Wife of the Gods

Wife of the Gods
by Kwei Quartey

Kwei Quartay, a physician in Los Angeles, set his first novel in his native Ghana. Quartay contrasts the traditional healing practices involving lotions and potions with modern science. The book opens with the murder of a young AIDS prevention worker, Gladys Mensah, near the remote village of Ketanu. Gladys was medical student who traveled from village to village working on the AIDS project. She also actively campaigned against the practice of troski, which is giving a girl to the local witch doctor. She then spends her life as his slave. Inspector Darko Dawson is chosen for this assignment because he grew up in the area and speaks Ewe. Dawson is reluctant to accept the assignment. He doesn't want to leave his wife and their sick son. Ketanu also holds bad memories for him. It's the last place that his mother, Beatrice, was seen alive. Twenty-five years ago Beatrice traveled to Ketanu to visit her sister. She boarded the bus to go home and that was the last time anyone saw her. Gladys' body was found in a shady grove outside of Ketanu. By the time that Dawson arrives in the village the local police have set their sights on Samuel Boateng, an admirer of Gladys' and the town troublemaker, as the murderer. Darko isn't so sure that Boateng killed her. Gladys made enemies because of her activism. One of these enemies may have committed the crime. Darko must break through the web of secrets in this isolated area to find the real killer. Quartay fills the pages with lively, but flawed characters in this engaging novel. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the works of Malla Nunn, Michael Stanley and Deon Meyer.] -- recommended by Donna G. - Virtual Services Department
[ official Kwei Quartay web site ]

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