Review: DEAD OF NIGHT, Michael Stanley

• this edition published by Orenda Books 2018
• ISBN 978-1-912374-25-0
• 310 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

When freelance journalist, Crystal Nguyen, heads to South Africa, she thinks she'll be researching an article on rhino-horn smuggling for National Geographic, while searching for her missing colleague. But within a week, she's been hunting poachers, hunted by their bosses, and then arrested in connection with a murder. And everyone is after a briefcase full of money that may hold the key to everything...

Fleeing South Africa, she goes undercover in Vietnam, trying to discover the truth before she's exposed by the local mafia. Discovering the plot behind the money is only half the battle. Now she must convince the South African authorities to take action before it's too late. She has a shocking story to tell, if she survives long enough to tell it...

Fast-paced, relevant and chilling, Dead of Night is a stunning new thriller that exposes one of the most vicious conflicts on the African continent...

My Take

Writing duo Michael Stanley have ventured into relatively uncharted waters with a stand alone novel grounded in their extensive knowledge of South Africa and its problems.

Rhino horn smuggling is rife in South Africa, with poachers killing an estimated 100 rhinos per month, bringing black rhino to the point of extinction. See more.

So the setting of this novel is very topical and the issues are well described.

Freelance journalist Crystal Nguyen is a very impetuous young lady who gets away with amazingly daring deeds. I'm not sure  she will feature again in the novels of Michael Stanley (I personally favour more Kubu novels), but this one was very readable, and I feel I have more understanding now of what is going on.

My rating: 4.4 

I've also reviewed
5.0, A CARRION DEATH
4.8, THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU
5.0, DEATH OF THE MANTIS
5.0, DEADLY HARVEST
4.5, DETECTIVE KUBU INVESTIGATES: a collection of short stories
4.7, A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Review: DYING TO LIVE, Michael Stanley

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 794 KB
• Print Length: 300 pages
• Publisher: ORENDA BOOKS (May 2, 2017)
• Publication Date: May 2, 2017
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B06ZYLGV42
• #6 in the Inspector Kubu series

Synopsis (Amazon)

When the body of a Bushman is discovered near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the death is written off as an accident. But all is not as it seems. An autopsy reveals that, although he's clearly very old, his internal organs are puzzlingly young. What's more, an old bullet is lodged in one of his muscles ... but where is the entry wound? When the body is stolen from the morgue and a local witch doctor is reported missing, Detective 'Kubu' Bengu gets involved. But did the witch doctor take the body to use as part of a ritual? Or was it the American anthropologist who'd befriended the old Bushman?

As Kubu and his brilliant young colleague, Detective Samantha Khama, follow the twisting trail through a confusion of rhino-horn smugglers, foreign gangsters and drugs manufacturers, the wider and more dangerous the case seems to grow. A fresh, new slice of 'Sunshine Noir', Dying to Live is a classic tale of greed, corruption and ruthless thuggery, set in one of the world's most beautiful landscapes, and featuring one of crime fiction's most endearing and humane detectives.

My take

As you can see from the list below, I have followed the development of thise series from the very beginning, and enjoyed Kubu's growth as a detective.

As the average life span in the Western world increases, and our financial advisers carefully measure our pension plans against our life expectancy, it is interesting to note that there are some ethnic groups such as the Bushmen of the Kalahari where lifestyle and bush medicines ensure longevity. The body of the Bushman found in the Kalahari Game Reserve presents a puzzle: an unmistakeably old body containing surprisingly youthful looking organs. Nor has he, it seems, died of natural causes.

Kubu finds that there are others missing too, and investigation shows that perhaps all the cases are related.

If you are a follower of Precious Ramotswe you will have seen one side of the justice system in Botswana. It is interesting that in the Kubu novels the setting is also Botswana, and the two series often share locations. It is like having a coin with two different sides. However the Kubu novels are definitely not cozies, and yet both sets of novels refer to the current problems of this small African nation. And I enjoy both!

My rating: 4.6

I've also read
5.0, A CARRION DEATH
4.8, THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU
5.0, DEATH OF THE MANTIS
5.0, DEADLY HARVEST
4.5, DETECTIVE KUBU INVESTIGATES: a collection of short stories
4.7, A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Review: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, Michael Stanley

Synopsis (Amazon)

 There's no easy way to say this, Kubu. Your father's dead. I'm afraid he's been murdered.'

