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.
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"What a good book! I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it was terrific. Lots of information on Botswana that was woven into the story without the need for pages and pages of description without plot. Very intriguing. " — Sharon (5 out of 5 stars)
"What a good book! I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it was terrific. Lots of information on Botswana that was woven into the story without the need for pages and pages of description without plot. Very intriguing. "
Prebble is outstanding; his accents are spot on.
“A first novel saturated with local color…[Audiences] may be lured to Africa by the landscape, but it takes a great character like Kubu to win our loyalty.”
“More smart than bloody…A marvelous debut.”
“Intricate plotting, a grisly sense of realism, and numerous topical motifs…make this a compulsively readable novel.”
“Prebble is outstanding; his accents are spot on.”
" Really a good read kept me interested the who time "
" A good read, and interesting local... "
" Thoroughly enjoyed meeting Detective Kubu. Complicated case, and whenever I thought I knew who was the perp there'd be a new discovery or a new bad guy. Lots of them in this well-done story. "
" It was slow reading to start but it did get better and better. The end of the book was very good. "
" Starts off very slowly. I was going to put it down more than once, but I'm glad I kept reading. The second half of the book picks up and it's a good murder mystery. "
" I liked this book and the style it was written in. Look forward to their next story. "
" I sorted things out before the story did, but the characters intersting for the most part. I'll sign on for the next two. "
" Wow - - this was an excellent book, rather long for an audio CD, but the author kept me interested to the very end. Inspector Kubu - - -what a hero for the new decade!!!!! "
Michael Stanley is the writing team of Johannesburg natives Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Sears lives in Johannesburg and teaches part-time at the University of Witwatersrand. Trollip was on the faculty at the universities of Illinois, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and at Capella University. A full-time writer, he divides his time between South Africa and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The pair has had many adventures together, including tracking lions at night, fighting bush fires on the Savuti plains in northern Botswana, surviving a charging elephant, and losing their navigation maps while flying over the Kalahari.
Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices, he has received thirty-seven Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.
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