The Missing American

October 15, 2019
The author who followed Accra's Chief Inspector Darko Dawson through five cases (Death by His Grace, 2017, etc.) debuts a new series heroine, a female investigator too principled for the Ghana Police Service. It takes a long time for Gordon Tilson to disappear. First the D.C. widower forms a romantic attachment to his Facebook friend Helena Barfour; then he sends her gifts totaling $4,000 after her sister is injured in a traumatic accident; then he impulsively flies to Accra to see how he can help her in person; then he realizes she doesn't exist and he's been scammed; then, egged on by his journalist friend Casper Guttenberg, he overrules his original impulse to slink back home and decides instead to stay and investigate; and finally, six weeks after his arrival, he vanishes. His son, Derek, who disapproved of everything from Helena to the trip, follows him to Accra, where he hires private detective Yemo Sowah to find out what's become of his father. Sowah has recently taken on a new operative, Emma Djan, who was bounced from the police force after she refused the aggressive advances of Commissioner Alex Andoh, the director-general of the CID. But Andoh is only the tip of an iceberg of corruption that would cover all of Ghana if it weren't for the tropical weather. The web of deception also includes Nii Kwei, who's tossed aside his degree in political science to become a sakawa boy, making his living through online scams; DI Doris Damptey, the eminently bribable officer who arrests Nii and turns him loose moments later; Godfather, the shadowy head of the sakawa empire; whoever ordered the assassination of presidential candidate Bernard Evans-Aidoo; and several other high-placed citizens whose identities will surprise only Emma. Notable for its Ghanaian atmosphere and its densely imagined criminal web in which every point is connected to every other.

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November 18, 2019
At the start of this solid series launch from Quartey (the Darko Dawson series), a sniper assassinates Bernard Evans-Aidoo, a Ghanaian presidential candidate campaigning on an anti-corruption platform. Meanwhile, the hopes of 26-year-old Emma Djan, a detective constable in Accra, to become a homicide detective like her late father are dashed after she resists the advances of the sleazy commissioner of police, who offered her a transfer to the murder squad in return for sex; the commissioner then has her fired on trumped up charges. After doing some other work, Emma leaps at the opportunity to join a PI firm, which involves her in a complex missing person’s case. American Gordon Tilson, a lonely widower, was lured to Ghana by Helena, an online scam artist who pretended to be interested in him romantically and accepted thousands from him to pay her sister’s supposed medical bills. Soon after Tilson decided to try to seek justice, he disappeared. Quartey keeps readers guessing as to whether and how the political murder is linked to the Tilson case. Readers will welcome Emma into the ranks of capable female detectives. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary.

Starred review from November 1, 2019
Fans of Quartey's Darko Dawson series ready for another armchair visit to Ghana will be pleased to meet Emma Djan, introduced here in the same riveting blend of mystery a literary travel guide. After a horrifying #MeToo moment brings an abrupt end to Emma's police career, she is taken on by a private detective agency. Infatuated middle-aged widower Gordon Tilson sends money to a young Ghanaian woman he met online when she tells him her sister has been in a car accident. He then flies off to Ghana to meet her in person, only to find he has fallen prey to an online scam and subsequently finds himself caught up in the deadly world of sakawa, a bizarre underground of con men who believe themselves armed with special spiritual powers bestowed by fetish priests. Tilson's son is concerned when he loses contact and reports the missing American to the police, who do nothing, so he employs Emma's agency. There is an amazing force to be reckoned with behind her veil of politeness, and readers will want to hear more from Emma. Unlike Mma Ramotswe in McCall Smith's celebrated series, Emma experiences violence and encounters dangerous criminals, but, like her Botswana sister, she is driven by a determination to honor her late father and is surrounded by an equally appealing cast of characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2019

In Accra, Ghana's capitol, Emma Djan has wanted to be a homicide detective since she was a small child visiting her father at his police station. Upon entering the police force, she gets stuck in a tedious and unimportant department with no hopes of promotion. She ends up leaving in disgrace to find a more exciting position in a private detective agency. Her first case is steeped in political intrigue--locate Gordon Tilson, a missing American man who was investigating internet scams being run by groups known as sakwa boys. Emma must untangle the web of sex, lies, and deceit in the political and police systems in order to find the missing American. Quartey's writing is visceral, with lush descriptions of the scenes as well as his (large) cast of characters. VERDICT This promising series debut from the acclaimed Quartey ("Darko Dawson" mysteries) introduces the formidable Emma, and most important, the culture and politics of Ghana. Recommended for readers of mystery, African American and African fiction, and international crime/mystery. [See Prepub Alert, 7/8/19.]--Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2019

Born in Ghana and raised by an African American mother and a Ghanaian father, Quartey launches a new series following his Darko Dawson mysteries. Again set in Accra, Ghana, it stars 26-year-old Emma Djan, who settles for a job at a private detective agency after realizing that she won't make it as a cop like her dad. Here, a middle-aged widower from Washington, DC, has come to Accra in search of the Ghanaian widow he has met in an online support group, and now he's missing.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.