I love the opportunity to read a back story of a long running series! Here we get to meet David Kubu Bengu when he was a new officer with Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. His lack of experience as a cop is no detriment (although it does make him a target of his colleagues). Entertaining cases and a clever plot make this a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of global crime fiction.

Where It All Began....
This is the prequel to the Detective Kubu series and Kubu’s first case. Set in Botswana, this is a suberbly written, solid detective yarn with a likeable protagonist in Kubu and a well drawn cast of supporting characters. An engrossing tale from the first page to the last. If you have read and enjoyed this series of books then you will thoroughly enjoy this first outing. If you haven’t then start here and enjoy the ride. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I loved , loved, loved this book. The protagonist, Kubu, was a delightful character. The mystery, which begins with a missing diamond shipment, kept me guessing until the culprit was revealed (which is hard to do).

Al though this is a police procedural mystery, being set in Botswana gave it a very different feel.

I can't wait for another ome!

Welcome to Botswana! This was my first visit and I really enjoyed it, though the heat can be a bit much at times.This story has a clever plot with intriguing twists and turns. But the best part about this book is the characters. They each have unique personalities and as Kubu joins the force his fellow officers are less than thrilled by his presence. But it is these somewhat fractious interactions that make the story so much fun. The main story involves the investigation into a diamond heist but Kubu also has a luggage heist to figure out. This book is the 7th in the series and would definitely pick up another one after reading this book. If you looking for something a little different in the mystery category, give detective Kubu a try.

This is the new prequel to an established series of books, set in Botswana, and featuring David ‘Kobu’ Benga, fresh out of University, and a brand-new police detective. It’s the first book of this series that I’ve read, and I thought I’d like it more than I did.
Kobu is a good character, with a lot of potential and there’s an interesting, possible love interest. But for me the story dragged a little - there were too many police characters that were difficult to differentiate, and a convoluted plot. By the end, I was losing interest, and so the resolution felt overdue and anti-climatic. I also expected (and missed) a little more of ‘traditional’ Africa - maybe the occasional wild animal. The first book in the series - which, in order, must follow this one - won multiple awards, so I’d probably try that, in hopes that the characters continue to develop in a more compelling story.

I have read most of the Detective Kubu series and they just get better and better. So I was delighted to see that this was a prequel to the series that introduces Kubu when he first became a detective. David Bengu, or "Kubu", a nickname that means Hippopotamus, is a detective straight out of university which does not make him popular with the beat cops, but he doesn't really mind. He wants to work more than be popular, and he wants to learn from his superiors, so he's thrilled when a big case comes up, the world's riches diamond mine is robbed of 100,000 carats in transit and guards are killed. It's great fun to see Kubu learn to hone his detective skills and help solve a very complex mystery, and best of all, meet his precious Joy (wife to be).
My copy was an ARC from NetGalley

Michael Stanley is the writing team of retired Professors Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. They clearly have a love of Botswana which is in every page of these mysteries. The fear of a Witch Doctor and his gruesome packages adds an eerie touch to the book. Their writing style is an odd mix of gentle pacing, with the unusual mix of dogged police work. All in all this adds up to a very winning combination for a mystery.

The main Character Sgt. Kabu is working very hard to make a name for himself in this preliminary book, that provides us with his background. He has a lot to learn, but has to overcome prejudice mixed with resentment. He came straight from the University and some of his co-workers resent him for entering the Police Force that way. Kabu has some heart- warming incidents... with a girl he gets a crush on and some hard taxing from an Asst. Supervisor but he is learning and working hard.

The background of this book has a wide-scoped Afrikaan frame- with murders intertwined with Witch Doctors and the Diamond Industry. The Book's pace is very easy-going but consistent. The Police Character is named after a Hippo, which after the first snicker, I settled down with very comfortably and rooted him on. The Background is magnificent and the Character is humble and the style is easy to read. This is a prequel to the award winning series and a great addition.
My thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press

My new most favourite detective – “Kubu” Bengu

If like me you’ve read the previous books in this series, you are going to absolutely relish reading each and every page of this, the latest book, because it introduces Detective Sergeant Bengu to us on his first day as a newly qualified Detective Sergeant, fast-tracked from university. The other members of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department are not happy with this interloper – they’ve all had to work hard for their positions and make it clear to him that he will have to earn their respect.

