Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey is both unique and engrossing. With the exotic setting of Ghana in West Africa, a young, beautiful women murdered, strong family passions, and a main character who is both clever and compassionate yet has issues of his own.

Inspector Darko Dawson is sent to a rural town to investigate the murder of a young medical student who perhaps ran afoul of the local fetish priest. He speaks the language of the district as he has family there, it is also the town from which his mother disappeared 20 years ago. Working at cross purposes the local police seem to be railroading a young man into confessing to the murder.

Contrasting the old ways of Africa with the emergence of the new and modern, this novel tells us a lot about Africa and it’s culture today, while still delivering a very good mystery story. ( )

This is a very attractive book. I like the cover design. I was interested in selecting this book from the Early Reviewers program because I thought it might be similar to the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I look forward to reading it.

When I first saw mention of Kwei Quartey’s Wife of the Gods, I knew I had to read it. I can’t resist a crime fiction novel, especially one set in a country other than my own. I get to learn about another country and culture while at the same time settling in with the comfort of the familiar format of a mystery.

Kwei Quartey’s protagonist, Darko Dawson is the kind of detective I would want investigating my murder. He has a dogged determination and a strong sense of right and wrong—at least where others are concerned. Righteous is the word that comes to mind, but not in an arrogant or overbearing way. Darko is anything but perfect though. He has a weakness for marijuana and a bit of a temper which lands him in plenty of trouble.

The novel is set in the beautiful country of Ghana. Quartey paints a portrait of a complex society, one that straddles the old traditions and the new. In a community where witchcraft is feared and superstitions are commonplace, science is still trying to find a foothold. Detective Inspector Darko Dawson is a modern man. He trusts in science and facts to solve his cases. When he is assigned to Ketanu, a small out of the way community, to aid in the murder investigation of a volunteer AIDS worker, he comes face to face with the very superstitions he disdains.

The Chief Inspector of Ketanu has his eyes set on a particular young man as his suspect, but Darko isn’t convinced. He sets out on his own investigation, determined to solve the murder.

Darko’s mother disappeared after a visit to Ketanu over twenty years before while visiting her sister who lived in the town. Perhaps he can look into her disappearance while there as well. It’s a long shot after so many years, but he at least wants to give it a try.

I have seen this book compared to Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and I have to disagree. Smith’s series is not much of a crime fiction series at all—and if you go into those books expecting a mystery, you may well be disappointed. With Quartey’s book, on the other hand, a mystery is exactly what you get. It’s also a bit darker in some respects, than Smith’s series.

There was so much I liked about this series, including the various interesting characters, the flashbacks into Darko’s past and the unfolding of the mystery of his mother’s disappearance as well as the murder of that young volunteer. There was a moment early on in the book when I thought one story thread might get lost in other, but fortunately that did not happen.

Another aspect that especially caught my attention was the health department and volunteers like the murdered woman who struggle to reach a population of people who are very entrenched in the old ways. The misinformation and superstitions surrounding AIDS is frightening. Add to that the issue of fetish priests and the practice of families marrying off their teenage daughters to them in hopes of turning around bad luck or getting rid of a curse. Quartey offers both sides of these issues to some extent, but it is clear which side Darko falls on.

Wife of the Gods is a promising start for a new series. There are many characters, including Armah, Darko’s inspiration and mentor, that I hope I can visit again. And I do hope I haven’t seen the last of Elizabeth Mensah. She’s an admirable and strong woman. Kwei Quartey is definitely an author to watch. ( )

Darko Dawson is a Detective Inspector living in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Though he has the career that he has longed for as a child, a loving wife, and an adorable six-year-old son, Darko is still plagued by questions concerning his mother’s disappearance in her hometown of Ketanu, just over twenty years ago. Darko and his brother visited Ketanu once as children, yet after their mother’s tragic and mysterious disappearance neither of them has ever gone back. When Gladys Mensah, a young female medical student working to educate the local village women on contraception and AIDS, is murdered and left in a field in Ketanu, Darko must return not only to investigate the shocking crime but to finally face the past that he has been uneasily avoiding.

