Shoshong and A Death in the Family - Special Offer

Buttress over the river

This week I want to return to one of the most interesting places in Botswana, Shoshong. Shoshong has a long and complex history (and prehistory) in southern Africa. It is also the setting for the Detective Kubu mystery A Death in the Family, which was chosen as the theme for a cultural festival held in Shoshong. (Another reason why it's one of my favorite places!) 

To celebrate all these things about Shoshong, and the upcoming launch of our new Kubu book A Deadly Covenant (set in another of my favorite places in Botswana, but more about that next week), we are offering A Death in the Family ebook for 99c in the US and Canada until the end of Bouchercon, (September 11). This applies to all formats for the ebook. If you've already read the book and enjoyed it, please let your friends know about this special offer. After all, they only have 99c to lose...

Angry scene from the book reenacted at the
Bollapela Cultural Festival

So back to Shoshong.

View from the air

Few people outside Botswana have heard of Shoshong, yet in its day it was a very important town in southern Africa – much more so than the current capital of Gaborone (which hardly existed at that time) and many South African towns that are now regarded as significant (such as Johnnesburg).  Founded in the mid nineteenth century, it was chosen for two critical reasons – it is protected on the north by a horseshoe of hills which are difficult to climb because of screes of dolorite boulders, and it had comparatively plentiful water from the Bonwapitse river which flows into the town through a gorge in the hills.  In fact, the hills were home to stone age people long before the Tswana people.  The leader of the Bangwato people, Sekgoma I, made it his capital when he conquered the Bakaa people in 1849.  Since the Matabele to the north were pretty unfriendly neighbors at the time, the hills formed a welcome shield. Sekgoma's son, Khama III, consolidated and built Shoshong into a strategic center of around 30,000 people.

Across Shoshong to the hills

The town thrived because it was strategically placed on the main road north between what is now southern Botswana and Zimbabwe.  It became an important trading center and was host to hunters, missionaries, and famous explorers - including David Livingstone, who passed through.  Some Europeans settled there and traces of their tin-roofed rectangular houses and artifacts have been found in the area.  Christianity was introduced by John Mackenzie in 1868 when he built the Moffat Institution for the London Missionary Society there.  A church bell was found in the area – the only surviving evidence of the church.  It seemed Shoshong was here to stay.

Paper-bark tree in the hills

But Shashong’s Achilles’ heel was the very reason for its existence – the river.  A prolonged drought and the settlement’s stress on the environment left the town almost dry and surrounded by semi-desert.  By 1889 the town was described as “a filthy place with only one trickling well.”  Khama III told his people to pack up and move, which they did, leaving behind a ghost town. 

Little remains to be seen of Old Shoshong, only the remains of the stone walls and the graves both old and new that are filling the space between the Kgotla (meeting place) at the north of the new town and the gorge.  Even though the town was resettled and is quite a thriving little place these days, it never regained its importance. However, it lies in one of Botswana's mining provinces, and in A Death in he Family, we postulate a Chinese-owned mine in the area. The increasing influence of China in southern Africa (and indeed in Africa as a whole) and the relationship that Chinese immigrants have to the local people is the backdrop to the story, which begins with the murder of Kubu's father in Mochudi. There's a CIA connection too, and Kubu makes a visit to New York...

Lots of events coming up for the release of A Deadly Covenant. Here's the September schedule:

Wednesday, 7. 4:30 – 5:30 pm 

Totally Criminal Cocktail Hour at Valley Bookstore

The Zephyr Theatre, 601 N Main St, Stillwater, MN 55082

Find out more about the event HERE.

 

Friday, 9, 1:45 – 2:30 pm 

BOUCHERCON Panel:

The Mystery of Multiple Points of View and Multiple Timelines (Writers use dual perspectives/multiple narrators and alternating timelines to tell their stories.)

Marty Ambrose; William Boyle; Mary R. Davidsaver; B.A. Shapiro; Julie Carrick Dalton; Stanley Trollip (Moderator)

Saturday, 10, 11:30 -12:15 pm 

BOUCHERCON Panel:

Under the Sun or Below Zero (You’ve heard of “setting as a character.” Well … what about the weather?  These authors’ works represent a dichotomy of climates where rising temps or bone-chilling cold are just as effective as any villain.)

