Book Review: A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

This is the debut novel of Malla Nunn, and it’s my first time reading anything from her. I’ve never heard of her until the fateful day I discovered this book. I came across this novel by mere luck. After reading the Detective Darko Dawson series by Kwei Quartey, I was having a bad case of withdrawal and needed another detective series to quench my thirst. So, I went online and searched for African crime fictions and this was one of my search results. I consider this luck because most times when I search for novels to read online I usually don’t find good books.

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Book Review: Children of the Street by Kwei Quartey

This is the second book in the Inspector Darko Dawson mystery series. When a decomposed body is found in the muddy water of Agbogbloshie, Inspector Dawson is called to solve the mystery murder. While still investigating another murder happens which leads him to speculate the two murders are related. Further investigation with the assistance of his detective sergeant, Chikata reveals that a serial killer, who targets street children of Accra is on the loose.

Book Review: Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

This is the first book in the Inspector Darko Dawson crime series. It is set in Ketanu, a small rural town in Ghana. The book brings to light an old Ghanaian tradition called “trokosi” where young girls are offered to the fetish priest as wives in order to atone for the sin committed by a member of their families.

Book Review: Murder at Cape Three Points by Kwei Quartey

Murder at Cape Three points is a mystery novel about Accra’s hotshot Detective Dawson who solves Ghana’s most complex mysteries. A horrific murder has been committed at Cape Three Points, the unmistakeable beauty on the Ghanaian coast where two bays form the three peninsulas, giving it its name. The bodies of Charles and Fiona Smith-Aidoo, wealthy middle-aged couple are found in a canoe that washed up at an oil rig site.

Book Review: Nairobi Heat by Mukoma wa Ngugi

Nairobi Heat is a crime fiction about how two detectives who live in two different continents and have never met each other before but later became good friends joined forces to solve the murder of an unidentified young white girl. Ishmael, an African American is the book’s narrator and the lead detective on the murder case. The prime suspect is Joshua, a former headmaster and African hero who saved innocent lives during the Rwanda genocide but now a Professor living in a very rich white neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin. Joshua found the body on his doorstep raising many questions that landed him at the top of suspects’ list, but his air tight alibi made it difficult to convict him of the crime.

Book Review: Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole

 

Every Day is for the Thief tells the story of a young Nigerian American who finally visits home (Lagos, Nigeria) after 15 years of living in America to discover things are no longer as they used to be. Corruption and bribery are the norm, which he sadly experienced right from the consulate office in New York when he was asked to give a second undocumented money order to get his passport processed faster than normal.

Book Review: Foreign Gods Inc. by Okey Ndibe

Foreign Gods, Inc. was set in two places – New York City and Utonki, a village in eastern part of Nigeria. The book told the story of Ikechukwu Uzondu, Ike for short, a Nigerian cab driver based in NYC who thought stealing his village’s war deity, Ngene will solve his financial problems. It also briefly told the story of Stanton, an arrogant and violent British missionary who landed in Utonki with the hope of destroying Ngene, but things went terribly wrong for him.

My Review of Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved told the story of Sethe, a slave woman who ran away from Sweet Home, a plantation in Kentucky and moved into 124 on Bluestone Road in Ohio. Her mother-in-law (Baby Suggs), her two sons (Buglar and Howard), and her two daughters (one named Denver) lived in the house with her.

My Review of Home by Toni Morrison

Home is a novel about two siblings Frank and Cee who grew up very poor with a mean old grandmother, indifferent grandfather and parents. While growing up, Frank was basically responsible for his sister, Cee. He took her everywhere or rather she followed him everywhere and protected her. Eventually, he enlisted in the military and left home. Home told the story mostly from Frank’s point of view. We got to find out about Frank’s experience in the military, his inner/mental struggles, his failed marriage, his return home, his experience with racism, and his fight to rescue his sister from a psycho doctor.

My Review of Disgruntled by Asali Solomon

Disgruntled is a novel about a young girl, Kenya who lived with her very pro-black family and went to school where she was the only girl that didn’t celebrate Christmas. Her parents celebrated Kwanzaa and did’t believe in American holidays. Her father, Johnbrown was raised rich; his mother was wealthy and sometimes used her influence to get him out of trouble. For whatever reason, which was not disclosed in the book, Johnbrown left home, got married and never kept in touch with his mother. Unbeknownst to him though, his wife, Sheila kept in touch with his mother and visited regularly to collect money from her. After his mother passed away, she left most of her possessions to Sheila including a college trust fund for Kenya.