Darko is uniquely qualified to assist in the investigation since he is the only one on the force able to speak Ewe (pronounced eh-way), the language of his mother’s village. Reluctant to leave his wife and ailing son, Darko nevertheless packs up and relocates temporarily to Ketanu to reconnect with family he has met only once and to oversee the murder investigation. Gladys Mensah, the young medical student found strangled in the fields of Ketanu, had a strong relationship with the women of the community that she served, but as it turns out she was often at odd with the polygamous priests of village as well as the local tribal doctor-a man with whom Darko has troubling past associations.

Already, Wife of the Gods has been compared favorably to Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Detective Agency series, and while I recently acquired a copy of the first book in that series, I have yet to read it, which made it easy for me to immerse myself in Wife of the Gods without having any distracting comparisons rattling around in my head. I have to say that this book definitely is able to stand on its own as a solid beginning to an intriguing mystery series. Darko Dawson (I keep wanting to call him Donnie Darko) is an interesting character- complex, flawed and not wholly likable- at least not so that you are completely comfortable with liking him. He definitely does some things that make you raise your eyebrows, and issues he needs to work on- anger management being chief among them. You wonder how he manages to keep his job. With a penchant for smoking marijuana that he scores from one of his police informants, and a violent and barely leashed temper, I sometimes questioned his ability to carry out his duties effectively, but at the same time I was drawn in by how much he took an interest in the lives of the people he encountered and his deep need to help the young man who has been, Darko believes, wrongfully accused of Gladys Mensah’s murder.

Supporting the detective story is the wonderful background of the city of Accra and Ketanu where we are able to vividly see the way the the old world customs conflict and struggle to survive the new. The traditional medicines and remedies are much different than the modern ones, and even the cause of basic diseases are not the same. Quartey is able to weave a lot of the details of the culture in with the narrative and I was very taken with reading about the different foods, vocabulary and opposing modern and traditional medical approaches. A fine balance is drawn between moving the story along and briefly introducing characters who will likely play key roles as the series develops- of course his family, but also with his mentor and his mostly estranged brother. I think one of the most fascinating things of all will see how Darko will handle the demons that are plaguing him and what choices he will make not only in his career but within his marriage.

Both mysteries, of Darko’s mother and Gladys Mensah, unfolded at a suspenseful pace and I alternately wanted to go back to whichever section I had last been reading to learn more about what was going on. I enjoyed trying to solve each of the mysteries and I definitely think that if you pay attention you will formulate an uneasy guess at “whodunnit” before it becomes obvious. It’ll be uneasy because, well…you just never know. I am not much of a series reader- they are just way too complicated for me in trying to determine the order, and waiting around for the new book to come out, etc. I am so glad that I was able to read the first of this series because I would love to check up on Darko and see how he gets along. ( )

Here’s a police murder mystery dressed in fresh African colors. We meet flawed but sympathetic Inspector Darko Dawson of the Ghanaian police in his first fictional outing. Darko is a loving husband and father who can let his temper get the upper hand.

He’s investigating the murder of a young medical student and local AIDs worker in the small Ghanaian village where his own mother disappeared years ago. The local cop thinks he has the case sewn up when he arrests a ne’er-do-well boy, although Darko is not so sure. Perhaps it was really the traditional healer or the victim’s boss at the health ministry? And does Darko’s long vanished mother fit into this mystery?

The plot delivers a solid mystery while exploring contemporary Ghanaian issues. The evolving status of women is a key theme. Darko is incensed when a man hits (one of) his wives but the local police officer won’t intervene because “a man can beat his wife if he wants”. At the same time, some women are taking new roles and demanding (and sometimes getting) more equal treatment. The murder victim’s unmarried aunt runs a business, uncowed by local ruffians who try crying witch to distract attention from their own misdeeds. There’s also an interesting subplot centering on the tension between traditional healing practices and western medicine. Quartey’s Ghana is not all pretty vistas and quaint folk customs. The old ways—both the colorful and the repressive—live cheek-to-jowl with new.