Alexander McCall Smith; Stan Trollip (Michael Stanley); Catriona McPherson; Jo Nesbø ; Matthew Goldman (Moderator); Caro Ramsay

Thursday, 15, 12:30 – 1:00 pm (UK time) 

Virtual event at the International Agatha Christie Festival

Agatha in Africa

Michael, Stanley and Zimbabwe author Bryony Rheam discuss Agatha Christie’s trip to South Africa and Southern Rhodesia and its connection with her mystery thriller The Man in the Brown Suit.

 

Monday 19, 6:00 pm 

Nokomis Library event

5100 S 34th Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55417 Phone: 612-543-6800

 

Wednesday 21, 6:00 pm 

Thomas St. Angelo Public Library of Cumberland event

1305 2nd Ave, Cumberland, WI 54829. Phone: 715-822-2767

 

Thursday 22, 6:30 pm 

Spooner Library event

421 High St, Spooner, WI 54801 Phone. 715-635-2792

 

Saturday 24, 1200

The Bookstore at Fitger’s

600 East Superior Street, Duluth MN 55802

Tuesday, 27, 6:00 pm 

Launch of A Deadly Covenant at Once Upon A Crime

604 W. 26th Street, Minneapolis, MN 5540 Phone: 612.870.3785 Email: onceuponacrimebooks@gmail.com

With Mary Ann Grossman

Saturday is for funerals

Michael - Thursday

The title is stolen from Unity Dow, an extraordinary woman who has been a lawyer, novelist, sociological researcher, high court judge, and minister of education in Botswana. The book is about the AIDS epidemic that devastated the country. At one time, Botswana had the highest rate of infection of any country in the world, and every Saturday had to be reserved.

Why talk about funerals now? you reasonably ask. Haven't we got enough depressing stuff? Well, funerals have become a big issue in this part of the world at the moment — not because of the deaths from Covid, but because of their role in spreading it. In order to understand why, we need to understand the role of the funeral in many African cultures. It’s the closing of a loop, an event at least as important as any in the deceased’s life, and the point at which that life is celebrated and recognized. And anyone who knew, or knew of, the deceased is expected to attend.

Tswana funeral

In the Setswana culture, for example, after the immediate preparation of the body, elderly persons are dispatched to inform all the relatives. The more personal this is the better. People converge on the home of the dead person from far and wide. Many keep vigil outside the home all night. The news spreads. More people join. Prayers and condolence sermons take place during the day. Relatives and older people known to the family must attend these, and absence is frowned upon. There’s a master of ceremonies for all this.

Traditionally, the night before the funeral, the corpse arrives at the home. Young men are sent to dig the grave, and must then stay away from the body; they have their own fireplace outside the compound, and are known as the “human hyenas”. The next morning, amidst prayers, many mourners stand up and praise the deceased, listing the virtues exhibited. By now it’s not only friends and relatives who are present but the whole village and as many people from beyond as can reach the location. Not only is anyone welcome to attend, but everyone who knew, or knew of, the deceased is expected to attend. And after the burial, the tension and mourning is relieved by a huge feast—the “after tears.” In our book, “A Death in the Family”, Kubu is almost bankrupted by all this!

So now we come to the time of Covid and social distancing. During our initial “hard” lockdown, only family were allowed to travel to, or attend, funerals. (No other ceremonies such as weddings were allowed at all.) Many people regarded this as the most invasive regulation, worse than curfews, and travel and alcohol bans. As things relaxed, up to fifty people were allowed to attend, and travel from anywhere in the country, but parties remained forbidden. However, last weekend the state president berated people for ignoring all of this. It’s not hard to predict the outcomes of these large gatherings when the close family of the deceased might well be infected themselves!

The virus opportunistically makes use of our social customs to its own advantage—whether they be large funerals or spring breaks.

President Ramaphosa doing the imbizo

Last night the president held a “virtual imbizo” – a session where people could use social media or the broadcast media to ask him and his team questions. It was impressive, and if he stuck to the party line, at least he shared his thoughts and made people feel that their input was important. They could be as critical as they liked. (One complained about the limit on the size of funerals!) Can you imagine Donald Trump doing anything like that? He'd have to listen to the question for a start.

We now have 4,500 Covid deaths and over 300,000 cases in total in South Africa—a pretty low death rate by world standards. Unfortunately, the number of excess deaths over what would be normal for the last four months is more like 11,000, pretty much the expected rate. There will be more funerals ahead.