 Faced with the violent death of his own father, even Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu, Botswana CID's keenest mind, is baffled. Who would kill such a frail old man? The picture becomes even murkier with the apparent suicide of a government official. Are Chinese mine-owners involved? And what role does the US Embassy have to play?

 Set amidst the dark beauty of modern Botswana, A Death in the Family is a thrilling insight into a world ofriots, corruption and greed, as a complex series of murders presents the opera-loving, wine connoisseur detective with his most challenging case yet.

 When grief-stricken Kubu defies orders and sets out on the killers' trail, startling and chilling links emerge, spanning the globe and setting a sequence of shocking events in motion. Will Kubu catch the killers in time … and find justice for his father?

  My Take

I am a long-standing fan of this series. Published in 2015, this is #5.

His father Wilmon is a much loved member of Kubu's family and a kindly character who has featured in earlier titles. His murder comes as a great shock and it is hard to imagine why it has happened. Are the families of the police being targeted or is there a more local motive?

Kubu of course wants to be involved in the investigation and his boss has a hard job of keeping him out of it. Fortunately there are other matters that Kubu can be involved in. But his frustration at the assignment of his father's murder to a less experienced female detective is well depicted, especially as time passes and so little progress is made.

I enjoyed the way the various threads of this story were woven together with elements of Botswana politics and economics, particularly with Botswana struggling to find its place in the modern world.

The view presented of Botswana is different to the one with Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series which I also enjoy.  I was delighted to find references to that series in A DEATH IN THE FAMILY.

A delightful read.

  my rating: 4.7

Review: DETECTIVE KUBU INVESTIGATES, Michael Stanley

• format Kindle (Amazon)
  
• File Size: 323 KB
• Print Length: 78 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00BNWKS9M

Synopsis (Amazon)

"Kubu" Bengu is a detective in the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. A large man with big appetites - his nickname Kubu means hippo in the Setswana language. He is happily married and lives in the capital, Gaborone.

Twenty-first century Botswana is a country with real issues and real murders. In this collection of stories - one never previously published - Kubu investigates three mysterious deaths. A man is stabbed outside a bar. Is it just a jealous fight or is there something much more sinister behind it? A man suffers a gruesome death in a country town. Is it the result of witchcraft, or could there be another cause? A policeman is shot dead at close range in his own home. Is it the colleagues of a man he killed who was resisting arrest? And what of his wife's alibi?

In the last story of the collection, The Haunting, a very unusual detective in South Africa solves a strange disappearance and fraud in a most unconventional way.

Finally, author Michael Stanley interviews Detective Kubu himself in Gaborone until Kubu amusingly turns the tables!

This entertaining collection of Kubu's shorter adventures is not to be missed by his many fans. And if you haven't met Kubu yet, then a treat is in store for you.

Michael Stanley is the pen name of two South Africans - Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip - who write fiction together. Their novels - all featuring Detective Kubu - are A CARRION DEATH, THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU (A DEADY TRADE in the UK), DEATH OF THE MANTIS, and DEADLY HARVEST. The books have been shortlisted for a variety of awards, and DEATH OF THE MANTIS won the BARRY AWARD for best paperback original in 2012.

My Take

I enjoyed this collection of short stories. They involved Kubu to varying extents. For example in Death of a Policeman Kubu is home on sick leave, having developed pneumonia, and he basically solves the puzzle from his bed although he does sneak out to confront the wife.

In An Issue of Women and Money and also Neighbours he is called in only at end.

It is a nice collection of short stories, very readable, and informative about Kubu's character.

My rating: 4.5

I've already reviewed
5.0, A CARRION DEATH
5.0, DEATH OF THE MANTIS
5.0, DEADLY HARVEST
THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU 

Review: THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU, Michael Stanley

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 478 KB
• Print Length: 496 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (June 2, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002BD2V1U
• aka A DEADLY TRADE

Synopsis (author site)

Goodluck Tinubu, an ex-Zimbabwean who has taught in Botswana for many years, is viciously murdered in his tent at the Jackalberry bush camp, situated on an isolated peninsula in northern Botswana. Peter Sithole, allegedly a tourist from South Africa and a second guest at the camp, is found bludgeoned to death a few hours later. Detective “Kubu” Bengu is sent from Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, to assist the local Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in solving the crime.

