Machete (Jake and Jouma Series) (edition 2010)

At one level this is just a normal trashy detective novel; indeed i bought it at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to read on a trip to southern Sudan. But the fact that someone chooses to write a "normal trashy detective novel" set in Africa is interesting. The African characters come over as real people rather than African stereotypes, and modern urban middle-class Kenyans are portrayed as, well, modern. The young newspaper reporter picking up a frozen chicken dinner at the supermarket on the way home sticks in my mind. The Kenyan police are also portrayed as having the same sort of strengths and weaknesses as any small police force. It's all very refreshing. It does have some white characters in it, but they don't seem to dominate in the way that they do in many novels set in Africa, in which Africa is just an exotic back drop for a story about Europeans or North Americans. Having said all that, there are parts of it that don't feel right. In the book, Kenyans constantly refer to dollars; real Kenyans speak about shillings (or bob). All in all a mixed bag, but nevertheless a very refreshing different take on Africa. ( )