#friends
DV Berkom, author of the Leine Basso and Kate Jones thriller series, stopped by the blog last week. Her books have been topping
Amazon’s category charts lately and I’m impressed with her ability to write two series at the same time. Here’s what she said about developing her complex yet relatable characters:
“Perfect characters are {yawn} so boring. I don’t want to invest my precious time reading about someone who can’t do any wrong. How is that compelling? Strong, flawed women are all around us—you just have to
look. And let’s face it—nobody’s actually “perfect.” A bit closer to home, my mother is one of the most fearless women I know, as is my sister.
“I believe that we’ve all got that strength inside us, and I love to tap into the character’s reserves to find out what she’ll fight for and what she won’t. It’s a deep well.”
#reviews
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY by Michael Stanley is a deeply authentic visit to Botswana, hosted by Detective David “Kubu” Bengu of the country’s Criminal Investigation Division. The novel stands alone but if you like international culture wrapped up in a mystery, I recommend the entire Detective Kubu series.
Kubu, which means “hippo” in Setswana, Botswana’s native
language, is an apt nickname. Alexander McCall Smith, author of the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, perhaps the best known books set in Botswana, would describe Kubu as “traditionally built.” The book even opens with Kubu’s dream of eating an enormous meal.
The murder of Kubu's father, the suicide of a government official dealing with mining licenses, and a tribal debate
over the expansion of a Chinese-run uranium mine happen in swift succession. With a little help from an American consultant, Kubu pronounces the suicide as murder even as the tribal chief decides whether or not to allow the expansion. Unknown to the chief, his son has made a deal with the Chinese. The son gets unemployed youth on
his side by plying them with cheap beer in shabeens—the local bars. When the chief finally opposes the expansion at a town hall event, violence erupts.
Despite multiple open cases, Kubu is sent to New York for an Interpol conference. His trip perfectly captures wintry New York City through the eyes of
someone who lives without snow, skyscrapers, crowds, or constant urban abundance. He didn’t want to go to the conference, but it yields critical clues to the mining drama at home. Kubu may be a product of a small country, but he knows how to find the wider context.
At times the narrative is a bit slow, Kubu is admonished too many times for sticking his nose into his father’s murder
investigation, and I guessed the connection between Kubu’s father and the Chinese mine far earlier than he did. These nits are forgiven because I really admired how the novel demonstrates the critical issues facing Africa today: unemployment, corruption, violence against women, tension between traditional authority and the laws of the state, and China’s growing investment and influence. The issues are handed deftly and naturally; they are simply part of Kubu’s landscape.
As a reader, you are caught up in the tension between old and new. You feel the chief's bewilderment as he tries to navigate the modern world by relying on ancient customs. You march into the Chinese compound with Kubu, and realize that a fiefdom has been seized that will be hard to reclaim.
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY starts as a murder mystery. But ends as a snapshot of contemporary Africa that should be mandatory reading by anyone travelling to or studying the continent.
