Elephant Murders: Starbuck

Plunge into the Fast-Paced World of International Elephant Poaching with Book 1 of the 3-part Elephant Murder Crime Series
Praise from early readers:

“A chilling look into international environmental crime.”
“The inside story of elephant poaching is horrific. Let’s hope the killing can be stopped.”
“Fast-paced. The characters walked right off the page. I felt like I could talk to them.”
“It’s a movie. Who will play the female lead? Halle Berry? Lupita Nyong’o?”
“No Number One Ladies Detective Agency. Serious crime fiction at its best.”
“I can’t wait to read the next two volumes. Malinga will be an international star detective.”

Deputy Inspector Malinga Mutende of the Zambian CID is catapulted from an idyllic safari vacation into the dangerous world of international elephant poaching when she witnesses a massive helicopter slaughter in the country’s idyllic Kafue National Park.

With only a few days to act before the ivory leaves Zambia for markets in the East, Malinga dives into the murky world of big-time government corruption as she fights to bring the killers to justice and prevent an even larger animal holocaust planned by the original conspirators. General George Tembo and his nephew, Elvis Shasonga, a brazen shape-shifting thug and experienced drug mule, slip through Malinga’s net and will stop at nothing, including murder, to throw her off their trail.

Friend or foe? Malinga must decide as she investigates a tangled web of conspirators. Have Paramount Chief Kaingu and his son Ciprio been bought out by the ivory mercenaries? Are twenty-year veteran game lodge managers Darleen and Buddy the South African connection for bigger ivory deals? Have Wildlife Authority Director Jane Mukasa and her smooth-talking captain Stephan Bwalya been bought off by the Chinese Ambassador and his businessman friend? Will the Ambassador save the life of his granddaughter, imprisoned by Chinese gangsters awaiting ivory profits? Why is gutsy and dedicated female park ranger Batuke Ngoma refusing to cooperate?

No one, even her new lover, tantalizing amber-eyed park ranger Eitone Mazoka, can be eliminated from Malinga’s list of suspects. What are the elephants trying to tell her? Torn between loyalty to her children and her commitment to protect her national heritage, Malinga must decide just how far she’ll go to save the elephants from another holocaust. Jammed with larger-than-life characters, human as well as animal, Elephant Murders depicts the changing reality of human-animal relationships and its planetary cost.