This is a fun departure from the rest of the strongly chronological series in the form of a prequel including David ("Kubu") Bengu's very earliest days as a detective in the Botswana police. I really enjoyed reading about his earliest days with his wife Joy, and finding his place in the police as a straight-from-university detective.
He's such an intelligent, humble, capable, and benign figure and it's nice to see him solving his early cases and winning over his resentful colleagues with his huge presence and personality. For readers who are unfamiliar with the series, this is a very good entry point to the series. Kubu is drawn into the interwoven subplots (stolen tourist luggage at the local airport along with a brutal and historic diamond heist) and his survival in the force and possibly his literal survival depend on his successfully navigating office politics and international smuggling and murder.
The writing is capable, full of good humor, gentle, and suffused with the warmth and beauty of Africa. I always look forward to each new book in this series, but it was especially fine to get to read about Kubu's early days in the force and his early relationships with people readers have come to know well over the course of the series.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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