Death by His Grace by Kwei Quartey

First Line: Katherine would never forget the day she married Solomon.

The marriage of Katherine Yeboah to wealthy Solomon Vanderpuye is the talk of Accra society. Unfortunately, the couple's happiness evaporates when it becomes apparent that Katherine cannot have children. Solomon's family accuses Katherine of being a witch, and they're so cruel that they actually persuade Solomon to force Katherine out of their home. Alone on her last night in the house, Katherine is brutally murdered.

Chief Inspector Darko Dawson of the Ghanian federal police has more than professional reasons to find Katherine's killer: Katherine is his wife's first cousin. While his wife grieves, Dawson begins to investigate-- and he learns that several people close to Katherine had powerful motives to kill her, among them her husband, her lawyer, and her pastor. In order to unmask Katherine's killer, Dawson is going to have to confront the pivotal role religion plays in Ghana.

If you are an armchair traveling sleuth who loves to solve mysteries set in other countries, I recommend Kwei Quartey's Darko Dawson series. Quartey sets you down firmly on Ghanian soil and lets you immerse yourself in the land, the culture, and the food of this amazing country. The author also gives you characters with very real lives. Dawson's father has Alzheimer's and must be cared for. Dawson and his wife Christine are also dealing with a son who likes to hang out with gang members. Add a wheelchair-bound brother, a busybody mother-in-law, and the fact that Christine is a woman who speaks her mind, and it's easy to see that family life can be a bit challenging for a man who throws himself into each of his investigations.

Quartey has created a strong mystery with excellent misdirection, but he does leave some loose ends, like Dawson's new (female) partner whom I'd certainly love to know more about or the things his father began to tell him about his mother which Darko had never heard before. Is the author planting seeds for his next book? I hope so-- especially because Death by His Grace has an abrupt jaw-dropper of a cliffhanger that many readers probably aren't going to like. What did I think? I was shocked but liked the author's bravery in doing what he did. After all, this is a police procedural, not a cozy mystery. Readers should expect to be rattled from time to time. Now that I have been well and truly rattled, I can't wait to get my hands on the next Darko Dawson mystery! 
  

Death by His Grace by Kwei Quartey

ISBN: 9781616957087

Soho Crime © 2017

Hardcover, 272 pages

Police Procedural, #5 Darko Dawson mystery

Rating: A-

Source: the publisher

Gold of Our Fathers by Kwei Quartey

First Line: Dark gravel, the gray-and-black color of an aging man's beard, renders the most gold.

The Ghana Police Service has a brand-new Chief Inspector: Darko Dawson, but Dawson doesn't even have time to celebrate his modest increase in salary before he's transferred from the capital to Obuasi, a  remote town in the Ashanti region which is known for the illegal exploitation of its gold mines.

Obuasi police headquarters is a complete mess, morale is low, and discipline is practically non-existent. Before Dawson can even begin to formulate a battle plan to get the station and its officers in shape, he's called out to a murder. The body of a Chinese mine owner has been uncovered in his own gold quarry.


As far as Dawson knows, he's going to be in this remote region of Ghana for an entire year. This means uprooting his entire family, finding a decent place to live, a new job for his wife, and a school for his two sons. The logistics were daunting and just the thought of that wore me out, but as soon as Darko's wife appeared on the scene, all that was left to her-- including the nightmarish renovation of their new home. Dawson had a murder to solve and couldn't waste time on any of this. (Typical man, eh?)  

I have enjoyed this series since the very first book, Wife of the Gods. Not only do I enjoy Quartey's strong mysteries and well-delineated characters, the vivid setting of Ghana, its culture, and its people are not to be missed. In Gold of Our Fathers, Quartey brings readers right into the middle of the problem of illegal Chinese immigrants coming to Ghana to mine gold, all aided and abetted by paid-off corrupt government officials. As Dawson wonders why the government is allowing outsiders to rape his beloved country of its natural resources, readers are shown how difficult policing is in a country where bribery and corruption are rife. 

Although Dawson has a recurrence of PFS (Pretty Face Syndrome) and there was a bit "too much middle" that made the pace drag a little, I still enjoyed this book a great deal. Fiction in general-- and crime fiction in particular-- does have the power to both enlighten and entertain, and Kwei Quartey is very adept at both.

I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series because Quartey surprised me. Out on his investigation, Dawson swore there was no way in the world he would step foot on something. I call that the Bank Line because you can take it to the bank that, sooner or later, Dawson is going to have to do what he swore he wouldn't. Well... he didn't, and the only thing I can think of is that the author is going to deposit that Bank Line in the next book. Bring it on!
  

Gold of Our Fathers by Kwei Quartey

ISBN: 9781616956301

Soho Crime © 2016

Hardcover, 368 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Darko Dawson mystery

Rating: A-

Source: The publisher  


 

Murder at Cape Three Points by Kwei Quartey

First Line: Cape Three Points, the southernmost tip of Ghana, is beautiful and wild.

