Smashed skull, snapped ribs, and a cloying smell of carrion. Leave the body for the hyenas to devour - no body, no case.
But when Kalahari game rangers stumble on a human corpse midmeal, it turns out the murder wasn't perfect after all. Enough evidence is left to suggest foul play. Detective David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department is assigned to the case.
The detective's personality and physique match his moniker. The nickname "Kubu" is Setswana for "hippopotamus" - a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest on the continent. Beneath Kubu's pleasant surface lies the same unwavering resolve that makes the hippopotamus so deceptively dangerous. Both will trample everything in their path to reach an objective.
From the sun-baked riverbeds of the Kalahari to the highest offices of an international conglomerate, Kubu follows a blood-soaked trail in search of answers. Beneath a mountain of lies and superstitions, he uncovers a chain of crimes leading to the most powerful figures in the country - influential enemies who will kill anyone in their way.
A memorable detective makes his debut in this gritty, mesmerizing thriller. Set amid the beauty and darkness of contemporary Africa, A Carrion Death is the first entry in an evocative new series cutting to the heart of today's Botswana - a modern democracy threatened by unstable neighbors, poachers, and diamond smugglers. Those trying to expose the corrupt ringleaders will find themselves fighting for their lives.
Simon Prebble gives a virtuoso performance in this first installment of what promises to be an entertaining detective series set in Botswana. David "Kubu" Benga, a Botswanan CID detective who sings operatic arias as he drives across the Kalahari, is a sure winner as a character. In this book what starts as a murder multiplies into many murders against a backdrop of greed, diamond mining, blackmail, sex, and class tension. Prebble makes all this sound plausible, as well as highly entertaining. He also sails through dialogue involving upper-crust Brits, Angolan Portuguese, Scots, Afrikaners, and Botswanans. He even does exotic bird calls. Really. The book is longer than need be, but every minute is pure, pleasurable Prebble. R.E.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
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