Today I’m pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for Facets Of Death. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to Orenda Books for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

When a Botswana mine is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds and the thieves are murdered execution-style, Botswana’s Detective Kubu begins a terrifying international investigation in the prequel to the award-winning Detective Kubu series.

Recruited straight from university to Botswana’s CID, David ‘Kubu’ Bengu has raised his colleagues’ suspicions with his meteoric rise within the department, and he has a lot to prove…

When the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats worth of gems, and then the thieves are killed, execution-style, Kubu leaps at the chance to prove himself. But where are the diamonds? And what role does a witch doctor and his son play? Does this young detective have the skill – and integrity – to engineer an international trap? Or could it cost him everything, including his life…?

A riveting, chilling prequel to the award-winning Detective Kubu series, Facets of Death introduces the beloved Kubu and his richly described native Botswana, in a dark, sophisticated thriller that will leave you breathless.

Review:

I’ve read a few of the Detective Kubu novels (although not all of them and not in order, which is something I must address) and really enjoyed them, so I found it really interesting to go back to the beginning and discover where it all started for Kubu. It’s easy to see from Facets Of Death how he became the detective he is in the later novels and I love his character. He has a lot to prove and his unusual ideas often confuse his colleagues but I was rooting for him to find the answers he needed. 

Facets Of Death is set in Botswana and Michael Stanley are brilliant at making a country I don’t know much about that seems so far away come alive in my imagination. The parts of the plot involving the witch doctor give the reader valuable insight into beliefs and culture in Botswana which I found fascinating. 

The investigation in which Detective Kubu is involved has several different layers and it was very enjoyable trying to unpack them all. I loved all the twists and red herrings that kept me thinking about the novel even when I was not reading it. 

Although Facets Of Death is not technically the first book in the series, it is a wonderful place to start and I am definitely encouraged to fill the gaps in my reading with the ability to look at the characters from a new perspective.

Facets Of Death is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: