Enjoy For Free Wife Of The Gods (Darko Dawson #1) Conceived By Kwei Quartey Accessible Via Ebook

author tried to put other characters to be a possible murderer of the young,, medical student Gladys Mensah.
I am towards the lastpages and saying, come on, who dunnit! I have my suspensions,

What I enjoyed most was the author captured the essence of Ghana, their older customs and traditions, witchcraft/voodoo, and even those who practice things of today.
The high priest/shine, Togbe Adzima, had many wives and get them when they are ripe reached puberty, I didn't know this is still going on, Moreover, covered the epidemic of AIDS, and Darko detective wanted to save many lives such as asking the one carrying HIV to get tested and wear condoms to protect his wives and Samuel, young kid, who may be innocent in a crime.
. . his love for his sickly son and wife wanted more of this in the story!

The ending had me thinking about my sisters and how jealousy creeps in, where one could end up like Abel from the hands of his brother Cain.
I pray and hope none of my sisters feel this way about me,

LFPC book read for his other book, "Children of the Streets" but wanted to read the first book in the series before picking this one up to read.
I was complaining about the Ladies Detective Agency series in one of my reviews and someone recommended Wife of the Gods, so I decided to give it a try.
Wife of the Gods turned out to be a satisfying murder mystery with a likable protagonist, I liked the main character's wife and son too, The book is no literary masterpiece, The writing gets the job done, but the actual turn of phrase is nothing spectacular, It was, also, a little predictable, There was, however, one plot twist near the end that was completely unexpected, I'll definitely give the next book in the series a go, The story of a West African detective in Ghana begins with a weak prologuea nightmare squeezed from the pages of former dimestore books.
The following first chapter opens with promisea dead body, Then the author tries too hard to tell the story, That's the problemtoo much telling and not enough showing, The sentences read like announcements or headlines and the prose is shopworn and musty, hauled from a highschool creative writing course.
The author is also on an adverb and gerund frenzy in the same sentences!, which bogs down the narrative to a watery substance.
Sentences are lifeless and clunky and contain no fresh turns of phrase or descriptive power, This is a typical passage, not an exception to the rule:

"He loved to sit on her lap with his head resting against her while he played with the gold necklace she always wore and never removed.
The pendant was a little butterfly, because she loved butterflies, "

The author states the obvious ad nauseam, