Facets of Death by Michael Stanley

Good Morning! Today I have a review for Facets of Death by Michael Stanley. I would like to thank the authors and Anne Carter at Random Things Blog Tours for this wonderful opportunity to read and review.

Blurb

PUBLICATION DATE: 29 APRIL 2021 | ORENDA BOOKS | PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £8.99

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 the thieves are found, executed, Kubu
leaps at the chance to prove himself. First he must find the
diamonds – and it seems that a witch doctor and his son have a
part to play.

Does this young detective have the skill and integrity to engineer
an international trap? Or could it cost him everything?

Review

Facets of Death is the first book I have read by Michael Stanley and therefore my first introduction to Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu. I really enjoyed this book and I will be picking up some others from this series.

While this wasn’t the first book in the series, it goes back to the start of Bengu’s career and we see how his character grows throughout this book. I am intrigued to see what the Detective is like in later books, once he is more seasoned on his job.

The chapters were short and punchy and I felt the pacing was done really well. The overall story was well written and enjoyable, there were unpredictable turns and twists and it really felt like I was uncovering what was going on as Bengu was.

This is a book I would recommend to any crime lover, not only was it well written with great characters but I thoroughly enjoyed the location and colloquial terms used.

Author Profile

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Both were born in South Africa and have worked in academia and business. Stanley was an educational psychologist, specialising in the application of computers to teaching and learning, and is a pilot. Michael specialised in image processing and remote sensing and taught at the University of the Witwatersrand.  

On a flying trip to Botswana, they watched a pack of hyenas hunt, kill, and devour a wildebeest, eating both flesh and bones. That gave them the premise for their first mystery, A Carrion Death, which introduced Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. It was a finalist for five awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger. The series has been critically acclaimed, and their third book, Death of the Mantis, won the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original mystery and was shortlisted for an Edgar award. Deadly Harvest was shortlisted for an International Thriller Writers award. They have also written a thriller, Dead of Night, following the investigative journalist, Crystal Nguyen, who gets caught up in the war against rhino poaching and rhino-horn smuggling.

Available to purchase via Amazon UK here

Thanks for reading

Emma-Louise x