The challenge of unraveling the many mysteries of Africa has been taken up by Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, natives of Johannesburg and veterans of many flying safaris. Writing as Michael Stanley in A CARRION DEATH, ...the two adventurers have produced a first novel saturated with local color . . . the oversize plot is a reflection of its protagonist, Assistant Superintendent David Bengu of the Botswana police, whose great girth and immense appetite account for his nickname, Kubu, the Setswana word for hippopotamus. Happily, Kubu is also hugely appealing – big and solid and smart enough to grasp all angles of this mystery... Readers may be lured to Africa by the landscape, but it takes a great character like Kubu to win our loyalty.
New York Times Book Review, April 13, 2008
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This impressive debut from Stanley, the South African writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, introduces overweight assistant superintendent David Bengu of the Botswana Police Department, whose nickname is, fittingly, Kubu (Setswanan for hippopotamus). In investigating the case of a partially consumed human body found in a remote area of a game reserve, Kubu keeps running across tangential links to Botswana Cattle and Mining, the country`s largest company. As more people connected to the case turn up dead, Kubu realizes that multiple murder may be just the byproduct of a much more heinous crime. The intricate plotting, a grisly sense of realism and numerous topical motifs (the plight of the Kalahari Bushmen, diamond smuggling, poaching, the homogenization of African culture, etc.) make this a compulsively readable novel. Despite a shared setting with Alexander McCall Smith`s No. 1 Ladies` Detective Agency series, this fast-paced forensic thriller will resonate more with fans of Patricia Cornwell`s Kay Scarpetta.
Publishers Weekly, February 25, 2008
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Clea Simon writes in th Boston Globe, "Kubu himself is a marvelous creation, his distinctive characteristics - his weight, his taste in music - as well considered as the plot. And if his Botswana is more violent than McCall Smith`s, it is depicted with its distinctive beauty intact as well. This is a marvelous debut, and with any luck, Kubu`s next outing will be as filling and tasty as one of the large man`s dream meals."
Boston Globe, April 14, 2008
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[A] fast-moving story . . . Rich with the atmosphere of modern Botswana, and peopled with interesting and well-drawn characters, this is an exciting debut, which will leave readers looking forward to reading the next investigation of Assistant Superintendent Kubu. Recommended to readers who like the Botswana setting of Alexander McCall Smith’s stories and all readers who enjoy international police procedurals with a strong sense of place.
Booklist, February 1, 2008
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This well-plotted debut introduces a new mystery series and will enthrall readers, who should be aware that the author`s detailing of the cultural and social background of the Botswana people shares equal footing with the solving of the murders. Stanley is the writing duo of South Africans Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, who have shared adventures in the Kalahari. For readers who enjoy crime novels with African settings, such as those by Richard Kunzmann and Deon Meyer.
Library Journal, March 1, 2008
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The police procedural story line is superb with a strong obstinate hero; however the tale belongs to the insightful look at Botswana, a landlocked South African presidential representative democratic republic. The action-packed story line brings to life the people and cultures of a country struggling to avoid the problems besetting many of their neighbors to include tribal rivalries, government corruption, and avaricious poachers and smugglers ripping off the natural resources. The author team Michael Stanley provides the excellent debut of a police detective and readers will clamor for more investigations by this lover of the Magic Flute.
Harriet Klausner, Genre Go Round Reviews, February 9, 2008
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A stately debut whose pseudonymous authors, Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, are both experts on the region. Their generously detailed portrait of Botswana and of larger-than-life Inspector Kubu augurs well for the proposed series....
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2008
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