Another guest at the camp – Ishmael Zondo - departed unexpectedly at dawn the morning after the murders. Now Zondo has completely disappeared, and the Zimbabwe police are unable – or unwilling – to trace him. Reports surface that he is wanted as a dissident in Zimbabwe. And, as a final enigma, matching fingerprint records reveal that Goodluck Tinubu was killed in the Rhodesian civil war thirty years earlier

Background (author site)

The first book in the series, A Carrion Death, was set in the deserts of Botswana, where the world’s richest diamond mines are located. The story dealt with greed, power, lust, and the conflict between modern views and traditional values.

The second book, The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu (USA) or A Deadly Trade (elsewhere), is set in the very north of Botswana, which contrasts vividly with the dry rest of the country. The Okavango delta, and the Chobe and Linyanti rivers, alive with hippos and crocodiles, push against the desert with lush vegetation and teeming wildlife. Huge numbers of elephants make this area their home, and herds of several hundred are common. The crystal-clear water and trees rich in fruit make these waterways a bird-lovers paradise. Hundreds of species of birds make their home here, from huge vultures to colorful parrots and lovebirds.

The area is also where four countries come together: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The rapidly declining situation in Zimbabwe, with its shattered dreams and human suffering, provides the subtext of the story. The countries surrounding Zimbabwe often find themselves caught between old loyalties from the struggles for freedom, and the embarrassment of having a neighbor like Zimbabwe as a member of the New Africa.

The story begins with the murder of a gentle teacher and a South African policeman.

My Take

This is #2 in the Kubu series and I read it to fill in a gap in my reading.
What I have enjoyed about these books is not only the very clever and tight plotting, but the lovely character development of Detective “Kubu” Bengu, his immediate family, and those he works with. It seems to me also that the setting provides another strong character. The initial action is set in tourist camp, but the roots of the plot go back decades into the history of Zimbabwe.

The character of Bengu gives the authors plenty of scope to show policing in Botswana in a good light. It comes across as a rather different Botswana to that of Precious Ramotswe but the values are the same.

A good read.

My rating: 4.8

I've also reviewed

• 5.0, A CARRION DEATH
• 5.0, DEATH OF THE MANTIS
• 5.0, DEADLY HARVEST

About the author

The author with their Barry Award

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Johannesburg natives Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Sears lives in Johannesburg and teaches part-time at the University of Witwatersrand. Trollip was on the faculty at the universities of Illinois, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and at Capella University. A full-time writer, he divides his time between...

In 2012 Michael Stanley won a Barry Award for DEATH OF THE MANTIS

	Current books - see author's website

1. A Carrion Death (2008) 2. A Deadly Trade (2009)      aka The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu 3. The Death of the Mantis (2011) 4. Deadly Harvest (2013)

What I read in August 2013

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month 2013

A good reading month with a great variety, including a couple that were not crime fiction.
I used my Kindle a lot, and I am convinced it speeds my reading up.

I got a lot closer to completing the 2013 Global Reading Challenge too.

I had 3 books I couldn't pick between for Pick of the Month:
DEADLY HARVEST by  Michael Stanley
THE LAST POLICEMAN by Ben H. Winters
THE GHOST RIDERS OF ORDEBEC by Fred Vargas

• 4.7, THE MIRROR CRACK'D FROM SIDE TO SIDE, Agatha Christie  - library book
• 4.6, BLACKOUT,  Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza  - Kindle, translated
• 4.9, CAPTURED, Neil Cross  - Kindle
• 4.3, PAGO PAGO TANGO, John Enright  - library book
• 4.6, THE MADONNAS OF LENINGRAD, Debra Dean  - library book, NOT crime fiction
• 4.4, Agatha Christie Short Stories: MASTERPIECES IN MINIATURE Part One. (Miss Marple stories)  - Kindle
• 4.4, SHORT SENTENCE: 10 stories of dastardly deeds, Parker Bilal et al  - Kindle
• 4.8, ICE COLD, Tess Gerritsen - audio book
• 4.6, THE CORPSE ON THE COURT, Simon Brett  - library book
• 5.0, DEADLY HARVEST, Michael Stanley  - library book
• 5.0, THE LAST POLICEMAN, Ben H. Winters  - Kindle
• 4.8, PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, Geraldine Brooks  - Kindle, NOT really crime fiction
• 5.0, THE GHOST RIDERS OF ORDEBEC, Fred Vargas  - Kindle, translated

