A Deadly Covenant (Detective Kubu) by Michael Stanley

 

A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley.

Published 8th December 2022 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

While building a pipeline near the Okavango Delta, a contractor unearths the remains of a long-dead Bushman. Rookie Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu of Botswana CID and Scottish pathologist, Ian MacGregor, are sent to investigate, and MacGregor discovers eight more skeletons.

Shortly after the gruesome discoveries, the elder of a nearby village is murdered in his home. The local police are convinced it was a robbery, but Kubu isn’t so sure … and neither is the strange woman who claims that an angry river spirit caused the elder’s death.

As accusations of corruption are levelled and international outrage builds over the massacre of the Bushman families, Kubu and his colleagues uncover a deadly covenant, and begin to fear that their own lives may be in mortal danger…

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When the remains of a long dead bushman are found during the excavations for a water pipeline near the Okavango Delta, young Detective David 'Kubu' Bengu of the Botswana CID finds himself in the middle of a tricky situation. In the company of Scottish pathologist, Ian MacGregor, things are about to get even more complicated when their examination of the scene turns up more remains, some of them belonging to children. 

The locals are less than co-operative, and no one seems interested in the massacre of a group of bushmen many years ago, especially since the investigation is holding up progress with the much needed water project that is supposed to bring prosperity to this desert wilderness. 

When a local elder is murdered, the bigoted station commander is desperate to lay the crime at the door of Selelo a bushman who has come in search of his ancestors, but Kubu's instincts tell him that he is innocent, and he calls on his mentor Assistant Superintendent Jacob Mabaku for aid. As Kubu and his colleagues go about searching for clues about what is really happening in the Kalahari, they begin to see that there is more at stake here than water politics. The sins of the past refuse to stay hidden, and the dead demand a reckoning.

A Deadly Covenant is my first visit to Botswana in the company of Kubu Bengu and his colleagues, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story begins with the gruesome discovery of the resting place of a massacred group of bushmen, and burgeons into a mystery tale that brings in all manner of dark deeds to get your teeth into. This is small town Botswana, and although this is a new location for a crime story for me, there are all the delicious elements I look for in a sun-baked noir mystery, and its not long before Kubu and his friends begin to see that this investigation is going to be a lot more difficult to handle than expected.

There are so many lovely threads here around corruption, extortion, and revenge that twist and turn until all the nasty secrets of this community are exposed, and the way Kubu and co gradually tease them apart from the knotty mess infused with spiritual undertones presented to them is wonderful. I really enjoyed the relationship between the young Kubu and the dour older Scot MacGregor, which provided some charming moments as Kubu learns many things he did not know before - including how to drink. Kubu's association with his boss Makabu also develops nicely here, as he gains wisdom at the knee of his mentor. I particularly liked the episodes nearing the end of the investigation when MacGregor and Makubu are clearly on the same wavelength, and rookie Kubu has yet to catch up.

Many of my favourite things about this book go beyond the cracking mystery story though. This tale explores some really deep, and thought provoking, themes along the way. You cannot fail to be affected by the examination of prejudice against the indigenous bushmen, and I found the stark delineation between black, white, and bushmen quite upsetting - small town bigotry is well and truly alive out in the sticks of Botswana. Stanley uses the contrasting attitudes between the local and city cops beautifully to illustrate this too. Injustice is key to everything that happens, but Stanley also grapples with water politics, and the less than admirable qualities of big business rather nicely, blending all these complex themes into the myriad of factors that motivate the villains of the piece.

I cannot finish without a little word about the adorable Kubu. He is a delight - naive and raw, but with solid instincts that make him a force to be reckoned with. I adored how this fits so cleverly with his nickname - a hippo may indeed look harmless, but beware, as it may well pull you down to your doom. There is such an enchanting little romantic strand to the story too as he agonises over the future of his relationship with his 'love interest' Joy.

This book brought Botswana alive as a hot-bed of cunningly contrived criminal shenanigans, and I am really looking forward to delving into more stories about Detective Kubu! 

A Deadly Covenant is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer, or direct from Orenda Books HERE.

About the author:

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Both were born in South Africa and have worked in academia and business. 

Stanley was an educational psychologist, specialising in the application of computers to teaching and learning, and is a pilot. Michael specialises in image processing and remote sensing, and teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand. 

On a flying trip to Botswana, they watched a pack of hyenas hunt, kill and devour a wildebeest, eating both flesh and bones. That gave them the premise for their first mystery, A Carrion Death, which introduced Detective ‘Kubu’ Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. It was a finalist for five awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger. The series has been critically acclaimed, and their third book, Death of the Mantis, won the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original mystery and was a finalist for an Edgar award. Deadly Harvest was a finalist for an International Thriller Writers’ award. A Death in the Family and Dying to Live are the latest in the Detective Kubu series, published in 2017 by Orenda Books. Dead of Night the standalone thriller, was published in 2018.