A young girl goes missing after getting into a car with a mysterious man. Soon after, a second girl disappears, and her devastated father, Witness, sets out to seek revenge. As the trail goes cold, Samantha Khama – new recruit to the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department – suspects the girl was killed for muti, the traditional African medicine usually derived from plants, sometimes animals, and, recently and most chillingly, human parts. When the investigation gets personal, Samantha enlists opera-loving wine connoisseur Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu to help her dig into the past. As they begin to discover a pattern to the disappearances, there is another victim, and Kubu and Samantha are thrust into a harrowing race to stop a serial killer who has only one thing in mind …
Top Crime Reads of 2015, The Times Crime Club, chosen by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award
‘Richly atmospheric … a gritty depiction of corruption and deception’
Publishers Weekly
‘This book took me to a world I didn’t want to leave. It kept me reading, it kept me guessing, and it kept me gasping at its many twists and surprises. Highly recommended’
R.L. Kline
‘A wonderful, original voice – McCall Smith with a dark edge and even darker underbelly’ Peter James
‘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
‘Detective David “Kubu” Bengu is a wonderful creation, complex and beguiling. The exotic smells and sounds of Botswana fill the pages as well as the changes and struggles of a country brimming with modern technology yet fiercely clinging to old traditions. Compelling and deceptively written ...’ New York Journal of Books
‘One of the finest crime thrillers of 2013’ Strand Mystery Magazine
Top Crime Reads of 2015, The Times Crime Club, chosen by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award
‘Richly atmospheric … a gritty depiction of corruption and deception’
Publishers Weekly
‘This book took me to a world I didn’t want to leave. It kept me reading, it kept me guessing, and it kept me gasping at its many twists and surprises. Highly recommended’
R.L. Kline
‘A wonderful, original voice – McCall Smith with a dark edge and even darker underbelly’ Peter James
‘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
‘Detective David “Kubu” Bengu is a wonderful creation, complex and beguiling. The exotic smells and sounds of Botswana fill the pages as well as the changes and struggles of a country brimming with modern technology yet fiercely clinging to old traditions. Compelling and deceptively written ...’ New York Journal of Books
‘One of the finest crime thrillers of 2013’ Strand Mystery Magazine