Quartey’s strong characters enmeshed in complex relationships remain vividly in mind. He gives us are real people with human motivations and emotions. All in all a satisfying read. I’ll look for future Darko mysteries. ( )

The Story

A mysterious murder of a model citizen takes place in Ghana. A small community’s beloved young medical student, Gladys, dies under questionable circumstances. Upon the results of her autopsy, it is evident that her death is attributable to homicide. Although local authorities are on the case, an additional investigator is brought in from Accra (the nearby large municipality). This investigator is Detective Inspector Darko Dawson. Coincidentally, he had spent considerable time in this small community as a child as he has family who resides there. In addition to this family, his mother mysteriously died en route to home on her way back from visiting her sister in this town of Ketanu.

Darko is married with a boy who was born with a congenital heart defect, a hole in his heart in need of repair. To me, this mirrors the hole left in Darko’s heart upon the unexplained death of his mother. As Darko and his wife, Christine, work to heal their son, he is called out to Ketanu to work on this case.

There is much about Ketanu that Darko welcomes, yet affects him in such a sad way as it brings back so many memories for him. Able to understand their native tongue and customs, he sets out to solve the mystery of Gladys’ unexplained death.

The Review

I’ve never paid a doctor for healing me with a payment of two live chickens, although the thought now tempts me! I have yet to read The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency, but I can only imagine that it must be similar in many ways to this book. African culture has always intrigued me and I got a great dose of it in reading this who-done-it. Expertly, Quartey includes a glossary of terms in the back of the book so that readers can follow along with some of the local dialect contained within the novel.

To begin, what I most liked about this story was its characters. I think that Quartey did a great job bringing the protagonist to the forefront of the reader’s mind, almost reminiscent of a James Patterson mystery in which you come to be the fly on the shoulder of the detective. In fact, many aspects of this novel reminded me of James Patterson. There were the good vs. evil forces that were present. In addition, the taboos and witchcraft of the ancient culture were included in this modern-day story. Therefore, what you get out of this novel is some history, culture, spookiness, and a good old fashioned detective mystery. All the makings of a good book. Speaking of culture… the way that the food is described in this book made my mouth water. I love plantains and there are plenty of them in here!

What wasn’t my “cup of tea?” Well… in general I’m not a real mystery enthusiast. I will read perhaps 2-3 mysteries per year. But, that isn’t to say that this isn’t a good book. It is a rather great read. Unlike many mystery fanatics I know, I’m just not hooked on them. But, anybody who loves the art of a well written murder mystery and is looking for something refreshing and different will find just that in Wife Of The Gods.

The Rating

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I am giving Wife Of The Gods a rating of 7.5 out of 10. I liked the setting of a murder mystery in a land and culture that are completely foreign to me. I enjoyed the richness of the setting nearly as much as I did the story itself. I also appreciated the message in the book about preventing the spread of AIDS, how simple it really can be. ( )

if you the the No. 1 Ladies Dective Agency series, then this one is right up your alley. ( )

The first scene in Wife of the Gods finds the protagonist in the middle of a sweat-inducing nightmare - neat foreshadowing to both the personal mystery that has haunted Darko Dawson since childhood and the murder investigation that tests his skills in his position as Detective Inspector.

This mystery is well-played, with the setting and local customs sharing a large role in development and resolution. I got a good feel for the bustle of the city of Accra, with rumbling ramshackle tro-tros (public buses); Ketanu, the village nearest to where the murder victim was found (a house “had a rusted tin roof. The walls were marred with gashes and trailing cracks. A crooked screen door hung open with ragged mosquito netting curling off the frame”); and Bedome, a nearby compound with a religious shrine where the spiritual leader lived with extended family.

So the setting gets points, as does character development - Quartey sets up a realistic web of personal relationships between Dawson and his mentor, wife, son,mother-in-law, brother (Cairo), and others. Dawson clearly respects his mentor, a connection that goes back decades. His love for his wife and son is demonstrated in the way he speaks with them, and the manner in which they interact. Contrasting these are uneasy truces with both his mother-in-law and brother. We see solid outlines of these characters, more details will be filled in, I expect, in subsequent novels. The tag at the bottom of the cover reads “An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery,” paving the way for future books about this cast of characters.