“Kubu” is thrown into the deep-end as the Debswana mine is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds while in transit. The gems had been very carefully hidden and only a few people knew that they would be in transit via road rather than air.

Benju together with DS Matthew Neo must also try to discover how luggage has been stolen from air-passengers, without appearing to be stolen. (Such a brilliant scam!)

Michael Stanley capture the heart of Botswana in this very complex, brilliantly
executed tale of murder, robbery, witchdoctors and the relentless heat that the team must work in. The authors have a way of drawing you, the reader, right into the plot and making you feel as though you’re part of the investigation – will you be able to work out how this case can be solved? I couldn’t but that’s why DS David “Kubu or Hippo” Bengu has been fast-tracked from university to join the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department.

Michael Stanley, I can’t tell you how much this book cheered me up as I was recovering from my shoulder operation. It drowned out the aches and pains and made my mind come alive. You’ve managed to capture the true spirit of Africa in the descriptions not just of the countryside but also the people. I sincerely hope I won’t have to wait too long before I’m once again involved with “Kubu” and his team as they fight for justice.

Rony

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Longtime fans of Michael Stanley's wonderful Detective Kubu series should love this prequel. Readers who've never met the wily detective before can easily start with Facets of Death, find themselves hooked, and move on to the rest of the series.

We meet Kubu on his very first day on the job, and we also get to see him meet the woman who will become his wife. We see how Kubu deals with jealousy in the workforce, and-- heavens above-- does this young man soak up knowledge like the proverbial sponge! He makes mistakes, learns from them, and begins to learn to trust his instincts. Facets of Death is great for learning Kubu's backstory.

But, as in all of Michael Stanley's books, that's not all we learn. There are two excellent mysteries to solve (the diamond robbery and the missing luggage at the airport), and we learn how the police forces in Botswana and South Africa cooperate with each other. If that's not enough, there's information about the diamond business to absorb as well.

Some readers love Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I read three or four of them and found them a bit too precious (pun intended). I was thrilled when I discovered Detective Kubu. Michael Stanley provides the same insights into the people and culture of Botswana, the same knowledge of the country, but with mysteries that have more bite. I'd no more miss a Detective Kubu mystery than I would forget to brush my teeth in the morning. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting David "Kubu" Bengu, get your hands on a copy of Facets of Death. You can thank me later.

4.5 stars

Facets of Death is the 7th book in the Detective Kubu mysteries by Michael Stanley. Due out 7th Jan 2020 from Poisoned Pen Press, it's 336 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

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.

In this prequel to Kubu Bengu series, a heist at the world's largest diamond mine sends the straight-out-of-the-university Bengu and CID colleagues into investigation mode, especially when the robbers are killed but the diamonds remain missing. Suspicion falls to a local witch doctor, but the young officer comes up with a plan to solve the case. Will he succeed or fail? The novel felt disjointed to me because the chapters were so short. Ultimately the mystery itself was gratifying, but the novel's flow stymied by the writing. I received an advance review electronic copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's the first book I read in this series and won't surely be the last as I found it gripping and entertaining.
I loved the vivid descriptions of Africa, the well thought cast of characters, and the well crafted plot.
The mystery is solid and it kept me guessing till the end.
I look forward to reading other stories in this series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is a great prequel to the Botswana Inspector Kubu books. Kubu has just joined the CID after graduating from the university. The first case he is assigned is about suitcases which have disappeared on flights from Gaborone to London and Paris. The tags were all scanned as bags were loaded, and then they were missing at the end of the flights.

Then, there is a fire in a plane taking off at Jwaneng Airport. While the airport is closed, the diamond mines needed to use armored transport to deliver raw diamonds to the processors. There were three cases, two with gravel and one with diamonds. No one knew which car had the diamonds, and the cars left 15 minutes apart. When the middle car disappeared, the CID was called, and Assistant Superintendent Mabaku takes Kubu with him to Jwaneng. Kubu realizes the plane fire isn’t an accident and realizes it was part of the planning of the diamond heist. The plans were quite complicated, and there were many participants. Kubu does a great job investigating the diamond heist, and realizes the solution of the missing suitcases in the middle of the night! While checking out things at the records office, Kubu meets Joy and becomes very infatuated with her, although he’s too shy to ask her out.