This is all so depressing that I must finish on a more cheerful note. I haven’t read the new White House satire “Make Russia Great Again” by Christopher Buckley, but if the book is as good as the review by Ron Charles in the Washington Post, then it should be a scream. Charles’s last line: “Laughter may not be the best medicine for covid-19, but it’s a heck of a lot better than bleach.”

Kgotla

Michael - Thursday

Angela Seiphetlheng
speaking at the event

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of being invited to the Bollapela Cultural Festival held in Shoshong in Botswana.  Shoshong features in our latest book – A Death in the Family – and I’ve written about its dramatic scenery and interesting history here before.  The festival is the brainchild of Nyane Angela Seiphetlheng whose love for her home town and its culture and sheer determination made it a reality.  This is the second in what is planned to be an annual event.  This year Angela came up with the idea of linking the book and the cultural aspects through the kgotla which also features in a significant way in the novel.

Sharon Thipe singing about Kubu

At first pass, the concept seems difficult for a western person to understand.  The kgotla is a place, usually a central location in the village, but it’s also an event, basically a meeting at which the chief presides with family and elders of the community, and it functions as a law court also.  Although the chief or kgosi will have the final say, all members of the village are entitled to attend to give their opinions and have them listened to, the aim is to build consensus.  Really the concept is not that foreign, after all modern democracy came from the Greek system where all citizens assembled just like this to reach a majority decision – only men in that case, of course.

Kgosi Mosiele
delivering the guest address

Two local chiefs attended the festival and the guest speaker was also a chief – Kgosi Oscar Mosielele of Moshupa.  I was fortunate to spend two evenings with him over dinner, learning some of his views and getting to know him.  He pointed out that the kgotla is more than just a meeting place or a meeting, important as those aspects are.  It's the heart of the village, and if the village is thought of as an extended family, then it is the center of that family.  So although the title A Death in the Family refers to the murder of Kubu’s elderly father, it actually has a dual meaning since a death at the kgotla can be thought of in that way too, and killing takes place at the kgotla. Fascinating what one learns about one’s own books!  

I wish I’d been able to follow what was being said in the talks at the event, but this was by and for the locals and most of it took place in Setswana.  (But you can read a summary of the Kgosi Mosiele's speech in Botswana's Daily News here .)  

Traditional home

The kitchen is the center of the home

Indeed, the opening session was itself a kgotla; we sat around a curved wall with the women – sitting separately - dressed in matching checked blankets, and it was followed by traditional food served from a cooking pot over an open fire.  I sat between one of the chiefs and the local member of parliament – referred to as ‘MP.’  It was quite amazing to be literally rubbling shoulders with such senior leaders!

Gathering showing the kgotla at the right

The way the book fits in is that there is a strong theme in it around the kgotla at Shoshong – yes, Shoshong!  This was incorporated into the festival program by actors performing these sections of the book, and a singer telling of Kubu’s sorrow in song.  It was an amazing experience to see the Black Tswana Drummers bringing the book to life in front of my eyes –  even more so because it was all in Setswana, just as it would be in reality.  One is always nervous about writing within someone else’s culture; what a complement to have the book woven into it in this way.

In A Death in the Family, the chief is trying to work out whether to allow a neighboring mine to expand onto his land, and calls a kgotla to discuss it.  There’s immediate friction between the young people who want the jobs promised by the mine, and the older people who’re nervous of the promises and the impact on their traditional culture.  Kgosi Mosiele told me this is not uncommon; indeed the young people tend to focus more on the western style democracy and don’t take much notice of the kgotla, finding out about decisions taken on Whatsap!

The chief promises to consider the matter, but partly as a result of his son’s inappropriate interference -in the chief’s view - he rejects the mine’s request.

A riot follows.

Another speaker at the event, Dr. Nthoi, a retired professor at the University of Botswana – he says he’s now at the university of life - pointed out in his talk after the performance that the chief had not really listened to his people, that the kgotla had failed as a result.

Traditional dancing - Mokibe Primary School

It was an event I will never forget, and I will always be grateful to Angela for making it all happen.  And for my very small contribution, I was presented with something that will always remind me:

Kubu!

BOLLAPELA CULTURAL FESTIVAL

Michael - Thursday - talking to Angela Seiphetlheng

 We’re often asked whether our books are sold and well received in Botswana – a natural question since that’s where they’re set.  Botswana has a small population, and an even smaller group who read fiction, but all our books are always on sale in Gaborone.  Still, you can imagine how thrilled we were when we met Nyane Angela Seiphetlheng, she was enthusiastic about the books, and decided to choose A DEATH IN THE FAMILY as the centerpiece for one of Botswana’s major arts and culture festivals that she organizes in the Shoshong area.