Even though the novel is written in the third person, the omniscient narrator seems to have a direct line to Dawson’s thought process; his character is fully fleshed out, complete with the mystery in his past, love of family that he wears on his sleeve, a little recreational drug use, and a brilliant sixth-sense-like ability to read tones of voice. Early in the novel we’re introduced to a wonderful and unique trait of Inspector Dawson - he “feels” speech:

"" Darko felt the silken quality and the musical lilt of Auntie’s voice. He had always had a peculiarly heightened sensitivity to speech. Not only did he hear it but he often perceived it as if physically touching it. He had on occasion told Cairo or Mama that he could feel “bumps” in a person’s voice, or that it was prickly or wet. They were mystified by this, but Darko could not explain it any better than he could describe the process of sight or smell.""

I found this so creative, and was pleased each time Quartey incorporates it: “Her voice was stretched tight like a rubber band at its limit. Lying. She knew, or had seen, something.” The technique is original, and not made to be gimmicky.

The author shows the contrast and tension between modern and traditional ways. Dawson comes from Accra, the modern capitol; the murder takes place in Ketanu, a village set in their traditions. The murder victim, Gladys Mensah was in her third year of med school; in the interim she volunteered as an AIDS outreach counselor, visiting various villages in the area to teach the ABCs of AIDS prevention (Abstinence, Being faithful, and Condoms). She often expressed frustration about the “poverty, superstition, and ignorance” she saw as she traveled the villages and met resistance to her teaching. Dawson wonders if she was killed in order to curtail the introduction of modern medicine into Ketanu. The author also shows the tension between old and new in the scenes that involve Trokosi, the virgins who have been married to the spiritual leader of a shrine in a hush-hush practice to atone for sins of her family.

When I read a mystery I don’t try to solve the case, I allow the author to do the work by unraveling the tangle of clues for me. Quartey left some breadcrumbs that, in retropect, might have led me in the right direction if I had put any energy into it; but I prefer the leisurely pace of solving it on Dawson’s timetable, piecing the clues together through his eyes. It was a very satisfying mystery.

Full review and author interview at www.sheIsTooFondOfBooks.com
She is Too Fond of Books ( )

It’s always fun to read a book set in a new or unusual location. Taking place in Ghana, debut novelist Kwei Quartey’s mystery “Wife of the Gods” is new in that regard, but it’s also the first of a planned series introducing the interesting character of Detective Inspector Darko Dawson.
We meet Darko Dawson as he is being sent to a remote village to help solve the murder of a young woman who was an AIDs activist. Dawson has been tapped for the assignment because he speaks the local language and still has an aunt and uncle who live there. The assignment brings with it very mixed feelings for Dawson. When he was a child he mother inexplicably disappeared from this village and the case was never solved.
We are introduced to several quirky and kind local characters as Dawson attempts to solve the crime, but things don’t go smoothly for Dawson as he fights several demons of his own. His son is gravely ill, he has a temper he finds hard to control, and he knows his beloved wife hates it when he smokes marijuana but at times he simply cannot resist its calming lure. Despite, or perhaps because of these shortcomings, Dawson becomes a sympathetic character.
Quartey does a nice job of creating a solid history for his major characters and infuses the story with lots of local color, describing food, clothing, sights and sounds. The dialogue seems a bit quaint, but perhaps that is reflective of the location, and while the mystery is not overly complex, the careful way that Dawson finally puts the pieces together makes for a satisfying ending. ( )

In his first novel, Wife of the Gods, Kwei Quartey introduces us to an intriguing lead character, an exotic setting, and a story that takes some compelling twists and turns along the way. When a young female medical student is murdered in the forest between two small villages in the Volta Region of Ghana, big-city detective Darko Dawson is sent to take over the investigation from the tiny local police force. Dawson knows the native language and has a history with the villages; his mother came from the area, and it was the last place she was seen before her disappearance 25 years earlier. Perhaps his work investigating Gladys Mensah's murder might also lead him to some answers about what happened to his mother, but meanwhile, the case raises plenty of its own questions. Who would want to kill this bright and promising young woman - and why? Were local traditionalists threatened by her modern medical knowledge and efforts to educate about AIDS, and by her campaign against the trokosi tradition in the village of Bedome? Or was there a less complex motive? The only thing that seems certain is that the local police inspector's chosen suspect is probably not guilty of the crime.

