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    A Carrion Death: Introducing Detective Kubu
    A Carrion Death: Introducing Detective Kubu
    A Carrion Death: Introducing Detective Kubu
    Audiobook14 hours

    A Carrion Death: Introducing Detective Kubu

    Written by Michael Stanley

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Smashed skull, snapped ribs, and a cloying smell of carrion. Leave the body for the hyenas to devour-no body, no case.

    But when Kalahari game rangers stumble on a human corpse midmeal, it turns out the murder wasn't perfect after all. Enough evidence is left to suggest foul play. Detective David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department is assigned to the case.

    The detective's personality and physique match his moniker. The nickname "Kubu" is Setswana for "hippopotamus"-a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest on the continent. Beneath Kubu's pleasant surface lies the same unwavering resolve that makes the hippopotamus so deceptively dangerous. Both will trample everything in their path to reach an objective.

    From the sun-baked riverbeds of the Kalahari to the highest offices of an international conglomerate, Kubu follows a blood-soaked trail in search of answers. Beneath a mountain of lies and superstitions, he uncovers a chain of crimes leading to the most powerful figures in the country-influential enemies who will kill anyone in their way.

    A memorable detective makes his debut in this gritty, mesmerizing thriller. Set amid the beauty and darkness of contemporary Africa, A Carrion Death is the first entry in an evocative new series cutting to the heart of today's Botswana-a modern democracy threatened by unstable neighbors, poachers, and diamond smugglers. Those trying to expose the corrupt ringleaders will find themselves fighting for their lives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 21, 2008
    ISBN9781400177882
    Author

    Michael Stanley

    Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Sears was born in Johannesburg, grew up in Cape Town and Nairobi, and teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand. Trollip was also born in Johannesburg and has been on the faculty of the universities of Illinois, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and at Capella University. He divides his time between Knysna, South Africa, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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    Reviews for A Carrion Death

    4/5

    122 ratings16 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I liked the setting and the detective, but the book was way too long, there was a cringe causing (and irrelevant) sex scene and the plot was convoluted. I may give the author another try, but I'm not sure.
    • 3/5
      I like this series--kind of the cozy mystery genre, if cozies could be set in Botswana.
    • 3/5
      So far this is an intriguing mystery, but readers should be aware it's somewhat explicit. Not necessarily for Alexander McCall Smith readers (although I am one of those too).
    • 4/5
      Audiobook performed Simon Prebble

      Kalahari game rangers spot circling vultures, and always on the lookout for poaching activity they go to investigate. They find a human corpse, mostly eaten by hyenas, the remains scattered in the area. There are several unusual things about this body – most poachers are black, and this person was white; the deceased was also naked; and his/her teeth had all been knocked out and one forearm was missing. There have been no reports of any missing tourists or residents. Detective David “Kubu” Bengu of the Botswana CID is called in to investigate. He soon uncovers clues and additional crimes which all revolve around the powerful Botswana Cattle and Mining Company and its leaders.

      This is a wonderful debut mystery with a great central character. Kubu got his nickname at school because of his size – Kubu is the Setswana word for hippopotamus. Like his namesake he is a seemingly slow and docile beast, but the detective is far from lumbering in his investigation. He combines intelligence, excellent education and sound police procedures with tenacity and a keen intuition to ferret out the truth. The author humanizes Kubu by his love of opera, good wine and his wife, Joy. I can just picture him driving across the desert landscape singing arias.

      The plot is fast paced and complicated. This is a much darker and more dangerous Botswana than that portrayed in Alexander McCall Smith’s popular No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. There are plenty of suspects and several plot twists that I did not see coming. The book is divided into parts, and the first four alternate in time frame – March, January, March, January-February – before returning to the March “present” and continuing in a fairly accurate chronological sequence. This was a little confusing at first, especially since I was listening to the audiobook, but a quick check of the text helped me put things in the right order.

      Simon Prebble is marvelous performing the audio book. His pacing is good and his acting brings the novel to life. There are a number of characters of different nationalities and he capably handled all the various accents. In fact his use of voices gave me a huge clue in determining the culprit; one character’s talent for mimicry would not be as evident on the page as it was on the audio.

      I’ll definitely keep reading this series.

