Sleuths of the “Dark Continent”
Not particularly a growth industry, perhaps, but Africa has provided much more interesting (and much more varied) eyes than you might suspect. And there seem to be more and more of them coming out recently… always an encouraging sign.
BOTSWANA
- Precious Ramotswe by Alexander McCall Smith
EGYPT
- Makana by Parker Bilal (Cairo)
GHANA
- Emma Djan by Kwei Quartey (Accra)
KENYA
- Welling Waki Oloo by J.N. Catanach
- Ishmael & David Odihambo by Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ (Nairobi)
MALI
- Soulemayne “Solo” Camara by Laurent Guillaume
NEW GUINEA
- Will Prior by Adrian McKinty
SOUTH AFRICA
- Jade De Jong by Jassy Mackenzie (Johannesburg)
- Thabang Maje by Diale Thlolwe (Johannesburg)
- Vincent Saldana & Mullet Mendes by Mike Nicol & Joanne Hichens (Cape Town)
- Rae Valentine by Mike Nicol & Joanne Hichens (Cape Town)
WEST AFRICA
- Bruce Medway by Robert Wilson
- Boubacar by Tochi Onyebuchi (Mali?)
MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA…
- Sadipe Okukenu by John E. Bruce (he operates at least partially out of Africa)
- Joe Sabuni by Tish Farrell (Mbogo, a fictional African nation)
- Hilton & Sabrina Shire by E.D. Bird (an unnamed country; possibly Zimbabwe)
- John Daka by John Chitambo
List respectfully compiled by Kevin Burton Smith. And a big merci to Norbert Spehner, the publisher of Marginalia, a bibliographic bulletin of international secondary sources on popular literature and film. His “Crime Scene: Africa” (2012) was invaluable in compiling this list.