READ MORE: http://www.3rsblog.com/2009/08/tlc-bo... ( )

I picked this up largely because it was being compared to Alexander McCall Smith's detective stories. Aside from the fact that both take place in Africa, there the two didn't have anything in common. It took me some time to adjust to what I was actually reading, as opposed to what I'd been expecting. It wasn't that this book was bad, it was just like going to take a sip of water and realizing it's vodka instead, a little disconcerting. Once I realized I wasn't reading a McCall Smith confection, but rather something much darker, I found it to be a decent mystery. A little uneven in places, but not a bad first novel.

Enjoyable, but uneven. The violence to which the hero was prone made him less sympathetic, even as it was completely realistic given the household in which he was raised and his psychological issues. I guessed the murderer early, although it was no less devastating to have it revealed. On the whole, a far grimmer view of Africa than the one portrayed in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series (the blurbs all compare this book to those), so perhaps this would be a little shocking to anyone who picked this up expecting a light optimistic worldview. I think all its problems could be attributed to the fact that it is a first novel, and Qwartey has definite potential as a writer.

Wife of the Gods is a very good debut novel. It suffers from occasional infelicities of language, but those should disappear as the author gains experience.

The publisher compares Quartey to Alexander McCall Smith — presumably meaning the Precious Ramotswe novels — but the only thing this book has in common with Smith's series is that it takes place on the same continent. Quartey's book is a dark murder mystery featuring a very flawed investigator, Inspector Darko Dawson. It is as far away from the cozy atmosphere of Precious Ramotswe as Ghana is from Botswana.

Darko is intriguing and charismatic, if not always likable. Apart from the murder, he seems to be engaged in a lonely fight against endemic superstition, from folk healers to the horrible tradition of the trokosi, or wife of the gods. (Yes, I'm being judgmental about another culture. Some things are just wrong, wherever they take place.)

I enjoyed Wife of the Gods, especially once I got into the West African rhythms, and am looking forward to future Darko Dawson investigations. ( )

I enjoyed this mystery set in Ghana quite a bit. I really liked the main character of Darko Dawson. He had a lot of depth to him. Reading about the culture was really interesting. There were quite a few characters in the beginning and I had to keep them straight in my mind but after about the first 1/3rd of the book I had it all down.

I thought the mystery was good as it didn't give too much away too soon. It took me right along with Darko and I liked where it ended up. The end was not all together surprising. I thought the murderer was involved somehow, I just didn't think this person was the actual killer.

A very refreshing turn to the mystery genre and I would read a second installment in the series.

Full review at: http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/20... ( )

Wife of the Gods is an enjoyable book. The setting is the only thing that reminds me of Alexander McCall's books. Detective Darko is a very likable character. A true defender of the lost. I did figure out the mystery, but still very much would recommend Wife of the Gods.

I loved this book. Set in Ghana, the story revolves around Darko Dawson, a detective inspector from the capital city of Accra, who has been assigned to a murder case in Ketanu. There are complications in the resolution of the case, some based on the differences between small community and big city, Dawson’s own memories of family in Ketanu (and his mother’s disappearance there 25 years earlier), the changing definition of family (traditional versus modern medicine in treatment of his son), and the local fetish priest with his trokosi, or wives of the gods. Dawson has a temper, which does not always help him, but his empathy for victims is as strong. For a first novel, especially a mystery, the writing was quite good. The ER copy has some typesetting problems, but they did not detract from the fact that this was a detailed, and ultimately, entertaining detective novel. Kwei Quartey is listed as a medical doctor in Southern California in the blurb. He may very well end up in the ranks of Crichton or Wambaugh—writing instead of practicing—because his storytelling is quite strong.

