Deadly Harvest

Starred review from March 25, 2013
The real-life phenomenon of African witch doctors committing murder to get ingredients for their spells drives the richly atmospheric fourth Detective Kubu mystery (after 2011’s Death of the Mantis) from Edgar-finalist Stanley (the South African writing team of Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears). The Botswana Criminal Investigation Department assigns its first female detective, Samantha Khama, to a cold case—the four-month-old disappearance of a 10-year-old orphan, Lesego Betse. Samantha believes that the girl is the victim of a witch doctor who uses human remains to prepare the medicine known as muti. After another girl goes missing, Samantha gains the active assistance of David “Kubu” Bengu, the department’s assistant superintendent. Their investigation takes place during a time of political instability in the country when the prospect that an opposition party could finally be gaining traction spawns violence. The gritty depiction of corruption and obsession serves as a striking counterpoint to Alexander McCall Smith’s blood-free No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, also set in Botswana. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary Agency.

May 1, 2013

Newcomer Det. Samantha Khama helps Det. David "Kubu" Bengu when a serial killer targets girls in Botswana, possibly to use their bodies in a potion called muti. A father, devastated by loss, seeks revenge by murdering a politician in this complicated case, Kubu's fourth (after Death of the Mantis).

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
This popular whodunit series created by the South African writing team of Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears shares its Botswana backdrop with McCall Smith's Mma Ramotswe mysteries, though the similarities between the two largely end there. These darker, grittier entries featuring the portly and perceptive Detective Kubu blend intricate plotting and a compelling cast. In this fourth offering (after Death of the Mantis,2011), Detective Kubu and new recruit Samantha (the first woman on the Botswana police force) investigate the disappearance of two young girls they fear were killed for a muti, a traditional African medicine rendered by witch doctors. (Though muti typically contains animal and plant parts, the two detectives suspect that the powerful potions in question have human remains.) Meanwhile, the father of one of the missing girls pegs a prickly politician as his daughter's abductor and seeks immediateand deadlyrevenge. Though the cat-and-mouse chase that ensues propels the novel ever forward, Stanley also peppers the tale with richly detailed descriptions of Botswana and the spirited lives of its citizens.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)