    • 3/5
      The first book in a series featuring Assistant Superintendent David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botswana police. Kubu, while outwardly docile and easygoing, is persistent almost to the point of obsession when it comes to solving a case. When an unidentified murder victim is found being devoured by a hyena on a game reserve in Kalahari, Kubu is called in to solve the mystery of who the victim was and why he was dumped out in the wilds.The book touches on a variety of subjects including political corruption, greed, the power of wealth in a poor country, and the enduring nature of superstitious beliefs. The Botswana locale and characters greatly elevate what would otherwise be a relatively bland, low-key novel. Unfortunately I found the final solution to be more than a little farfetched and not terribly original.With the somewhat proper structure of the dialogue and the very mannered, "traditional" behavior of many of the characters there is a passing resemblance to the classic English country house mysteries (which actually makes sense as Botswana has a strong historical connection to the UK). Add the corpulent main character, Kubu Bengu, and the long passages on food and beverage description and there is also a Nero Wolfe quality (probably a better comparison since both Nero Wolfe and Kubu Bengu would seem to blend genres).If you enjoy the classic style mystery - Agatha Christie, Rex Stout - then you'll likely enjoy this novel. If you like action and lots of it then I wouldn't recommend it.There is some violence and descriptive passages dealing with dead bodies and crime scenes that might not be appropriate for extremely sensitive readers. There is very little sexual content or adult language.
    • 4/5
      A human body that has been picked over by hyenas is found near a resort in a remote part of Botswana. There are few clues to the person’s identity other than it’s a white person. Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu needs to use all his ingenuity to find out who the person is and how they ended up in such a predicament. His investigations take him in many directions including to the most influential company in the country which incorporates diamond mines among its many interests.

      The character of Kubu is one the outstanding features of this novel. He is a happily married, opera-loving, overweight chap whose childhood nickname of Kubu (meaning hippo) has stuck through to his adulthood. He is also a tenacious and clever detective who is willing to access help from whatever source he can find it. Although he does have a couple of odd quirks that crime writers love to give their protagonists (singing opera while driving across the country for example), Kubu is still a very natural and realistic character. He gets on well with his boss (who is neither a moron nor a monster) and even hosts a dinner party with his wife Joy for family and friends. Such things are perfectly normal in real life but stood out for me here as being the kind of thing you don’t see a lot of in crime fiction.

      Given that I primarily read A Carrion Death as part of my fulfillment for the 2010 Global Challenge I was pleased it evoked such a sense of its location. The vast distances that Kubu has to travel in order to carry out his investigations and the remote desert setting for several key events acted together to give a strong sense of the relatively sparsely populated and land-locked country. Although in some ways it is quite different to the country depicted in Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series the importance given to all family relationships is a common trait between the two Botswanas. Here the family element is demonstrated repeatedly, most memorably for me when Kubu travels to South Africa and observes many beggars which he says would never happen in his country as people would be too ashamed to let even distant relations resort to such measures.

      The book did suffer a little from ‘first book syndrome’ where every idea the authors had seemed to be thrown into the mix with the consequence that some of the threads were not terribly well thought through or relevant (the witchdoctor for example really added neither local flavour nor plot development). Tighter editing of these portions and the several repetitions of ‘the case to date’ segments might have made a dent in the book’s excessive length which would, in my humble opinion, have made it a better product. However the complex story does unfold well, including the time jumps in the first third of the novel, and the main thread is resolved in a manner in keeping with the rest of the story which is becoming something of a rarity these days.

