By Liz Soares
I love the way mystery novels take me places—to Alexander McCall Smith’s Botswana, Cara Black’s Paris, Louise Penny’s Québec—and Kwei Quartey’s Ghana.
Let’s face it—I knew virtually nothing about West Africa before I encountered Quartey’s series featuring Detective Inspector Darko Dawson of the Accra police department. Now, I’m ready for a visit to one of the most stable countries in Africa, which has miles of beautiful coastline along the Gulf of Guinea.
In this compelling installment in a fine series, Dawson travels down that coast to the twin cities of Sekondi-Takoradi to investigate the murder of a well-known, well-connected couple, Fiona and Charles Smith-Aidoo. The region is experiencing an oil boom, and the Smith-Aidoos turn up dead on a canoe that floats by an offshore drilling rig. Charles has been beheaded. Their niece, Sapphire, whom they raised, is a medical officer aboard the rig—and sees the gruesome sight. The doctor, a formidable and beautiful woman, wants answers.
They could be found in the convoluted, and sometimes even violent, history of the Smith-Aidoo and Sarbah families. A family tree at the front of the book is helpful for sorting out the connections.
For starters, Sapphire’s father, Brian, resents the fact that Charles and Fiona took custody of his daughter after he institutionalized her schizophrenic mother.
Then there’s Jason Sarbah, who’s taken Charles’ place at the British oil company Malgam. He was Charles’ first cousin, but held a grudge against him, blaming Charles, indirectly, for the death of his daughter.
The traditional way of life in the area, with its fishing villages and cozy resorts, is tangling with the new money of the oil industry, causing other tensions. One of those threatened is the red-haired Englishman, Reggie Cardiman. Malgam wants to take over his resort at Cape Three Points, the place he calls “his slice of paradise.”
Nana Ackah, is the yensei—chief—of the Akwidaa village. He’s “a scrawny man in his early sixties, dressed traditionally with yards of richly patterned cloth wrapped around his body and thrown over his shoulder, and he wore it well.”
Malgam had offered financial help to the village, but wanted to move it. Nana said no, but the company was paying off elders in the village. Nana says Charles had promised to “give me a little something and make sure I had a very fine chief’s house” if Nana could convince the elders and the village to move. The scheme fell through.
Activists also faced off against Malgam, most notably the whimsically named Quashie Quarshie.
The Smith-Aidoos were smack in the middle of this maelstrom: Charles was vice president of corporate affairs at Malgam. Fiona was a politician, the first female head of the Metropolitan Assembly. She replaced former chief Kwesi DeSouza in the wake of a scandal, and he was her bitter enemy.
There’s even the possibility that “juju” (magic) could be involved.
Dawson is glad his cousin lives in Takoradi, because the police department won’t reimburse any expenses. Abe is remodeling a bungalow in hopes of renting it out to tourists, and Dawson can stay there. Detective Sergeant Philip Chikata, Dawson’s junior partner, is the son of Chief Superintendent Lartey, his boss. The spoiled Chikata gets to stay at a fancy resort, but Dawson doesn’t hold it against him.
One of the pleasures of mysteries set in foreign locales is the descriptions of food, and Quartey does not disappoint. The characters’ meals include fried plantain, banku with talipia and jollof rice. I was bemused by the kenkey balls, made of fermented maize meal and wrapped in plantain leaves, but after looking at pictures of them, I decided they do look delicious. Dawson likes to joke with his son, Hosiah, asking him if he is “hungry enough to eat 20 balls of kenkey.”
Quartey’s descriptions of life in Ghana are colorful. The landscape is filled with kapok, mahogany and flame trees, while goats and dogs roam freely in the villages. In Sekondi Harbor, “Women and men carried pungent loads of fish on their heads in heavy, metal basins…crowds of fishermen carried on a brisk and noisy business with the market women…Under a long shaded structure with open sides, both men and women sorted through the fishermen’s catches and displayed some of the largest fish Dawson had ever seen.”
Dawson is a likable and complex character. He is a good husband and father, but he does crave “wee”—marijuana. Dawson still bears a grudge against his own father. He is a man who enjoys drinking the non-alcoholic Guinness Malta, “rich with malt and hops, and deadly sweet,” and watching a football match between Manchester United and Arsenal. Dawson must face his fear of flying when he travels to the oil rig by helicopter.
He’s also a thoughtful, reflective detective. After traveling all over the region in a taxi driven by a lanky native named Baah, Dawson puts the pieces together and finds closure for Dr. Sapphire Smith-Aidoo. He also uncovers a major oil industry scandal at the same time.
