Blood Is Dirt
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this “fine mystery . . . British expat/private investigator in West Africa, Medway is as fully realized as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe” (Publishers Weekly).
In West Africa’s underworld, nothing is sacred and no one is safe. Even its most experienced denizens can get caught off guard, as fixer-for-hire Bruce Medway discovers when a case gone wrong entangles him in toxic-waste scams, mafia money, and—worst of all—a quest for vengeance.
After Napier Briggs hires Medway to help recover money he lost in a scam, he winds up dead. And the police show little interest in solving the crime. But Brigg’s daughter, Selina, isn’t interested in justice—she’s out for revenge. And she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get Medway on her side. Between the lies, deceit, seduction, and murder, Medway might finally have met a job that’s too dangerous even for him.
“Scintillatingly evokes a world where the scam is a way of life . . . For once, a novelist influenced by Raymond Chandler is not shown up by the comparison.” —The Sunday Times
“A compelling mixture of brutal violence and deadpan wit.” —Kirkus Reviews
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Wilson's third fine mystery (after 2003's The Big Killing) to feature Bruce Medway, the British expat/private investigator in West Africa, Medway is as fully realized as Chandler's Philip Marlowe or Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer deeply human, aware of his limitations, a reluctant antihero. Equally well drawn are the many supporting roles, including Medway's African partner Bagado, his German girlfriend Heike and even the bad guys. Wilson also provides a palpable sense of place, here the dusty, impoverished port city of Cotonou in Benin. Alas, the labyrinthine plot sometimes veers close to incomprehensibility. A new client, another British expat, Napier Briggs, comes to Medway for help in recovering nearly $2 million stolen from him in an African confidence scheme, but that night he's brutally murdered, and the police express little interest in the case. His daughter, commodities broker Selina Aguia, comes to Cotonou to retrieve his body and hires Medway to help find his killer. Despite an overly complex plot that also involves a local Mafia Capo and some stolen plutonium, this elegantly written book provides an interesting glimpse into an unfamiliar world, with a compelling mixture of brutal violence and deadpan wit. Medway is far from perfect, but he's a perfect guide to the greed- and power-driven intrigues of a developing country.
