A Death in the Family: A Detective Kubu Mystery

by Michael Stanley

Overview

'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 of riots, corruption and greed, as a complex series of murders present 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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780997968927
Publisher:	White Sun Books
Publication date:	10/01/2015
Pages:	316
Sales rank:	476,759
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

"Under the African sun, Michael Stanley's Detective Kubu investigates crimes as dark as the darkest of Nordic Noir. Call it Sunshine Noir, if you will - a must read." Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

"...engrossing...As always Stanley brings to life a Botswana different from the one familiar to Alexander McCall Smith readers." Publishers Weekly

"Kubu returns with a vengeance - but what is prowling in the darkness of Botswana is more dangerous than the four-legged predators. Then there are the Chinese who just may be the most dangerous of all ... I love it!" Charles Todd

"The lovable larger-than-life detective Kubu is back; frustrated this time because it is his father who has been murdered and he is banned from involvement in the investigation...Writers Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip deliver a great story set in Africa." Cape Times

"The fifth rip-roaring mystery in the Detective Kubu series. If you haven't read the others, the lovable return characters, exceptional police procedural plot, and close-to- home Botswana setting will make you want to." Sunday Times

"Stanley and Kubu deserve much more critical and commercial attention than they have been receiving; hopefully this latest installment will rectify that shortcoming." Bookreporter

"This fifth mystery featuring Detective Kubu is another fast moving procedural notable for its warm characterizations and vivid sense of place." Booklist

"The Stanley novels deliver intricate plots and a cast of regulars well worth following." Kirkus Review

From the Publisher

08/17/2015
The fatal stabbing of David “Kubu” Bengu’s father, Wilmon Bengu, propels Stanley’s engrossing fifth mystery featuring the Botswana police detective (after 2013’s Deadly Harvest). Since Wilmon suffered from dementia and had a limited social life, the murder may have been an indirect attack on Kubu from one of the many enemies he’s made during his years on the force. Banned from participating in the investigation, Kubu is ordered to look into the apparent suicide of Goodman Kunene, the assistant director of the Department of Mines. Kunene’s death may be connected with a Chinese business venture that has caused a rift in the local community between elders who want to maintain the status quo and the younger generation, eager for the job opportunities the new project promises. As always, Stanley (the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip) brings to life a Botswana different from the one familiar to Alexander McCall Smith readers. Agent: Jacques de Spoelberch, J. de S. Associates. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A page-turner from start to finish.

New York Times bestselling author of A Matter of J Charles Todd