Wife of the Gods - 2/81, 2nd round

Wife of the Gods, by Kwei Quartey, Global Reading category

Detective Inspector Darko Dawson has been sent out to the countryside of Ghana to investigate the murder of a young woman. When he arrives, he must deal with the local healer, the rural police, and the local fetish priest, as well as reconnect with his extended family he hasn't seen since his mother's disappearance years earlier.

There are plenty of murder suspects, and the more Dawson looks, the more complications he finds. And his own temper isn't doing him any good either.

I've seen the book description, which compares this to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith. Perhaps. But I think that a better comparison would be to Inspector Morse. This is a darker book. Don't let the lush Ghanaian setting fool you - this is a brooding, imperfect police detective dealing with some morally complicated issues.

I really enjoyed the chance to read this book. There were some format issues I spotting that proofreading ought to take care of. But the story, the characters, the setting - all make this a great book to read. I hope this is just the first in a good solid series.