This is a solid entry in the Inspector Kubu series. Addressing topical issues in Botswana and problems for Kubu at home, the author sensitively blends a competent police procedural with the personal travails facing Kubu, and many people in southern Africa today.
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I like the IDEA of the Detective Kubu "mysteries," but I am guessing that none of them are very good. It seems like so much of Botswana could be incorporated into the books so much better. The settings and landscapes could be heaps better, the different cultural aspects (or economic or, or, or) could be tons better, but everything comes off as flat and boring.

Nothing much happens in this book, and what story there is collapses around nothing much happening. It is a "page turner" but not in a good way; the chapters are short, and I kept reading hoping something would eventually happen sooner rather than later. Nope, it just plods on until set aside out of extreme boredom.

There is just nothing there. The characters are boring and have zero personality; so many book, even if they are just okay or even marginally bad, can be interesting or entertaining if the characters engage. Michael Stanley, no, none of them are interesting in any way. In this book, the reserved Constable Ixau was sort of interesting, but he only graced a few pages and he didn’t stand out in any grand way; against the others in the story he was a giant, but against any normal, reasonably well-constructed fictional characters he would still fade away in the background quickly. ( )

An ancient bushmen (Heiseb) dies of a broken neck, touching off an investigation into why he was being pursued by big pharma and a 21st century exploitation crime of biopiracy. Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu is contacted by his friend, coroner Ian McGregor. Meanwhile, Bengu's new female deputy Samantha Khama is trying to locate a missing witch doctor, Ramala. When the corpse is stolen and shipped to China, things get interesting and the trail leads to an exporter named Gampone, who is not what he appears. The two cases seem related, but are they?

One of the great things about this series is Bengu's love of food, family and Botswana. I felt this book fell down on two of them, but the story of his adoptive daughter's battle with HIV and the strain on his family is touching, even to the point of their considering muti as a solution. ( )

Interesting view of the challenges of police work in an African country.

I love Kubu but this got confusing towards the end. ( )