It’s a great honor, and I’m going to be at the festival to enjoy every minute of it.  Anyone planning a trip in southern Africa, please join us!

I wanted to find out more about the festival and about Angela – who is one of Botswana’s amazing go-getters.  She is one of those people who does the hard things at once, and takes a little longer to do the impossible!  So I asked her about the festival and invite you to share the discussion.

Would you tell us a little about the Festival and why it takes place in Shoshong?

Nyane Events, will host a cultural activity on the 4^th June 2016.  The cultural event in Shoshong will have a special feature to it based on a novel launched in August 2015, Botswana- Gaborone, by its authors Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip called, A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. This is a detective crime series novel with part of its setting covering Shoshong, Tobela, Mochudi and Gaborone.

After a study carried out in 2010 around the Shoshong constituency, it emerged with areas for potential investment being Agriculture, Tourism; Eco-tourism, Mining, Solar Energy, Waste Management; Biofuel, Potential opportunities presented by the B112 road linking major villages of Molepolole, Shoshong and Serowe, to be marketed as a gateway to major tourist sites of Maun, Chobe, Okavango and Victoria Falls, to list a few. I am a member of a village development committee (Shoshong Your Investment Destination committee) and as its Vice chairperson, I am tasked with the mandate of taking the message to the world about this gem area of Shoshong constituency and it’s potential.

The Shoshong Hills in late afternoon

Shoshong area has:

       Colonial Heritage includes buildings, and missionary heritage sites.

      Historical Heritage- Shoshong is the first village of Baphaleng, Bakaa, Bangwato, Bakgalagadi and other early Tswana Communities.

       Archaeological Heritage includes pottery remains, burials and monuments.

      Natural Heritage include Hills that have historical storylines associated with them as well as rocks that are associated with the village identity such as Lesoso, bollapela, majwe-maswaana to list a few.

     Cultural Heritage Sites: Marele Engraves ( referred to as Ntswe le tswa batho) in the Kodibeleng area; Marele Hill (Kodibeleng); Old Shoshong site where we find the church bell and Ironstones outcrops; Mareletsane Gorge, visible from tarred road from Mahalapye, Sunyaneng Gorge found in the Shoshong Hills; Pitsane Hilltop found in Shoshong Hills;  

      The historic routes: There are also routes that link up Shoshong and Kalamare, passing through the Old Shoshong hill site, passing by the magnificent view of Sogwang. This route is less than 20km. There is also a breath taking route to Mmutlane that can take less than 15minutes going on top of the hill from Shoshong. When you are in destination Mmutlane at the hill top, there is flat land. This route has been used for years and is still being used to date.

View of Shoshong from the Hills

It is against this background that the Bollapela Cultural festival will try to promote tourism, culture and arts in the form of dramatization of certain parts of the novel, drawing or painting as well as sculptures of scenes or characters from the novel. This will form a great part of the celebrations of the cultural day activities of traditional games, music, ancestors worship, folklores and stories of Shoshong area.

The event will be held under the theme:

CELEBRATING CULTURE AND ARTS IN PROMOTING TOURISM IN THE SHOSHONG RICH HISTORIC AREA.  

What persuaded you to have Detective Kubu as the centerpiece of this year’s festival?

I read the first Michael Stanley novel- A CARRION DEATH - and got hooked from the day I opened the first page in 2015. As I got to follow them as I was also researching on Shoshong and its surrounding areas to promote, I came across information that their fifth novel was to be out by August same year and its partly based on Shoshong and Tobela. I couldn’t wait to see what the big, opera and wine loving Kubu would be doing in my village Shoshong.

The novel not only embraces a great place in Botswana with a rich historic background but also promotes the area internationally as a potential tourist destination. Detective Kubu had to be celebrated in Shoshong and the 2016 cultural event had to embrace him for his services in Shoshong.

And on a personal note, I love the work of Detective Kubu because I grew up watching my father, the Late Kgakgamatso Seiphetlheng who was a famous Crime Detective Investigator in Botswana from a small village in the middle of a horse shoe of hills- Shoshong. Admired by a lot of his peers in the police department, having worked in areas of Maun, Lobatse, Palapye, Francistown busting crimes and catching thieves. Well-known as Silverfox by women, children and criminals. He was also called as part of the investigation team for the ritual murder case of the young girl Segametsi Mogomotsi at Mochudi. I am also excited that Michael Stanley wrote DEADLY HARVEST novel based on this incidence. I so wish my dad was around to appreciate this art.

