The Headhunter's Daughter

by Tamar Myers

Overview

Tamar Myers returns to Africa in The Headhunter’s Daughter, the second book in her wonderful mystery series set in the Belgian Congo in the mid-twentieth century—a riveting and atmospheric follow-up to The Witchdoctor’s Wife. Raised in the Congo herself, the child of missionaries, Myers uses her intimate knowledge of the people, the culture, and the landscape to add richness to this stunning story of an abandoned infant raised by a tribe of headhunters—a masterful mystery that fans of Alexander McCall Smith and The #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency will adore.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781410436870
Publisher:	Gale Group
Publication date:	05/18/2011
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Tamar Myers is the author of the Belgian Congo series and the Den of Antiquity series as well as the Pennsylvania-Dutch mysteries. Born and raised in the Congo, she lives in North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

Rarely have good intentions wrought more disastrous results than in this captivating Belgian Congo adventure, by turns comic and suspenseful, a worthy sequel to its predecessor, The Witch Doctor's Wife (2009). In October 1958, reports of a white girl living among the Bashilele tribe of headhunters shock young American missionary Amanda Brown; her dashing police captain suitor, Pierre Jardin; her conniving maid, Cripple; and the rest of the diamond-mining outpost of Belle Vue. Could the self-possessed teen known as "Ugly Eyes" be the same Belgian who vanished from the community as an infant 13 years earlier? In any case, what should become of her? Answering these questions proves unexpectedly complex as well as surprisingly dangerous. Myers (Butter Safe than Sorry and 17 other Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries) spins an engagingly devious yarn, but what truly elevates this effort is the warmth with which she evokes the now-vanished Congo where she spent much of her childhood. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

The closer the Belgian Congo comes to independence in 1958, the more dangerous it becomes for the white population.

Young missionary Amanda Brown, who runs the guesthouse overlooking the spectacular falls in the mining town of Belle Vue, is doing penance for her role in a fatal car accident in her South Carolina hometown. Back in 1945, a white baby girl had vanished from her home. The mysterious Mastermind planned to hold her for ransom until his plans went awry when the baby was taken by a young Bashilele boy. Raised in the tribe, the Headhunter's Daughter has grown almost to marriageable age when her existence becomes known, and she's taken along with her native father back to the guesthouse by Amanda and Pierre Jardin, a dashing police captain in love with Amanda. Amanda's servant Cripple, along as a translator, realizes that great difficulties will face the Bashilele-raised child in white society. The townspeople are agog over the new arrival, who has not the slightest idea of how to live as a white person. When the Mastermind revives the kidnapping plan, the headhunter vanishes, and long-buried secrets come out before Cripple takes matters in hand.

The second in Myers' new series (The Witch Doctor's Wife, 2009) hides the Mastermind's identity well. But it's best read for the evocative descriptions of life in the Congo, where the author grew up, and the skillful portrayal of the vast disconnect between the white and black inhabitants.

Kirkus Reviews