Fiction Pick of the Week: Wife of the Gods

Wife of the Gods: a novel by Kwei Quartey 2009

When a young woman is found dead in a grove just outside the town, a policeman outside of the city of Ketanu is summoned to solve the crime. Detective Inspector Darko Dawson must travel from Accra to Ketanu because his superior wishes that he be assigned to this case; Darko speaks the local language and is familiar with the customs.
Gladys wanted to be a doctor; she was a tireless AIDS worker. The medicine men and the fetish priests did not like her. When Dawson leaves his wife and frail son, he knows he cannot defer to local pressures and the local Inspector Fiti who has already jailed the young man he knows killed her. Dawson believes Samuel did not. Dark witchcraft is at play as many people are questioned, some beaten, some victims of cruelty and some who display great courage. This story is more than a mystery; it is an immersion into the current culture of Ghana and the conflicts between traditional Africa and the new ways.