When a canoe drifts into an oil rig site, the bodies of a prominent local couple are discovered inside. The gruesome manner of Mr. Smith-Aidoo's death seems to be a message of some sort, but no one knows whom the message is for or what exactly the message is. The deceased couple's niece Sapphire, a successful pediatric surgeon in Accra, Ghana, contacts the federal police when three months have gone by with no closure.

When the federal police agree to get involved, they send Detective Inspector Darko Dawson to the Cape Three Points area to investigate. Since his youngest son is still recuperating from surgery, Darko is not happy to leave his family, and he vows to solve the case as quickly as possible.

Once again author Kwei Quartey takes readers right into the heart of Ghana. As Dawson investigates, we see Ghanian home life, we sample the country's food, and we are shown the gaping divide between those who have money and power and those who do not. Darko Dawson is a complex character who grows with each book. He has a wife and children whom he loves dearly, but life can still throw temptation his way. Marijuana used to be his stress reliever, but he knows he must stay away from it. He's learning how to work well with his politically connected partner, and his partner is learning how to be a better detective by working with Darko. Dawson is walking a path we all must walk: he knows the life he wants to have, and he realizes that he's going to have to work to reach that goal.

In this third book, Dawson's investigation takes him out of the city and into the environmental wonderland of the Cape Three Points area. But there is trouble even in this lush paradise. The area has long been inhabited by subsistence fishermen, but oil companies are dictating where they may and may not fish, and real estate entrepreneurs are trying to get the locals moved out as cheaply as possible. It's a situation ripe for a very long list of suspects, and Quartey works it very well. I particularly liked the way he brought locals (like a taxi driver) in as secondary characters to add even more texture to an already spicy tale.

Kwei Quartey writes incredibly well about Ghana, about crime, and about the people he has created. If you're an armchair traveling sleuth like I am, I advise you to add him to your list of must-reads. 

Murder at Cape Three Points by Kwei Quartey

ISBN: 9781616953898

Soho Crime © 2014

Hardcover, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #3 Darko Dawson mystery

Rating: A-

Source: publicist 

Children of the Street by Kwei Quartey

First Line: A day shy of his seventeenth birthday, Musa was a boy with the survival instincts of a grown man.

If you're a child living on the streets of Accra in Ghana on the west coast of Africa, you have to develop these survival instincts or you will die. There are sixty thousand other homeless street children in Accra. Musa is merely one of many.

When Detective Inspector Darko Dawson is called out to investigate the murder of one such street child in the slum of Agbogbloshie, little does he know how much he's going to learn about what it's like to grow up on the streets.

Dawson is an admirable but flawed character. His one vice has been smoking marijuana, and although he's been weed-free for several months now, he knows that particular illegal vice could come back to bite him at any time. He has a wife he loves deeply and a small son who was born with a heart defect. Darko and his wife are desperately trying to save money for their son's needed surgery, but the boy is running out of time.

Perhaps it's because Dawson is so worried for his son that this case of a serial killer targeting street children becomes all-consuming for him. As he follows leads through organizations that try to help these children, Dawson gets to know a few of the youngsters better-- and he becomes determined to do something for them.

Quartey has created a thrilling police procedural that's also strong social commentary. Moreover, it's not soapbox social commentary; through all of Dawson's relationships with family members, friends, and co-workers, through his investigation into suspects from all walks of life, the reader gets to see the real Ghana. It's a country which has had a lot of help in creating its current problems, and it's clear that all those responsible should have a part in solving them.

Writing a book that's part mystery part social indictment is a delicate task. Quartey has managed to do this very well. He's created a compelling story with memorable characters that's made even stronger by his portrait of the country in which his story is set.

Children of the Street by Kwei Quartey 

ISBN: 9780812981674 
Random House © 2011
Paperback, 335 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Detective Inspector Darko Dawson series
Rating: A
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

Title: Wife of the Gods
Author: Kwei Quartey
ISBN: 9781400067596, Random House, 2009
Genre: Police Procedural
Rating: B+

First Line: Inspector Max Fiti had great significance in a place that had little.

In a grove of trees outside a small village in Ghana the body of a young woman has been found. Eager to close the case, the local police have charged a hapless teenager with her murder. A person of influence contacts the police in Accra, and thus Inspector Darko Dawson is sent to Ketanu to investigate. Dawson is not all that willing to go. He does not want to leave his beloved wife and son, and he definitely does not want to return to the village where his mother disappeared when he was a small boy.

Dawson is an interesting and flawed character. His Achilles' heel is said to be his love of marijuana, but I think both heels are afflicted. He has a tendency to let his anger take control, and as a result he does things that he knows are wrong-- and some of those things could have an adverse effect on the cases he investigates. His smoking habits and his anger both show him to be a person who is willing to overlook laws that he doesn't like-- not the best of traits for a police officer. His heart is in the right place, so this trait is just enough to give him an edge...just enough for me to keep a suspicious eye on him.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. I loved learning about the country and customs of Ghana, and how people are trying to educate the population about AIDS. Although I found the murderer a bit too easy to identify, there were so many layers to the story that I didn't mind.

Dawson, his family, the country of Ghana, and the endless possibilities of mystery and enlightenment make this series one to watch.