Review: DEADLY HARVEST, Michael Stanley

• Published 2013
• This edition published by Harper Collins
• ISBN 978-0-06-222152-0-5149
• Source: my local library
• 474 pages
• Read an extract

Synopsis (Harper Collins)

Girls are disappearing in Botswana. The rumor is they're being harvested for muti, a witch doctor's potion traditionally derived from plants and animals—and which, some believe, can be made more potent by adding human remains. Detective David "Kubu" Bengu joins the investigation with the police force's newest detective—and only woman—Samantha Khama, for whom the case is personal.

Soon one girl's father, convinced that his daughter's death is linked to the recent popularity of a political candidate, takes the law into his own hands. After the father flees, what Kubu and Samantha find in the politician's home confirms their worst fears: muti containing human DNA is real.

Now Kubu and Samantha are thrust into a harrowing race to stop a serial killer or killers—and those who would pay for their special, lethal muti.

My Take

If your reading experience of Botswana is Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY with the unforgettable Precious Ramotswe, then you'll find the Kubu series very different in flavour, not quite so cozy. Although unmistakably we are in the same place, with a similar mixture of new Western and traditional African cultures. Michael Stanley's style is deceptively simplistic, but underlying all is two pairs of keen eyes (see my note below about the author) and an awareness of the political and cultural challenges being faced by modern Botswana.

In a note the authors comment

Although this is a work of fiction, it is, as were our three previous books, set on a background of reality.

And then they go on to talk about the belief in muti which underpins the murders and crimes in DEADLY HARVEST. Organs are being harvested from live human victims, not for the trade in illegal transplants which other books like Peter James' DEAD TOMORROW have highlighted, but for the belief in their magical powers.

The well established central character in this series Detective David "Kubu" Bengu is joined in DEADLY HARVEST by a female officer Samantha Khama. Kubu is not used to working with a woman and for a while he tries to put her on the back seat, but then he comes to realise that they make a very good team.

Kubu's boss Mabaku values the intuitive dimension that Kubu brings to policing. Most of the time Kubu's hunches are right and only rarely does the more cautious and politically minded Mabaku refuse to follow Kubu's plan of action.

I appreciated the cast of characters listed at the front of the novel and the glossary in the final pages.

So, my verdict - an excellent read. If you are new to Michael Stanley, start at the beginning,  A CARRION DEATH, and follow Kubu's career.

My rating: 5.0

I've also reviewed
5.0, A CARRION DEATH
5.0, DEATH OF THE MANTIS

I've realised today that I haven't yet read A DEADLY TRADE (#2) and I've also found a set of short stories, DETECTIVE KUBU INVESTIGATES on Amazon Kindle

About the author

The author with their Barry Award

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Johannesburg natives Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Sears lives in Johannesburg and teaches part-time at the University of Witwatersrand. Trollip was on the faculty at the universities of Illinois, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and at Capella University. A full-time writer, he divides his time between...

In 2012 Michael Stanley won a Barry Award for DEATH OF THE MANTIS

	Current books - see author's website

1. A Carrion Death (2008) 2. A Deadly Trade (2009)      aka The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu 3. The Death of the Mantis (2011) 4. Deadly Harvest (2013)

24 July 2013, On the doorstep, waiting to be read

As you can see from my list below, I am not making a lot of headway in making my TBR (To Be Read) pile diminish. Review copies are piling up, not helped by my self selected library books. Hopefully you will also find something to interest you among these. See the history of this occasional post. I'd like to also stress that there is no rhyme or reason to my selections. Please note that this listing is in no way a recommendation for you to read a title, simply a chance for you to assess for yourself whether you would like to read it. I will also try to discover whether the book is available on Kindle, particularly for Australian authors which are not necessarily available overseas.

