Gripping murder mystery with a little bit of everything.

An interesting mystery and setting. My main problem was how the main character used force to get what he wanted twice without any real consequences even though part of the plot revolved around police brutality and corruption.

I enjoyed the sense of place in this book. Although it is very much just a murder mystery, it is shaped by its setting. And even though the difficulties of modern life are central to the story, it doesn't descend into presenting Ghana as a horrible place, a fault that I find with many books written for American audiences set in other countries (here's looking at you, lots of Chinese-American literature).

I am troubled by the fact that none of the traditional practitioners and followers were presented favorably in the book. Granted, the author is a medical doctor, and there's a certain conflict there, but is there nothing positive about the tradition? Would real people be so tradition-bound that they would put up with a gross drunkard of a religious leader?

Recommended by Connie. Read her review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/903610804?book_show_action=false&page=1

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I had read 2 Darko Dawson books previously not in order and liked them (4 stars) so I decided to start on #1. There are 3 components of good detective books: 1) the setting 2) the characters 3) the plot. With both of the previous books I liked the setting and the characters. The mystery was always so-so, so I didn't assiduously follow the series until now.

This series is set in Ghana and I really enjoy the background. I like reading books set in foreign countries because it's all new to me. I think the author did a great job of bringing the setting to life and making it interesting and pleasant to read.

I also like the main character and the accessory characters. In this case it's Detective Inspector Dawson of the Accra CID. It's been a while since I read the other 2 books but in this book he seems more raw, less cerebral and more physical (as in beating suspects). But it could be a faint memory from the Detective Kubu series which I also liked. All the characters are quite well fleshed out and written.

Spoilers: The plot has mainly to do with Trokosi, who are wives given to the gods but in actuality given to local priests/witch doctors who represent the gods (many old cultures had these kind of wives, such as the Romans). So these priests might have multiple young wives who are "given" to them in payment for witch doctoring services. The whole book has an underlying theme which supports modernization, modern medicine vs. the traditionalism of witch craft and healers. The story is of a young woman who is found dead after visiting a priest, and a healer. The detective protocol part of the book is quite good too and actually this is the best Detective Dawson book I've read of the 3. I'm definitely going to check out the others in the series.

A promising jacket, but a shallow and overall poorly written book. It's too predictable to be a great mystery and the lack of emotion make he characters incredible. On the positive side, I have now a better mental image of Ghanaian life.

3.5/5 stars. If the setting of this book was more familiar to me, I would likely have given it a lower rating. However, since I have only read a handful of books set in Africa, I found the cultural references very interesting, and this elevated the book for me.