That’s fascinating Angela. We were told about the Mogomotsi case by a previous director of the CID, Rra Mulale.  We knew that one day we would have to write a book based on it.  I wish we had met your father.  Maybe our detective would be called Silverback instead of Kubu if we had!

What attracted you to A DEATH IN THE FAMILY in particular?

I found the novel to be God sent, a novel that touched on issues of culture, effects of developments on culture, youth, the elderly and change, mining in the area of Shoshong- Tobela, the rich history found in the Shoshong area and the huge potential it has on tourism.  It also talks of corruption that comes about with globalization, invasion of the Chinese into Africa, particularly Botswana and the Americans. All these aspects are covered in a creative manner, by great authors, passionate about Botswana and they packaged the Shoshong area in an artistic way that would attract both the young and elderly to take a moment and look at Shoshong and Tobela.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how the groups interpret the issues that we raise in the book! Has there been a lot of interest in the theme?

The part that will be dramatized are the ones where activities happen at the Kgotla. The theme derived of the novel is- How the Kgotla setup can enhance the development of rural communities through fruitful deliberations from both the youth and the elderly.

There has been lots of excitement around this theme from the village leadership being Chiefs. The Chairpeson of House of Chiefs- Kgosi Gaborone is aware of this project, the Shoshong chiefs have been made aware and will be launching the Kgotla that will be built at the events venue. Not only will this Kgotla be used for drama but the Chief would like to do all official opening of event and welcoming of Chief Oscar Mosielele of Moshupa- the guest speaker at that Kgotla to embrace our culture. Kgosi Mosielele already has a copy of A DEATH IN THE FAMILY.

The Shoshong youth drama group (Black Tswana Drama Group) who have been struggling with exposure and having a career with what they love most being drama have read the novel and excited to be given this platform. It’s the passion they have to try and wow the world about their skill and a great novel. Regardless of the financial challenges they are facing now to meet since they travel from Shoshong to Kalamare to meet up with other team members, it’s the passion in their eyes created by this novel that melts me. Most of them are unemployed.

One of the unemployed young ladies in her twenties from Shoshong heard me making a presentation about the event and asked to read the novel. She completed the novel in 3 days saying she couldn’t put it down. She has since produced a song about Detective Kubu.

Would you tell us a little about the food that will be available at the event.

Setswana variety of foods will be at the event. Bogobe jwa mabele (sorghum meal), bogobe jwa lerotse, seswaa (pounded meat), mokoro, nama ya tlhogo, serobe (tripe stew) sebete (liver stew), morogo wa dinawa (beans leaves), phane worms.

There will be game meat, game biltong and sausages.

As a way of appreciating the international features of the novel, we will be having Chinese and American foods stalls, to embrace the different cultures that determine the diet of people of Botswana and Shoshong now.

Do you feel the Detective Kubu novels realistically reflect life in modern Botswana? I know you will be absolutely honest!

YES, YES, YES, Ohhhhh YES. That’s why I easily related to it. I visualized the areas and activities of the novel that I can’t wait for someone to do movies of series for Detective Kubu. I guess that why I wanted to see how people could translate it in drama, paintings or drawing of scenes they visualize as they read the novel.

Angela, thanks so much! I’m really looking forward to being at the festival.  It will be a highlight of the year!

A Death in the Family

Michael and Stanley - Thursday

Tuesday saw the release of the new Detective Kubu mystery, A DEATH IN THE FAMILY.  We were delighted to have the launch once again at the wonderful Once Upon a Crime bookshop in Minneapolis and are grateful to Pat and Gary and all the friends and readers who came to support us.

Signing

Backlist! With request to support wonderful Books for Africa!

Awaiting purchase!

More signing!

Standing-room only!

Michael talking

The idea for the story originated during a trip Stanley made through northern Namibia and Botswana.  In Namibia, even in the smallest towns, he noticed a proliferation of Chinese-owned shops.  He also saw several instances of local Namibians joking with the Chinese, who appeared not to want to join in the fun.

When Stanley was driving between Katchikau and Goma Bridge in north-west Botswana – a road we’ve both driven several times before – he found the road now paved, with no economic reason justifying the upgrade.  Then he saw a new, small village next to the road – a Chinese village – surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.