IF I TELL YOU.. I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU, edited by Michael Robotham
Kindle edition available July 24
Allen & Unwin paper back

Australia's best crime writers - Michael Robotham, Kerry Greenwood, Shane Maloney, Peter Corris, Tara Moss and more - share the secrets to their success, their best- ever writing tips and their favourite 'must reads'. An ideal guide for aspiring writers and crime fiction fans alike.

Description

Crime fiction is the single most popular genre in international publishing and Australia has some of the finest practitioners when it comes to walking the mean streets and nailing the bad guys.

Whether you're a fan of crime fiction, true crime or a would-be crime writer, this collection of essays will provide laughter, understanding, insight, ideas, advice and hopefully some inspiration. Learn about Shane Maloney's near-death experience in a freezer, Leigh Redhead's adventures as a stripper and Tara Moss taking a polygraph test to prove her doubters wrong.

There are stories of struggle and triumph, near misses and murderous intent, as our best crime writers lay bare their souls and reveal their secrets as never before, along with their rules for writing and reading lists.

But beware. They will have to kill you...

THE SHADOW TRACER, Meg Gardiner

A review copy from Penguin Australia
Kindle edition here.

When someone wants to find you badly enough, vanishing is no longer an option
.
Sarah Keller is a young single mother living in Oklahoma with her five year-old daughter, Zoe. Her day job is to hunt out people on the run and bring them to justice. So imagine how it looks when a school bus accident sends Zoe to the ER and tests reveal Sarah can't be Zoe's mother.

Sarah has been living a lie for years and finally the truth is coming out. Who is she? Who were Zoe's parents? And why does Zoe's identity bring the FBI down on Sarah's tail in mere minutes?
The FBI is the least of her worries, though. Sarah needs to keep Zoe off the grid, but with a sinister religious cult also preparing to attack, where on earth can they hide?

Something deadly lurks in Sarah's past and its resurrection brings terror to all it touches.

EYE FOR AN EYE, Ben Coes
Review copy from Pan Macmillan Australia
Amazon Kindle version here

When Dewey Andreas uncovers the identity of a mole embedded at a high level in Israel's Mossad, it triggers a larger, more dangerous plot. The mole was the most important asset of Chinese Intelligence, and Fao Bhang, head of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), responds to the discovery and brutal elimination of the mole, by immediately placing a kill order on the man responsible – Dewey Andreas.

Dewey is tracked to Argentina, where he is on vacation with his fiancee, Jessica Tanzer, a U.S. National Security Advisor. A top-level kill team is sent in quickly and quietly, but their attack fails to take out Dewey. The collateral damage, however, is both horrifying and deeply personal. With nothing left to lose, Andreas is determined to have his revenge.

Once he learns who is probably behind the attack – and why they are after him – Dewey goes rogue, using all of his assets and skills to launch a counterattack. Andreas must now face the full weight and might of the MSS, Chinese Intelligence, and the formidable Fao Bhang, if he's to achieve his one last goal: revenge on a biblical scale, no matter the odds or the armies that he will have to fight his way through. Andreas – former Army Ranger and Delta – is a man of great skills and cunning. His opponent, Fao Bhang, is ruthless, determined, and with no limit to the assets at his disposal. In this conflict, there are only two possible outcomes. And only one Dewey Andreas.

DEADLY HARVEST, Michael Stanley
Library book - I need to read this for the 2013 Global Reading Challenge which I have sadly been neglecting
Kindle version available

Synopsis (Amazon)

Deadly Harvest in Michael Stanley’s beloved Detective Kubu series tracks a series of murders and a mysterious witch doctor whose nefarious potions might hold the key to a web of missing persons.

When young girls start to go missing, Samantha, a new detective on the Botswana police force suspects that muti, a traditional African medicine, is the reason. She and Detective David “Kubu” Bengu race to stop a serial killer, all as the father of one of the victims threatens to take matters into his own hands.

Weaving together a thrilling mystery with a fascinating look at modern-day Africa, Deadly Harvest is filled with elements suspense and plot twists that will keep you captivated until the very end.

