
Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. Because of the odd differences, A Carrion Death is an enjoyable hard-boiled detective novel and then some.
Like every great whodunit, the novel opens with a dead body, but his one isn’t stabbed, strangled or shot, or rather, had it been, it is impossible to tell, as it’s been half-eaten by hyenas and other predators indigenous to Detective Kubu’s jurisdiction (Talk about evidence being tampered with!). So how does Kubu even know that this is nothing more than simply a victim of Africa’s natural order? Ah, there’s the first rub. What follows leads Kubu from Diamond Mines to tribal rituals; from college mates to the country’s most powerful and influential people; from wildlife watering holes to the seedy, dangerous ones of the human variety; Kubu’s dogged pursuit seemingly thwarted at every turn.
As with most hard-boiled novels, the solution to the crime is almost secondary to the characters, their interaction and pursuit of justice. Detective Kubu is a revelation; everything the aforementioned gumshoes are not, but no less a classic hard-boiled character nonetheless. A man “of not inconsiderable bulk,” as first described, he has a penchant for food and drink; a loving relationship with his wife and a teasing, playful one with his sister-in-law. At first glance, Kubu’s boss, Jacob Mabaku, is a stereotypical, interfering, pain-in-the-ass superior, more concerned with procedure than finding answers. His true nature, though, develops into a refreshingly complex individual. Other notables: Ian MacGregor, a Scotch transplant and pathologist of the Botswana police, who enjoys a good tipple and chasing the ladies; and Johannes “Bakkies (pickup truck)” Swanepoel, a South African detective sergeant, who shares a nickname based on his huge physique like Kubu with the exception that Bakkies “converted the food to muscle while he (Kubu) turned it to fat.”

Thus endeth the lesson. Now back to our regularly scheduled review…
A Carrion Death is the collaborative effort of two writers, Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, hence their pen name, Michael Stanley. Their union is seamless. Though they liberally sprinkle native languages throughout the novel, their usage does not bog down the pacing, instead enhancing the tale. Still, Messieurs Sears and Trollip provide a modest glossary, one I didn’t need to reference while enjoying the book. They also supply a listing of characters with brief bios and a map.
A Carrion Death gets four spiders. I am looking forward to detective Kubu’s next case. In fact, I’ve already gotten the book, The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu. Had I not read Death, the title of the follow-up alone would have had me salivating!

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