Deadly Harvest

Deadly Harvest

BY DEATHBECOMESHER ⋅ AUGUST 8, 2013 ⋅ POST A COMMENT

FILED UNDER  AFRICA, ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH, BOTSWANA, DETECTIVE KUBU,MICHAEL STANLEY, NO1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY, POLICE PROCEDURAL, SAMANTHA KHARMA, WITCH DOCTOR

Written by Michael Stanley – Through the auspices of Alexander McCall Smith and his wonderful creation Mma Precious Ramotswe of The No1 Ladies’ Detective Agency fame, I feel as if I’ve visited Botswana on many occasions. Now, thanks to Michael Stanley, I’m back there again, and it suddenly seems a much darker place.

Deadly Harvest is the fourth in a series of novels featuring David ‘Kubu’ Bengu, Assistant Superintendent in the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. Kubu is Setswana for hippopotamus and like Mma Ramotswe, Detective Bengu is of ‘traditional’ build. He has a love for tea, cookies, and food in general, but although his body might be slow and cumbersome, Kubu’s brain is as sharp as a tack.

Set very much in the Africa of the 21st century, Deadly Harvest has a plot which doesn’t shy away from the continent’s problems, whether they be the scourge of AIDS or the fact that many people still believe in, and rely upon, the powers of witchcraft.

The story begins as a young orphan girl is offered a lift home by a mysterious man. Little Lesego is never seen again, but her disappearance is soon forgotten by local police, who believe she could have run away from the home of her aunt. Her sister thinks differently, although no-one will listen to her. Soon after, a second girl disappears and her distraught father, Witness Maleng, leads the fruitless search for her.

It appears to be another case destined to go nowhere, but new detective Samantha Kharma sees similarities to an old case from her childhood. She is the green newcomer, and a woman, which makes it hard for her to be taken seriously, but Samantha believes the girls are being taken for muti, the traditional form of African medicine which usually employs plants and...