Nairobi Heat

May 30, 2011
The discovery of the body of an attractive young blonde woman on the Madison, Wis., doorstep of Joshua Hakizimana, popularly known as the "black Schindler" for his courageous life-saving efforts during the Rwandan genocide, propels Ngugi's improbable first novel. When the high-profile police inquiry stalls without an ID of the victim, who was strangled, African-American detective Ishmael flies to Nairobi in response to an anonymous caller who tells him the truth behind the killing lies there. At the airport, Ishmael is met by his Kenyan counterpart, David Odhiambo, and soon the two are struggling to survive multiple gun battles. Ngugi (Hurling Words at Consciousness, a poetry collection), who was born in the U.S. but raised in Kenya, provides an engaging insider's view of the cultural divide between Americans and Africans, but some gaps in logicâsuch as no one in the U.S. recognizing the murder victimâmay bother mystery fans.

June 15, 2011

This compact debut novel is set on a sprawling stage from East Africa to Wisconsin--and the issues it raises are just as large. Detective Ishmael, an African-born, American-raised black man, is investigating the death of a white woman found on the doorstep of an African professor--a noted activist who had rescued victims of the Rwandan genocide--in a very white suburb of Madison. A mysterious phone call sends Ishmael to Africa in search of the truth behind the professor's humanitarian agency and Ishmael's own ambivalence toward Africa. The story unfolds with minimal characterization but also offers scintillating, atmospheric descriptions of Kenya and sharp insights into the politics of postgenocide Rwanda. The author is a prize-winning poet (Hurling Words at Consciousness), essayist on African politics, and son of noted African writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Like his protagonist, Ngugi was born in Kenya and grew up in the United States. VERDICT This will appeal to fans of thrillers set in exotic locations and readers interested in exploring the experience of African/African American men in society as recounted in the works of Walter Mosley and other authors. [Highlighted in M.M. Adjarian's mystery preview, "Dispatches from the Edge," LJ 4/15/11.--Ed.]--David Clendinning, West Virginia State Univ. Lib., Institute

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.