Kwei Quartey's first novel features a persistent police detective in Ghana, in a book that has all the earmarks of being the beginning of a series. Darko Dawson, the main character, is a good man, with a family that he adores and strong ties to the memories of his mother, but he also has his flaws, such as a temper that leads him into rash and often unwise decisions and his addiction to marijuana. When he's sent to the small Ewe village of Ketanu, he wonders if this is a form of punishment by his boss for Darko's unorthodox treatment of a criminal, but he is also glad for the opportunity to revisit the village where his mother disappeared years ago. His official business is to determine the killer of Gladys Mensah, a beautiful woman full of promise, who was a medical student and worked in the villages for the Ministry of Health. On the side, though, Darko also plans to investigate his mother's fate, as his nightmares have revealed to him that it is finally time.

With these two weighty mysteries, the novel delivers all the expected conventions of the genre: clues, multiple suspects, incompetent investigators posing obstacles to the main character, red herrings, and a cast of colorful characters with hidden layers and secrets. What raises this story above an average mystery read is the wonderful cast, in particular our troubled Darko Dawson, and the unique setting.

I was intrigued by my reactions to Darko. What started with sympathy (as he has nightmares of his missing mother) mellowed out into general acceptance when we see that he is just an ordinary man, negotiating work and family and horrible traffic. I was a little irked with his marijuana usage, not the fact that he had an addiction but the way that he is so self-righteous with his supplier buddy despite his breaking the law. I brushed it off; maybe he was just messing around with the guy. Yet later on, Dawson made a few choices while being driven by his temper that I couldn't accept, even if I could sympathize with his motivation. He just went too far - I was actually angry at him. He gained my sympathies again as the novel progressed, though, by his strong moral core and his enlightened treatment of others, as well as his perseverance to find the truth and not just a scapegoat. In the end, I liked Darko all the more for his being an imperfect human. Characters that are complex and real, who can push me to a strong emotional reaction, drive the story, and in this book, we have our hero and an abundance of other such people filling the pages.

Of course, setting the novel in Ghana is another device that sets this story apart from other mysteries. Unique locations are always a bonus, but also run the risque of becoming a gimmick to draw readers; fortunately, in this case it is not. The author is actually from Ghana, and the characters inhabit a world that is real and actualized. I enjoyed immersing myself in a culture that was new to me, a blend of ancient traditions and tribal customs and, yet, inescapable modernization.

These factors made this mystery enjoyable and different from others that I've read; different in a positive way. I hope that Quartey fulfills the potential of turning this book into a series. ( )

Inspector Darko Dawson is part of Criminal Investigations in the Ghanian capital of Accra. He is called to the small town of Ketanu to help solve the murder of a young NGO volunteer and med student named Gladys. Gladys has previously clashed with a local fetish priest and a local healer, yet a young ruffian is targeted by Ketanu law enforcement as the "doer."

Inspector Dawson has a history with the town of Ketanu. His mother was last seen here before she mysteriously disappeared twenty-five years ago. So it is with some apprehension that he returns to work this case and reacquaint himself with his mother's sister and her family.

One of the best aspects of Wife of the Gods is the character of Darko Dawson. He is a family man with strong loyalties to his wife and young son. He also has quite a temper and a keen sense of justice, the combination of which sometimes gets him into trouble. Among his other foibles is a lusty admiration for the female form and the occasional consort with a known thief in order to obtain the weed he smokes to unwind. Regardless, Inspector Dawson is ultimately likeable in spite of, or perhaps because of, his flaws. I look forward to the author's development of this character in future novels.

Regional novels are a favorite of mine. They allow me an enjoyable opportunity to learn about places with which I am unfamiliar and to revisit places that I love. Wife of the Gods was a chance to learn something about the place, people and customs of Ghana. For instance, some "teenage girls are offered by their families to fetish priests as trokosi, or Wives of the Gods" (from the back cover). This practice is a form of slavery and is controversial amongst the Ghanians.

You may have heard this book compared to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith. I don't really find Smith's and Quartey's books to be similar except that they are: a) both regional detective novels, b) both character driven, and c) both set in Africa. Smith's books are set in Botswana and Quartey's book is set in Ghana. Quartey has his own voice which I found much grittier than the charm that infuses Smith's books. They are both fantastic storytellers, but they are different.

