C. M. Elliott

"Sibanda glanced across at the flocks of vultures roosting in the nearby acacia grove. He controlled a wave a disgust. They had much to answer for, having digested this man's identity for breakfast."

It's always amazing when you pick up a random book from the library and end up loving it! In this book, Sibanda is called when a corpse is found being eaten by vultures in a game reserve. It is up to him and Sergent Ncube to solve the case! Oh, and they only have two clues. A chip of blue paint and a knife with a B on it (both of which conveniently seem to be able to be linked with each of the suspects they find). And if course other mysteries crop up in the middle of this one!

This book has been compared to the Number One Ladies Detective's Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. I can't say I agree. All that's similar is that they are both set in (relatively rural areas in) southern Africa. Beyond that... Well. They are very different.

The book starts off a bit slowly, but it quickly picks up, throwing you into the middle of the chaos that is southern African police work. Our characters are definitely very smart (although they can also be very stupid at times). While the events are definitely very serious, the author also includes a lot of humour. I enjoyed his the author would build up a case against each of the suspects, making you believe that it was definitely them! It was a very tense read at times.

I loved Sibanda's bush knowledge! As someone who loves nature, this is actually what drew me to the book and it definitely didn't disappoint.

I can definitely recommend this book to lovers of mystery those of novels set in rural places. And if you love both? Definitely go for it!… (more)

This is the second in a series of (currently) three crime novels set in a small town near a game reserve in Zimbabwe and featuring Detective Inspector Jubalani Sibanda, his assistant Sergeant Ncube and the capricious Miss Daisy.

Out running Sibanda discovers a body, initially assumed to be the result of a lightning strike, but quickly discovered to be a murder. Later an American zoologist researching rhino herds is found apparently mauled to death by a crocodile, but is this also murder? How these deaths are linked, whether they are related to rhino and elephant poaching, and who is the murderer are all puzzles for Sibanda to solve.

Sibanda is a lover of the natural world and there are excellent descriptions of Zimbabwean wildlife throughout this book. Sergeant Ncube is of a more materialistic bent, preferring to eat his wives’ cooking and ignore the nature outside his door. The contrasts between Sibanda and Ncube drive much of the gentle humour and provide a counterpoint to the rare but shocking violence described.

Excellent storytelling and realistic, interesting and new characters and settings make this a wonderful read.… (more)

I am not sure that charming is the word I should use for this mystery -- it can be gruesome in places - but this is the word I want to use.

Third in a series, it is the first one I read and besides a few notes that probably will spoil some of actions in the first two novels, it works on its own.

Meet Detective Jabulani Sibanda - assigned to a small town in the bush of Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. He went to school to England and because of that is the only professional detective - despite what his boss may think. And he is not exactly patient enough to just take the daily needling from Cold War (as the boss is called behind his back).

This time it all starts when a train hits an elephant in the middle of a long stretch of railroad - and the mutilated body of a woman is found nearby. It does not take long for the Jabu to realize that this is a part of serial killer spree and things take off from there. His sergeant should have sounded like a simpleton but somehow the author manages to make him somewhat likeable (and the sergeant's attempts at improving his English by reading a dictionary causes even more confusion than usual).

Add to that a love story, a brilliant depiction of rural life in Zimbabwe and a somewhat side story that does not make sense until the dots get connected and you realize when it happened and this is one gem of a novel - despite the gruesome depictions of murder and wild life (if you cannot stand watching the documentaries on National Geographic where a pride of lions kill an animal, you probably won't like the description here either).

Now I need to go find the other 2 books that had been published in this series...… (more)