The Witch Doctor's Wife

The Witch Doctor's Wife is a story of the waning days of the Belgian Congo. The reader is introduced to the exotic setting through the character of Amanda Brown, a young American newly arrived to run a missionary guest house in the town of Belle Vue. Through Amanda, the reader has an outsider's perspective, not just of the African society and customs, but also of the Belgian/European culture. The town is dominated by a diamond mining company, and the social pecking order mirrors the company hierarchy. The atmosphere is filled with greed, jealousy, ambition, animosity, and prejudice -- not just the European prejudice against the African population, but also European ethnic prejudice between Walloon and Fleming Belgians, and between show more Belgians and southern Europeans. There are whispers of Congolese independence in both the African and European communities. Myers draws the reader into the setting and the lives of the characters, then adds a large uncut diamond to the mix and lets events take their course.

I've read and enjoyed a few of the author's cozy mysteries. This book is completely different. I would classify it as general fiction rather than mystery. Don't be misled by the comparisons to Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. It seems like any new book with an African setting wants to link itself to McCall Smith's popular series. The authors' styles are different, and the Congo and Botswana are about as much alike as New Mexico and Massachusetts. Readers who like novels with a strong sense of place will find a lot to like about this book. It also has strong characters and a strong story, so it should appeal to a broad range of readers. Warmly recommended. show less

This is a swiftly-moving, exciting, yet character-driven book. Myers' evocative prose brings Africa close and personal without ever sounding like a travelogue. At first the descriptions of wildlife at the beginning of each chapter, and their lack of connection to said chapters, took some getting used to, but the slight breaking of the narrative rhythm ended up working for me.

I really enjoyed this book, and will be seeking out more stuff by Myers. Writing about colonial Africa is a challenge, especially when trying to make Belgian characters appealing, but she struck a realistic balance and made the characters human, which is more important.

First Line: The dominant female danced along the edge of the manioc field, impatiently waiting the arrival of her pack.

The plane young missionary Amanda Brown is traveling on crash lands outside the village of Belle Vue in the Belgian Congo, which is too forceful a way of telling her that she is no longer in South Carolina. Amanda's housekeeper, an evil-tempered man named Protruding Navel, is highly incensed when she hires a village woman named Cripple to take his place. Profits at the mine are not as high as stockholders would like. Love affairs are being conducted. People relive old tragedies with each new dawn. When one of the villagers stumbles upon a huge uncut diamond, events are put into place that could lead to nothing less than show more murder.

When I began my long and willing descent into mystery reading, Tamar Myers' cosy "Den of Antiquity" series set in South Carolina was one of the first that I devoured. I enjoyed Myers' sense of humor and way with words. The author has a second long-running "Pennsylvania-Dutch" series as well. In deciding to use her own background as child of missionaries in the Congo of the late 1950s, Tamar Myers has broken new ground in what I hope will be a very fertile field.

Myers' knowledge of the land and people of the 1950s Congo permeates every page, even when it's a small detail such as villagers knowing they had to get home before they heard the first sounds of the hyenas. The customs of the native peoples, how the whites lived and behaved, the landscape, the weather, the architecture... all of these things brought such verisimilitude to the book that I would rank The Witch Doctor's Wife right up there with Alexander McCall Smith and Michael Stanley.

I did have one problem with the book however: there were too many characters, and several of them didn't seem to have anything to do. I didn't get any of them confused; I just read and wondered why they were there. Myers is possibly setting up future books in a series, but I did find the character bounty awkward.

Normally I tell people not to believe blurbs that say, "If you like McCall Smith's #1 Ladies Detective Agency" because most of the time that merely means that the book is set somewhere on the African continent. This time, I would say a blurb like that would be true. There's a gentleness, a humor, and a wisdom to The Witch Doctor's Wife that does remind me of Precious Ramotswe. If Myers does continue to write about Amanda Brown, I'll continue to read the books. They're that good. show less

I read this as part of my Around the World in 80 Books challenge. A mystery story set in the 1950s in the Belgian Congo before its independence from Belgium (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). The main character is Amanda Brown, a young American missionary who moves out to the village of Belle Vue to run a missionary guesthouse. The author was born and raised in the Belgian Congo by missionary parents so she is on familiar territory. Although Amanda’s mission is to convert souls, the book does not really focus on religion but is a rather quaint look at the villagers, their lives and the way they perceive the oddities of the Europeans, and makes some points about the effects of colonialism. Amanda is proud of having learnt Tshiluba show more the local Congolese language, but finds there is much else to learn. The story is populated by great characters such as Their Death, Cripple, Second Wife and Protruding Navel. My favourite character was First Wife, Cripple, with her sharp mind and outspoken ways. When a priceless diamond is discovered a series of events is set in train. I found the story fun and entertaining. There were snippets at the beginning of each chapter about the Congo, its people and fauna. It also highlighted the tension in Belgium between the Walloons (French speakers) and the Flemish (dutch speakers). A light mystery with some historical and cultural insights into colonial Belgian Congo. My only complaint was there seemed to be some loose ends in the mystery that didn’t entirely resolve. show less

When Amanda Brown arrives in the Congo to run a missionary guesthouse, she is fascinated by both the landscape and the people. But, her cultural training hasn't prepared her for its people’s peculiar names and odd customs. Although she already has a housekeeper, she can’t resist offering employment to the clever first wife of Their Death, the local witch doctor. Their Death, not really a very successful witch doctor, is trying to deal with his two squabbling spouses and his second job as a yardman. When he discovers his baby son sucking on a huge raw diamond, he sets in motion a chain of greed, misplaced trust, and betrayal.

Each chapter begins with a short paragraph about the Congo, primarily the various animals that live there, but show more occasionally on the culture of the local native tribes as well. I thought it was one of the most interesting aspects of the book even though it didn't really signal an event in the following chapter. I loved the interaction between Amanda's household staff, arrogant housekeeper Protruding Naval and assistant, Cripple.

I thought this book was an interesting look at pre-independence Congo from an author who grew up there. The setting was very atmospheric and the characters were very humorous. The author has just started to develop the character of Amanda Brown in this book and it feels a bit unfinished. I am planning to read one of the other three books in the series and she how these characters make out in the future. show less

The Witch Doctor’s Wife by Tamar Myers is the first book in her series that features Amanda Brown, a young American missionary who come to the Belgium Congo in 1958. Amanda is little prepared for the culture clash she finds herself in but with the help of the local policeman and her newly hired help, who turns out to be the local witch doctor’s wife, she is learning how to cope.

There is very little mystery here, mostly a sly game of Who’s Got The Button but the button in this case is a huge, flawless diamond that originally shows up in hands of a toddler. As the diamond is snatched back and forth by different people, we also learn of the struggles of the various ethnic groups that are trying to get along while this nation is on show more the verge of a revolution for it’s independence.

I loved the setting and since the author was born and raised in the Congo, she is very informative about the land, it’s people, and the political tensions that were mounting. I was a little disappointed with Amanda finding her somewhat colorless and stiff but hope to see more character development with her as the series progresses. Overall an entertaining novel that was interesting and instructive at the same time. show less

This was a delightful book in so many ways. I loved the descriptive paragraphs at the beginning of each chapter, giving a special piece of the author's personal knowledge about Africa, but of course the entire book describes things the author knows. I particularly enjoyed the origins of the names of the African people and the straightforwardness of their descriptions of what those "strange white people" did as far as such things as their eating behavior and their bathroom habits. And the plot itself---wonderful! It twists and turns and there are continuing surprises right up to the very end.