Frederick Ramsay_Botswana Mystery 02

The World Cup, which arrives in June, has ripple effects on all South Africa’s neighbors. The arrival of soccer fans, team owners, sponsors, and world dignitaries makes southern Africa, particularly Botswana, ripe for all sorts of intrigue and illicit activities. The American Secretary of State will visit the Chobe. The North Koreans, the Okavango, Arabs, French, Chinese, and Russians are scattered among the various lodges and hotels in the country before, during and after the games. And all will be watching and waiting on the others.Orgonise Africa, derived from Wilhelm Reich’s popularization of orgone energy and transmogrified by bad science and wishful thinking, is an effort by fanatics to push forward a plan to seed Africa with orgone, which they believe will purify the continent, rid it of drought, poverty, and HIV/AIDs.To the north, Patriarche, a silverback mountain gorilla, is forced to share his habitat with coltan miners led by General Le Grande, one of the Congo’s many bloody war lords. The profits from the sale of coltan, so prized by electronics manufacturers, help fuel the seemingly endless civil wars that plague that poor country.Sanderson, the Game Ranger in the Chobe National Park, finds a body. Tracking down the murderer opens doors that lead her and Inspector Kgabo Modise first to evidence of local bribery, then to smuggling, and finally to what could well provoke an international incident, except for the shrewd action of Modise and Botswana’s intelligence community.From BooklistAs the World Cup matches near in neighboring South Africa, concern rises in Botswana about illicit activities in the country. And with good reason, considering the smuggling of coltan, a highly prized mineral found near a gorilla habitat; the poaching of big-game animals; and the various activities of the pseudoscientific Orgonise Africa. Then the U.S. secretary of state plans secret meetings with North Korea during the games, and top Russian crime bosses get in on the action. All of which keeps Kgabo Modise, a rising star in Botswana’s intelligence operations, very busy; he’s also working with Sanderson, the newly promoted female supervisor of Chobe National Park, where a murder has occurred. There’s a lot going on here, and keeping the bad guys straight as they double-cross each other, and the body count rises, can be a chore. Still, the Sanderson-Modise relationship and the parallel activity of a big-game animal—gorilla-pack leader Patriarche—add interest to this second in the author’s Botswana series (following Predators, 2009). Nonstop action, involving both humans and gorillas; touches of wry humor; and a vividly portrayed setting combine for an unusual but satisfying thriller. --Michele Leber ReviewSTARRED REVIEW“A bit rougher-edged than Alexander McCall Smith's genteel "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series, this mystery will still attract his fans and those who like Michael Stanley's Detective Kubu series (e.g., The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu ).” –Library Journal of Predators “Through parallel stories, Ramsay's clever stand-alone shows the ruthlessness of the business and the animal worlds without resorting to gimmickry. Ramsay (Impulse) matches keen characterizations with an obvious affection for Botswana, a complicated country that's more than Alexander McCall Smith's “quaint mysteries,” as one character observes.” –Publishers Weekly of PredatorsSTARRED REVIEW"Featuring great characters, snippets of Southern culture and history, and snappy dialog, this is too good to miss." –Library Journal of Stranger Room