GODS & BEASTS, Denise Mina
Library book - this recently won the Theakston's Old Peculier Novel of the Year Award at the Harrogate Crime Festival
Kindle edition

Synopsis (Amazon)

A Glasgow post office one week before Christmas. Martin Pavel cowers on the floor, his eyes locked on those of a terrified child. Above them a masked gunman wields an AK47 while the boy's grandfather calmly volunteers to help the robber gather the money. Then the old man stands passively, hands by his sides, while the gunman raises the barrel and shoots him to shreds.

Recently returned to work after the birth of her twins, DS Alex Morrow is called in to head the investigation. Why did the grandfather offer his help? Was it a moment of madness, a noble act of self-sacrifice, or did the old man and his killer share a dark past?

Morrow's enquiries lead her to the door of Kenny Gallagher, a politician fighting for his political life - and his marriage - after he's publicly accused of having an affair with a young employee. And unknown to Morrow a temptation too great to resist leads two of her colleagues, DCs Leonard and Wilder, to make a rash decision and leaves them at the mercy of a ruthless blackmailer.

The complicity of an old man in his own death, a promiscuous politician and a bag of untraceable money - one city, three crimes and a powerful connection that runs from Glasgow's dark criminal underworld to the international spheres of the super rich.

THE CORPSE ON THE COURT, Simon Brett
Library book - this will bring me up to date in the Fethering series.

Available on Kindle

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Jude's life has been turned upside-down thanks her new mant, Piers Targett, who's keen to get her involved in his hobby - or obsession - of Real Tennis. But when one of Piers' friends dies on the court in suspicious circumstances, Jude finds herself caught up in the police investigation.

Meanwhile, Jude's neighbour Carole is trying to identify the human remains known locally as the 'Lady in the Lake.' As the two investigations become intertwined, Carole and Jude's efforts to find the truth look set to lead to more murders.

Review: DEATH OF THE MANTIS, Michael Stanley

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 1119 KB
• Print Length: 417 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0755381157
• Publisher: Headline (September 1, 2011)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005CIOOR0
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis -  Amazon

The third novel in the fantastic Detective 'Kubu' Bengu crime series is set in the southern Kalahari area of Botswana - a place full of buried lost cities, incredible hidden wealth, ancient gods and, for thousands of years, home to the nomadic Bushmen.

When a fractious ranger named Monzo is found dead, fallen into a donga - a dry ravine - surrounded by three Bushmen, the local police arrest the nomads.
Detective 'Kubu' Bengu is on the case, which reunites him with his old school friend Khumanego, a Bushman and now an advocate for his people. Khumanego believes the arrests are motivated by racist antagonism from the police, as the Bushmen are claiming that they were at the murder scene because they were trying to help.
Soon after Monzo's death, Detective 'Kubu' learns of another case involving two botany students on their way back from a specimen-collecting trip but who were later found dead, seemingly poisoned, at a campground. Could the deaths be connected?

My Take

I have realised as I write this review that I have missed out on reading #2 in this series (THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU). I reviewed the first A CARRION DEATH in 2010 and really did mean to read #2 - I'm sure I have it somewhere..

I have really enjoyed DEATH OF A MANTIS. 'Kubu' Bengu has grown dramatically in stature as a detective and is held in high regard by the Botswana police force. Kubu still acts impulsively, makes decisions that are not always wise - in fact one puts his life in great danger. But now he has family responsibilities: a wife, a baby girl.

DEATH OF THE MANTIS is one of those books that makes the reader think. For a start - who is "the Mantis"?  One of the themes is the conflict between modern Western-style life and the indigenous culture of the Bushmen of the Kalahari. How far will the Bushmen go to preserve the old ways, to keep the sacred places hidden, and yet at the same time how do they pass on their culture?

Kubu is torn because one of his best childhood friends is a Bushman although Khumanego says he is trying to preserve the old ways by being an advocate for his people.
There are many reminders too that this is a dangerous land that Kubu is living in.

DEATH OF THE MANTIS is tightly plotted, has excellent character development, as well as passing on to the reader a great depth of information about Kalahari life. There's an interesting juxtaposition of technologies too - old maps and records, overlaid by GPS printouts.

Check what the authors have to say about the background to the book. You can also read the Prologue and the first chapter there.

