The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu

Normally a peaceful wilderness retreat, the Jackalberry bush camp has suddenly become a ghastly crime scene—and Detective David "Kubu" Bengu is assigned to the case. Zimbabwean teacher Goodluck Tinubu and another tourist have been found bludgeoned to death, while another guest at the camp—rumored to be a dissident wanted in Zimbabwe—has disappeared without a trace.

With the local police unable—or unwilling—to provide much assistance, Detective Kubu must rely on his own instincts. But a startling piece of forensic evidence from Goodluck Tinubu's murder adds a complicated twist to the investigation, and Kubu has to work fast to solve a seemingly impossible riddle before more Jackalberry guests meet their deaths.

Normally a peaceful wilderness retreat, the Jackalberry bush camp has suddenly become a ghastly crime scene and the details are still emerging when Detective David "Kubu" Bengu is assigned to the case. Zimbabwean teacher Goodluck Tinubu and another tourist have been found bludgeoned to death, while another guest at the camp rumored to be a dissident wanted in Zimbabwe has disappeared without a trace.

With the local police unable or unwilling to provide much assistance, Detective Kubu relies on his own instincts to track down those responsible for the crimes. But a startling piece of forensic evidence from Goodluck Tinubu's murder adds a complicated twist to the investigation, and Kubu must work fast to solve a seemingly impossible riddle before any more Jackalberry guests meet their death. Suspecting that everyone at the camp has something to hide, the wily detective from Gaborone sets a clever trap to find the truth.

The memorable Kubu of A Carrion Death returns in this gripping story of murder, greed, and hidden motives. Set in northern Botswana, amid lush vegetation and teeming wildlife, The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu captures the intense loyalties and struggles taking place at the country's borders and the shattered dreams of those living just outside this modern democracy.

Publishers Weekly

In Stanley's fine second mystery to feature Botswana police detective David Bengu (after 2008's A Carrion Death), Bengu, an overweight gourmet aptly nicknamed Kubu (Setswana for hippopotamus), investigates the murders of two male guests at an isolated bush camp. One victim was a black South African tourist; the other, according to his fingerprints, was Goodluck Tinubu, supposedly killed 29 years earlier in the Rhodesian civil war. A third camp guest, who's disappeared, becomes the prime suspect. While the local police want to blame the country's lucrative drug trade for the murders, Bengu believes the key lies in Goodluck's background, though many people, including Bengu's father, knew Goodluck as a thoughtful, devoted teacher. The story runs on a little too long, as though Stanley, the South African writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, couldn't bear to leave this evocative setting. Readers will feel the same way. (June)

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, who have had many African adventures together. Sears lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. Trollip divides his time between South Africa and Minneapolis, Minnesota.