      Michael Stanley is a pseudonym for two authors, Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, but however they apportion the writing tasks their collaboration appeared seamless to me. A Carrion Death is a thoroughly enjoyable romp of a tale and you’d be hard pressed not warm to the character of Kubu. I’m certainly looking forward to reading the second novel in the series soon.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this first book in a mystery series set in Botswana. Detective Kubu is a portly fellow (Kubu means hippopotumus) who adores his wife, appreciates his friends, and pursues the villain with interesting turns along the way. Another look at Botswana, not quite so cozy as the Ladies Detective agency books.
    • 4/5
      Rating: 3.5* of fiveThe Book Description: Smashed skull, snapped ribs, and a cloying smell of carrion. Leave the body for the hyenas to devour-no body, no case.But when Kalahari game rangers stumble on a human corpse midmeal, it turns out the murder wasn't perfect after all. Enough evidence is left to suggest foul play. Detective David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department is assigned to the case.The detective's personality and physique match his moniker. The nickname "Kubu" is Setswana for "hippopotamus"-a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest on the continent. Beneath Kubu's pleasant surface lies the same unwavering resolve that makes the hippopotamus so deceptively dangerous. Both will trample everything in their path to reach an objective.From the sun-baked riverbeds of the Kalahari to the highest offices of an international conglomerate, Kubu follows a blood-soaked trail in search of answers.Beneath a mountain of lies and superstitions, he uncovers a chain of crimes leading to the most powerful figures in the country-influential enemies who will kill anyone in their way.A memorable detective makes his debut in this gritty, mesmerizing thriller. Set amid the beauty and darkness of contemporary Africa, A Carrion Death is the first entry in an evocative new series cutting to the heart of today's Botswana-a modern democracy threatened by unstable neighbors, poachers, and diamond smugglers. Those trying to expose the corrupt ringleaders will find themselves fighting for their lives... My Review: I want to smack the copywriter who created the promo copy above, and on the dust jacket of my library's hardcover. “Detective” Kubu is “Assistant Superintendent” Kubu. And there's something very uncomfortable to me about the “darkness” of modern Africa cited above. Just tin-eared phrasing, I'm sure. No one in publishing could be unconsciously playing with stereotypes. No no.Mm. That's as may be. I found Kubu and his Botswana to be a welcome new angle on territory once owned, in the US market and mind, by McCall Smith's rather more twee Mma Ramotswe series. Kubu, the dangerous hippo of a detective in the series, is a Mozart-singing grocery hound, a kind of African Nero Wolfe-cum-Inspector Morse with a very nasty boss, a very appealing wife, and a large country to help police.It's a nice debut novel about an interesting character with a lot of promise. The writing team, one Afrikaner and one Minnesotan, do a lot with their man's appetites for food, truth, justice, and facts. They're a bit less facile with the villains, using a lot of shortcuts...wealth equals evil...and failing to avail themselves of opportunities to work in some believable offsets to the faults.The Superstitious Natives Who Are Right trope isn't one I like much, either, but I'll let that go for this book. If it happens again, there will be discussion of it then.On balance, the series deserves another shot, and the sleuth a chance to grow and shine. Until next year, then.
    • 5/5
      really love this detective and find it interesting radi8ng about his food and the wine.
    • 4/5
      A corpse is discovered near a wilderness camp, after the hyenas have been at it. There's not a lot left, but there's enough to tell that the man was murdered and his body left for scavengers. The police are called in.Inspector David Bengu received the nickname of Kubu as a young man, which means hippo in Setswana. It's not a bad name - he's big, apparently genial, but dangerous when provoked. He's an extremely well developed and likable character. He's also a dogged detective, which is a good thing, because this case is about as complicated as it could be.And that was my main complaint about the book. While I liked the main character, found the mystery interesting, loved the setting, really, it was just too complicated. The bodies sure piled up and there were plenty of suspects. Everyone has something to hide. But in the end, I wasn't entirely sure what had happened or why. I did get a sense of the killer and the victim, but it just felt like there were an awful lot of holes left. I'm not sure it all tied together. But I did enjoy it, and I will read more by this author. I actually read the second book, The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu, first, but that didn't really make much difference. 3.5 starsWarning: This is not an entirely clean read - there is a sex scene early in the book, but it was easily skipped over. Still, if you are offended by that, you might want to skip the book.
    • 4/5
      First of--so far--two books about Detective Kubu of the Police Department of Gaborone, Botswana. Well written, but the authors, and theyr many editors, cannot differentiate between "who" and "whom", which is jarring.
    • 5/5
      The body appeared to have been deliberately dumped naked near the waterhole. Or so it seemed from the remains the hyenas had left.Dales Camp, the bush resort near where the body had been found on the verge of the Central Kalahari Game Reserves in Botswana, is 4 hours drive from the capital Gaborone. Not that Assistant Superintendent "Kibu" Bengu of the Botswana police minds the drive. It gives him the chance to sing opera.At the crime scene Kubu meets the conservationist who discovered the body and finds trapped in the bushes a cash slip for petrol. This is the beginning of the tenuous thread the subsequent investigation hangs on. It is obvious that the murderers have tried to hide the identity of the body, but they reckoned without Kubu Bengu.As the blurb says A CARRION DEATH is set in a world of poachers, witch doctors, diamond-smuggling, and corruption. For all that, this is a complex and many-threaded tale. It is an impressive debut novel structured in a way that gets the reader thinking. For example, the events are layered in time rather than sequential, so you are forced to take notice of chapter headings. There are little puzzles to solve and as one is resolved, the next presents. It is also populated with engaging characters such as Kubu Bengu, his wife Joy, and his boss Mabake. We've become a little used to detectives who have to struggle against their superiors, which makes Mabake, who wants to think the best of Kubu, a refreshing character. Contrasting with these characters are those who are truly evil, and than those who are the dupes, caught in the middle. There are references too to comtemporary political issues such as Botswana trying to shake of semi-colonial controls through legacy companies, and blood diamonds.A CARRION DEATH is among my top reads for 2010.
    • 5/5
      Very nice - gently paced detective thriller with good characters, very good plotting, and a richly visualised African setting. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      As a fan of Alexander McCall-Smith's gentle mystery series set in Botswana, I was interested to pick up this new murder mystery also set in Botswana. The police detective is also of "traditional" size, and it was interesting to get another perspective on the country and it's neighbours. The book took a little while to get in to, and I found the flashbacks were a bit intrusive, but I stuck with it, and found that the flashbacks did not give away the whole story as I at first thought. There were many surprises left to come, and I did enjoy the book, the characters and African setting.
    • 4/5
      Another tale of Botswana, but not the warm fuzzy of Alexander McCall Smith's books. This a new book that appears to be the start of a series with Detective David "Kubu" Bengu--"Kubu" is Setswana for hippopotamus, a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest on the continent. Detective Bengu follows a blood-soaked trail from the dried out riverbeds of the Kalahari to the office of an international conglomerate. And the bodies pile up.
    • 3/5
      Good first mystery. Interesting locale and characters.