My rating: 5.0

Other reviews to check

• Joyfully Retired
• EuroCrime (Michelle Peckham)
• AustCrime

If you are looking for a reading guide, there are 10 questions here.(pdf)
 
Awards for DEATH OF THE MANTIS

• one of six finalists for the 2012 Barry Award for best paperback original
• .one of four novels selected for the short list for Best Genre Fiction at the Minnesota Book Awards in 2012.
• one of five nominees for the Edgar Award from Mystery Writers of America for best paperback original in 2012.
• chosen by LIBRARY JOURNAL in the US as one of their top ten new mysteries for 2011.
• rated number 5 in THE STRAND MAGAZINE'S top 12 mysteries for 2011

Review: A CARRION DEATH, Michael Stanley

Headline Publishing Group 2008
ISBN 978-0-7553-4404-8
404 pages

The body appeared to have been deliberately dumped naked near the waterhole. Or so it seemed from the remains the hyenas had left.

Dales Camp, the bush resort near where the body had been found on the verge of the Central Kalahari Game Reserves in Botswana, is 4 hours drive from the capital Gaborone. Not that Assistant Superintendent "Kibu" Bengu of the Botswana police minds the drive. It gives him the chance to sing opera.

At the crime scene Kubu meets the conservationist who discovered  the body and finds trapped in the bushes a cash slip for petrol. This is the beginning of the tenuous thread the subsequent investigation hangs on. It is obvious that the murderers have tried to hide the identity of the body, but they reckoned without Kubu Bengu.

As the blurb says A CARRION DEATH is set in a world of poachers, witch doctors, diamond-smuggling, and corruption.  For all that, this is a complex and many-threaded tale. It is an impressive debut novel structured in a way that gets the reader thinking. For example, the events are layered in time rather than sequential, so you are forced to take notice of chapter headings. There are little puzzles to solve and as one is resolved, the next presents. It is also populated with engaging characters such as Kubu Bengu, his wife Joy, and his boss Mabake. We've become a little used to detectives who have to struggle against their superiors, which makes Mabake, who wants to think the best of Kubu, a refreshing character. Contrasting with these characters are those who are truly evil, and then there are those who are the dupes, caught in the middle. There are references too to contemporary political issues such as Botswana trying to shake off semi-colonial controls through legacy companies, and blood diamonds.

A CARRION DEATH is among my top reads for 2010. My rating 5.0.

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip.

Both are retired professors who have worked in academia and business. Sears is a mathematician, specializing in geological remote sensing. Trollip is an educational psychologist, specializing in the application of computers to teaching and learning, and a pilot. They were both born in South Africa.

They have been on a number of flying safaris to Botswana and Zimbabwe, where it was always exciting to buzz a dirt airstrip to shoo the elephants off. They have had many adventures on these trips including tracking lions at night, fighting bush fires on the Savuti plains in northern Botswana, being charged by an elephant, and having their plane’s door pop open over the Kalahari, scattering navigation maps over the desert.. These trips have fed their love both for the bush, and for Botswana.

It was on one of these trips that the idea surfaced for a novel set in Botswana.

A CARRION DEATH is their first novel.  


If you'd like to listen

AudioFile Earphones Award winner
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2008
A Library Journal Best Audiobook of 2008

Sites to enjoy:

• Michael Stanley introduces Detective Kubu
• Review on EuroCrime by Maxine Clarke
• Mack's review on Mack Captures Crime
• Sunnie interviews the authors

The other comment I feel constrained to make is that  A CARRION DEATH is set in "No 1. Ladies Detective Agency" territory. I know there are those who will try to compare and contrast the treatment of Botswana by both McCall Smith and Michael Stanley. What I think they have in common is their gentle treatment of their protagonist. There is a sort of quirky humour that surrounds both Precious Ramotswe and Kubu Bengu, both physically large, both delightful caring people. If anything I feel the fact that I have read almost all the No. 1 Ladies books in a sense prepared the ground for this much more solid read. There was a lot of "stuff" I didn't have to learn, although Michael Stanley has included a useful glossary.

And now I find that both authors have a new book for me to read. McCall Smith's latest is THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI while Michael Stanley's is THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU (USA) or A DEADLY TRADE (elsewhere).

I have used A CARRION DEATH as part of the 2010 Global Reading Challenge.