh, a wheeler-dealer with a jail record back in Holland. But he knows how to navigate life between Africa and Europe.

The full mercilessness of the migrant dilemma is confronted here to devastating effect

A saviour, they think, particularly as Thouraya’s Moroccan-based carpet dealer uncle resents giving the girls money and they need help to get home. “He was a dripping faucet that refused to open all the way; they didn’t dare ask for more.” Saleh takes charge of the girls. He has a plan; and, he claims, it always works.

Within a few minutes of Saleh bringing the girls to a shabby neighbourhood where they visit a poor family and are served refreshments, the proposal is outlined while a child, oblivious to the discussion, watches a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The old woman of the house, who probably isn’t that old, begs the girls to take her 19-year-old son Murat back with them. He had previously worked in France but had been deported. In Morocco there is nothing for him. The girls are horrified as it dawns on them that slick, fixer Saleh, with the winning smile, is a con man trafficking in migrants desperate to get to Europe.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘They discover, even as tourists, the difficulty of ordinary existence for unaccompanied women.’ Photograph: Getty Images/Luxy

Brilliantly well paced and edgy, the book is translated with characteristic astuteness by Sam Garrett, the narrative interspersed with sharp dialogue – mainly exchanges between the two girls – which always convinces as a shorthand between old friends. The story unfolds like a movie with the pair bending under pressure; the worldly Thouraya is the first to break. Once she realises that this is a business transaction, not a favour, she agrees. It is a two-hour crossing back to Europe by ferry, docking at a Spanish port. Two hours in the boot of their car. Nothing can go wrong, says Saleh. Ilham continues to object, while Saleh counters nastily, until, finally, “Ilham gave in”.

This heartstopping novella is a darker variation of Wieringa’s equally superb novel These Are the Names (2012), also translated by Garrett, and again about migrants. But the full mercilessness of the migrant dilemma is confronted here to devastating effect. A mid-sequence shift to the continuous present tense sustains the tension. “The ship’s deep heartbeat slows.” It proves ominous. Murat’s agony is revealed. Saleh immediately abandons the girls.

From this point the writing acquires a surreal intensity. Wieringa continues to explore the essential differences between the two girls. They bicker and panic. All the while, Murat remains a deathly presence as the rented car races across the arid Spanish landscape, in the heat, while the odour of decay intensifies. The powerful language proves equal to the story’s chilling moral profundity and all involved appear that bit smaller and meaner.

• Eileen Battersby, author and former chief literary critic of the Irish Times, died on 23 December, aged 60, following a car crash in County Meath the previous day. Richard Ford, Michael Ondaatje and Edmund White are among the writers who have paid tribute to the hugely influential critic, a four-time winner of the National Arts Journalist of the Year award.

• The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa is published by Scribe (£12.99). To order a copy for £11.43 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99