The metropolis of Katchikau

Subsequent research showed that many infrastructure projects were being done by Chinese companies that imported Chinese labor, ignoring the locals. So there was a situation where locals were being side-lined by the Chinese; the Chinese were making no attempts at integrating with the locals and were isolating themselves; and the natural friendliness of the locals was being rebuffed by the Chinese.

What a good backdrop for a murder mystery!

And we discovered a lot more as we dug deeper.  Chinese companies were using the muscle of their government to undercut other contractors, and often offering barter deals for raw materials in the poorer countries.  And sometimes they also combined low quality with low prices.  The new airport in Gaborone was years overdue when the Botswana government eventually fired the Chinese contractor; the new power station has yet to reach better than fifty percent capacity without failure.

The new airport -
 after it had been finished by a German company.

Chinese-run infrastructure project

For the story, we wanted to do two things.  First, we wanted to take both Kubu and ourselves out of our comfort zones.  Second, we wanted the backstory to paint the picture of what we saw with respect to the Chinese in Africa.

To accomplish the first goal - taking Kubu and ourselves into places we hadn't been - the story has Kubu's beloved father murdered at the beginning of he book.  To make things worse, Kubu is sidelined from the investigation for fear that his presence would contaminate any prosecution.  Can Kubu stay out of the investigation?  Of course not!  Each time he tries to do something, his boss Mabaku gets angrier, eventually banishing Kubu to New York to deliver a speech to Interpol in his place.  Kubu's frustration is so great that he actually stops eating!

For the backstory, we situated a Chinese-owned mine near Shoshong—a historic town a few hours drive from Gaborone.  The mine wants to expand and promises jobs in an area far from the diamond riches; however, the elders want to preserve the culture and history of their village.

Modern Shoshong from the hills

As an aside, few people outside Botswana have heard of Shoshong, yet in its day it was the most important inland town in southern Africa – much more so than the current capital of Gaborone (which hardly existed at that time). 

The town thrived because it was strategically placed on the main road between Zimbabwe and southern Botswana.  It became an important trading centre and was host to hunters, missionaries, and famous explorers - including David Livingstone.  Some Europeans settled there, and traces of their tin-roofed rectangular houses and artefacts have been found in the area. 

However, the river dried up, and a prolonged drought caused the town to be abandoned in 1889.

The river today

Today, little is left of old Shoshong - only the remains of a few stone walls and the graveyard, and the memories of the elders of good times past.

Kubu's frustrations are somewhat mollified by having to investigate the apparent suicide of a government official. The threads lead him to the US embassy and to the Chinese owners of the Shoshong mine.  And eventually to the reason for his father’s murder.

For the past week or so, we've been gnawing on our fingernails waiting for reactions to our newest baby.  Every writer knows what that's about.  Fortunately, the initial reviews of A Death in the Family have been positive!  So forgive this annual BSP (Blatant Self Promotion) blog and allow us to quote a few:

The fifth rip-roaring mystery in the Detective Kubu series…exceptional police procedural plot…—South African Sunday Times

 Kubu returns with a vengeance – but what is prowling in the darkness of Botswana is more dangerous than the four-legged predators.  Then there are the Chinese who just may be the most dangerous of all … I love it!
—Charles Todd (New York Times best-selling author)

Engrossing fifth mystery…as always, Stanley (the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip) brings to life a Botswana different from the one familiar to Alexander McCall Smith readers.
—Publishers Weekly

Like all the Kubu books, this one weaves societal and cultural problems into the plot. In this case, it's the generational divide between young people in the village of Shoshong who want the mine to expand because they need jobs, and the elders, who remember when promises of new houses and other goodies were made and not fulfilled. The way the young people speak to the elders is shocking to many older people who fear Botswana's traditions of respect are eroding. When there is a riot in the village during an elders' meeting, Kubu figures someone instigated it.

But was it the Chinese or one of his countrymen?

Sears and Trollip, both retired professors, have been in and out of Botswana much of their adult lives and their writing reflects their love for the landscape and the people. Kubu is an endearing character, even when he's angry, and you feel the people of Botswana are safe when this big man is on the job.
—Mary Ann Grossmann in The Pioneer Press.


This latest Detective Kubu Mystery is a gem, although the Botswana assistant superintendent of its CID is one frustrated detective throughout most of the novel.

—Ted Feit

We'd love to see you at one of our events.  Please visit www.detectivekubu.com or www.facebook.com/MichaelStanleyBooks for details.