If you like character-driven-regional-detective novels, I encourage you to read Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey. It is a strong beginning to a new series. ( )

Wife of the Gods is a murder mystery set in the Volta Region of Ghana, the first in what will be a series about Inspector Darko Dawson of the CID. Dawson lives and works in Accra, the capital and major city of Ghana, but is called in to solve the case of the murder of a medical student who had been working with the trokosi - or wives of the gods - young girls who are offered up to the local fetish priest. Quartey balances a lot of issues in this novel: the country versus the city, the folkways and superstitions that retain a hold on many Ghanains versus Dawson's skeptical, modern beliefs, and Dawson's haunted past versus his effectiveness of working on the case. Dawson is an interesting character with contrasting qualities: a family man, a hard-working detective yet prone to rages and fond of marijuana. This is a interesting story that offers a glimpse into life in modern-day Ghana. The mystery is pretty good too. ( )

Wife of the Gods is an entertaining and remarkably informative police procedural murder mystery involving an inspector from the "big city" of Accra, who goes to the rural area of Ketanu and environs in Ghana to investigate the murder of a young female medical student working on AIDS education. The key figure, Inspector Darko Dawson, is a loving husband and father to his son Hosiah, who has a heart defect needing expensive open-heart surgery. The cost of this surgery is unattainable for the Dawsons, who are of modest means. Dawson has a hot temper, a penchant for smoking marijuana, and a keen sensibility which helps him solve crimes. He pays attention to small details and asks questions fearlessly--even when his life is on the line.
Early in the novel, we discover that his mother disappeared years ago while visiting her sister in Ketanu, leaving Darko, his father and his crippled brother on their own. Since his mother was the loving parent, and his father was and remains emotionally distant, Dawson was drawn to the inspector who came often to consult with the family about his missing mother. From that early experience, Dawson decided to become a police inspector himself, and he kept in touch with this mentor--even going to that mentor's home mid-way in the novel. That older, level-headed man helps Dawson tease out lies from the truth, enabling him to solve not one, but two murders in Ketanu.
There are many colorful characters in this story. One such is Togbe Adzima, a malevolent priest who lives with his trokosi, or wives, who are given to the priest when they are young virgins by the superstitious people of rural Ghana to appease their angry gods. The word trokosi can be interpreted as “wife of the gods,” or “slave of the gods,” hence the title of this novel. The lives and fate of these women play a pivotal role in the murder of medical student Gladys Mensah. A second interesting figure is Anum Biney, main surgeon of the Volta Area Hospital, whose role as a postmortem guru gives Dawson the confirmation that Gladys was strangled. Local fetish priests insist that Gladys died as punishment for angering the evil spirits of the forest—and it takes a good pathologist to discover the signs of strangulation. Via jolly Auntie Osewa, affable Uncle Kweku and cousin Alifoe, who live in this rural area, we get a feel for the home-life, the good cooking, and the close quarters families live in, as well as Dawson’s family connections. There is also tall, stately Elizabeth, aunt to Gladys Mensah, a savvy business woman who takes an interest in the well-being of abused young girls, and who is deemed a witch by many who are uncomfortable with her feminist and self-sufficient ways.
There are many theories about who the culprit is, and many who had a reason to silence Gladys Mensah. As Darko Dawson methodically works through each lead and theory, the story weaves through the forest and villages in a page-turning way that makes reading this novel fun. It is Dawson who solves the crime, and it is Dawson who suffers because of his discovery. ( )

I'm a keen reader of literary novels, particularly those that provide insight into contemporary world issues. So let me confess upfront that I haven't read an unabashed detective novel in more than two decades. Despite this caveat, there was something special about "Wife of the Gods," by Kwei Quartey, that caught my eye. The promotional descriptions suggested unpretentious literary merit and a promise of multifaceted views of life in modern Ghana.

I'm attracted to books set in other cultures, and until I picked up this book, I had not yet read anything set in that vibrant West African country. I was also intrigued that the author was a medical doctor living and actively practicing medicine in Los Angeles, my hometown. Obviously, he'd know about my culture and probably do a good job making his native culture understandable and exciting to someone like me. I took a chance and got the book.