Let’s face it—I knew virtually nothing about West Africa before I encountered Quartey’s series featuring Detective Inspector Darko Dawson of the Accra police department. Now, I’m ready for a visit to one of the most stable countries in Africa, which has miles of beautiful coastline along the Gulf of Guinea.
In this compelling installment in a fine series, Dawson travels down that coast to the twin cities of Sekondi-Takoradi to investigate the murder of a well-known, well-connected couple, Fiona and Charles Smith-Aidoo. The region is experiencing an oil boom, and the Smith-Aidoos turn up dead on a canoe that floats by an offshore drilling rig. Charles has been beheaded. Their niece, Sapphire, whom they raised, is a medical officer aboard the rig—and sees the gruesome sight. The doctor, a formidable and beautiful woman, wants answers.
They could be found in the convoluted, and sometimes even violent, history of the Smith-Aidoo and Sarbah families. A family tree at the front of the book is helpful for sorting out the connections.
For starters, Sapphire’s father, Brian, resents the fact that Charles and Fiona took custody of his daughter after he institutionalized her schizophrenic mother.
Then there’s Jason Sarbah, who’s taken Charles’ place at the British oil company Malgam. He was Charles’ first cousin, but held a grudge against him, blaming Charles, indirectly, for the death of his daughter.
The traditional way of life in the area, with its fishing villages and cozy resorts, is tangling with the new money of the oil industry, causing other tensions. One of those threatened is the red-haired Englishman, Reggie Cardiman. Malgam wants to take over his resort at Cape Three Points, the place he calls “his slice of paradise.”
Nana Ackah, is the yensei—chief—of the Akwidaa village. He’s “a scrawny man in his early sixties, dressed traditionally with yards of richly patterned cloth wrapped around his body and thrown over his shoulder, and he wore it well.”
Malgam had offered financial help to the village, but wanted to move it. Nana said no, but the company was paying off elders in the village. Nana says Charles had promised to “give me a little something and make sure I had a very fine chief’s house” if Nana could convince the elders and the village to move. The scheme fell through.
Activists also faced off against Malgam, most notably the whimsically named Quashie Quarshie.
The Smith-Aidoos were smack in the middle of this maelstrom: Charles was vice president of corporate affairs at Malgam. Fiona was a politician, the first female head of the Metropolitan Assembly. She replaced former chief Kwesi DeSouza in the wake of a scandal, and he was her bitter enemy.
There’s even the possibility that “juju” (magic) could be involved.
Dawson is glad his cousin lives in Takoradi, because the police department won’t reimburse any expenses. Abe is remodeling a bungalow in hopes of renting it out to tourists, and Dawson can stay there. Detective Sergeant Philip Chikata, Dawson’s junior partner, is the son of Chief Superintendent Lartey, his boss. The spoiled Chikata gets to stay at a fancy resort, but Dawson doesn’t hold it against him.
One of the pleasures of mysteries set in foreign locales is the descriptions of food, and Quartey does not disappoint. The characters’ meals include fried plantain, banku with talipia and jollof rice. I was bemused by the kenkey balls, made of fermented maize meal and wrapped in plantain leaves, but after looking at pictures of them, I decided they do look delicious. Dawson likes to joke with his son, Hosiah, asking him if he is “hungry enough to eat 20 balls of kenkey.”
Quartey’s descriptions of life in Ghana are colorful. The landscape is filled with kapok, mahogany and flame trees, while goats and dogs roam freely in the villages. In Sekondi Harbor, “Women and men carried pungent loads of fish on their heads in heavy, metal basins…crowds of fishermen carried on a brisk and noisy business with the market women…Under a long shaded structure with open sides, both men and women sorted through the fishermen’s catches and displayed some of the largest fish Dawson had ever seen.”
Dawson is a likable and complex character. He is a good husband and father, but he does crave “wee”—marijuana. Dawson still bears a grudge against his own father. He is a man who enjoys drinking the non-alcoholic Guinness Malta, “rich with malt and hops, and deadly sweet,” and watching a football match between Manchester United and Arsenal. Dawson must face his fear of flying when he travels to the oil rig by helicopter.
He’s also a thoughtful, reflective detective. After traveling all over the region in a taxi driven by a lanky native named Baah, Dawson puts the pieces together and finds closure for Dr. Sapphire Smith-Aidoo. He also uncovers a major oil industry scandal at the same time.
Murder at Cape Three Points, is a satisfying read from all perspectives: a solid mystery, a fascinating tour of one section of exotic and lovely Ghana, and, of course, a mouth-watering buffet of fufu, kelewele, and “Red Red,” fried plantains and black-eyed peas “reddened by palm oil.” Mmm-hmmm.