I have always meant to read this critically acclaimed series set in Botswana by the authors Michael Stanley, and find myself introduced to it with this prequel, which goes back to David 'Kubu' Bengu start in the police. Kubu is his nickname, acquired at school, the Setswana word for hippopotamus, often underestimated in just how deadly an animal it can be. Walking into Botswana's Police Criminal Investigation Department on his first day on the 30th November 1998, he is aware that he will face resentment, he has been fast tracked, a graduate who has never had to complete his beat service. He is not wrong, but he is a sensitive and patient guy, smart enough to address this with humility and stress on how success in the cases is a team affair.

His boss, Assistant Superintendent Makabu turns out to be a tough and fair man, as he chooses to put Kubu in the heart of a complex case that comes up on his first day. A plane belonging to Debswana, a fifty/fifty partnership between De Beers and the Botswana government goes up in flames, leaving the pilot, Tony Roberts, badly burned. Assumed to be an accident, Major David Chamberlain, the head of the Jwaneng Diamond Mine, is behind on diamond deliveries, and along with his security and administration heads, makes the decision to implement the agreed emergency procedures. A cash in transit company is brought in with armoured vehicles and guards, to transport the diamonds, only for a deadly diamond heist to take place, leaving three guards dead. With suspicions of insider involvement, the police find themselves in a twisted case of witchdoctors, spells, fetishes, where many involved in the heist are ending up dead. They liaise with South African police whilst facing difficulties in finding the necessary evidence when it comes to charging the mastermind behind the heist.

Kubu finds himself in the middle of the action right at the beginning, instrumental in solving what is happening to missing luggage at the airport, whilst making a valuable contribution on a big case. He is dropped into a scenario which provides great new experiences, but puts him on a steep learning curve too, real policing is nothing like his academic background so far. He takes to it like a duck to water, whilst finding himself drawn to the records officer, Joy Serome. This novel takes place in the fascinating location of Gaborone, Botswana, there is nothing of the modern technological era, all progress is made by wearing down shoe leather, handling the sensitive political and corporate interests, and smart, intelligent policing. This prequel turned out to be the perfect way to become familiar with this brilliant series. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Great mystery set in Africa with a fun team of very nice detectives. It is interesting to read detective story that is not set in the US or England, I really enjoy the journey, and the nuances that make this a different style of story.
A major robbery from a large shipment of diamonds, a witch doctor and a new detective with the nickname of Kubu, meaning "hippopotamus," sets the scene for this enjoyable book, that couldn't be easily be put down.

A thoroughly enjoyable story with a lovely detective - young, enthusiastic in his first job. and who has a supportive senior officer. His first case involves missing luggage by dint of exchanging luggage tags; he works it out although it is quite convoluted. He is also part of the team investigating a major diamond heist with as many red herrings as one could hope for. The descriptions of the landscape and towns are well-written and you can certainly smell the heat. The young detective, David Bengu, aka Kubu, is a pleasant young man, working hard and managing to get the support of everyone, even those who came up from the beat and who start off feeling aggrieved at his fast-track through university to get the CID posting.I liked the setting in Botswana and South Africa and it makes a pleasant change to see traditional policing and thought rather than over-reliance upon scientific techniques which results are obtained far more quickly than possible. In many respects it feels like a story of a bygone age - when life was slower and more relaxed - and all the better for it;. I see now that this is the prequel to other stories involving him - I shall have to go and seek these. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This prequel to Michael Stanley’s Kubu series is every bit as good as the others. In Facets of Death we meet Kubu on his first day on the police force. Having been hired straight out of University and with no customary experience on patrol, Kubu is assigned to the detectives team, where he proves quickly the wisdom of his hire. We follow his involvement in the relatively minor crime of stolen luggage and in a major case involving stolen diamonds, witch doctors, and multiple murders, where he proves his considerable weight in his clever contributions. We also see the start of his relationship with Joy. Fans of the series will rejoice at this new book. For readers who are unfamiliar with Kubu or Botswana, Facets of Death is a wonderful introduction. It’s akin to finding Endeavour after finishing the Inspector Morse series. Bravo.

I’m not always attracted to mysteries, but the setting and description behind this book made me hopeful. I wasn’t disappointed in what I found — suspense, action, rich descriptions of places and people. I would put this book forefront on my shelf.