I was immediately pulled into the plot. The novel did not disappoint...at least not at first. In fact, reading this novel caused me to rediscover how fun and relaxing it can be to read a genre detective novel--a boldfaced who-done-it. But to do this, I had to switch off my analytical brain. As long as I was able to do that, the novel remained absorbing and compelling. But if I started to think too much about what I was reading...well, that's when the trouble started to creep in and fester.

The main character, Detective Darko Dawson, stands out as strong and believable, but many of the supporting characters are shameless stereotypes. As the novel drew to a close, I was unable to keep my analytical brain disengaged--I couldn't stop focusing on how hackneyed and ordinary it all was. When I turned the last page, I was totally turned off--this was, after all, just another run-of-the-mill detective novel, albeit one set in a fascinating, authentically portrayed foreign locale. The writing was satisfactory, pulling the story along and not calling too much attention to itself (which is probably good for a detective novel). But if I let my analytical mind take control, I started cringing at prose on every page.

I decided to give this novel three stars because, for most of the book, it provided me with a good, enjoyable reading experience. In particular, I loved learning about life in modern Ghana...and I didn't figure out who the murderer was until I was almost finished.

I would definitely recommend this book to any readers looking for a light vacation novel and wanting to learn about Ghana. This would be an especially good choice for travelers headed toward West Africa. ( )

The blurb on the back of the book says it's "for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Tony Hillerman." The only things this book has in common with McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series are:
a) It's set in Africa. Ghana in West Africa is not too close to Botswana in South Africa, but it's all still Africa, I suppose.
b) It's a detective story.

Otherwise, the two authors are not much alike, and if you expect McCall Smith going in, you'll be disappointed. As for Hillerman, I've never read his detective stories set in the Navajo tribal areas of the Southwestern United States. Maybe there are more similarities there.

That being said, I did like Mr. Quartey's Wife of the Gods.

More at Semicolon.

I thought this book was okay, not great. Although the publisher seems to want to position it as "the next Alexander McCall Smith" or "the next No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," I think that works to its disadvantage. Really, the only similarities are that both works take place in Africa and are about someone trying to solve crime. Aside from that they are very different, and anyone who opens "Wife of the Gods" looking for a gentle, quiet story about a Mma Ramotswe-type character will be disappointed.

Another reviewer stated that "Wife of the Gods" is a story that could only work in the Africa setting. I disagree. I feel that it could easily be translated to New York or any other location. The specifics of African tradition and mysticism would have to change, but the basic outlines of the plot are fairly standard.

Kwei Quartey tells a good story, though his writing style and pacing could use some work. I felt that he made it a bit too obvious too soon who the murderer was, but the exact details took longer to unfold, which is good. Technically speaking, his dialogue feels stilted; his characters spew exposition in ways that don't feel natural; and there are a few passages from different characters' perspectives that didn't work for me. They don't add anything to the story, and the change of "voice" was jarring.

My biggest issue with the book overall is the way the main character is given not one, not two, but like three dozen different "character traits" that all felt piled on. It's not enough that he has a missing mother, a crippled brother, a seriously ill son, and an annoying mother-in-law; we have to also give him a pot habit and an uncontrollable temper AND a mysterious ability to sense when people are lying. It just felt like the author was tossing stuff in there randomly as it occurred to him, rather than do a more nuanced development of the character simply via his words and actions. The various pieces did not really "gel" together into a cohesive portrayal of a character, and thus it was hard for me to relate to him.

Overall, I feel that this book is a good first effort for a new author. Quartey shows a lot of promise and if he takes some time to polish his style and his craft, he could be great. But, if you are a huge fan of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, don't pick this book up expecting it to be similar. You're more likely to like it if you like hard-boiled police mysteries. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this tightly plotted, character-rich detective mystery set in present-day Ghana. I especially savored getting to know Darko Dawson, the big-city detective with ties to the small rural town where there are so many twists and turns to unravel.

The details about life in Ghana are rich and vivid. Quartey provides a robust and sensitive introduction to the country and its politics, without veering into pedanticism.

Plus I absolutely love a book with a map in it!

I found myself wanting to rush out to the store to buy the next installment. But dang, I have to wait for Mr. Quartey to write it. ( )

Excellent read. It reads like an Alexander McCall Smith story with the character development. Highly recommend. ( )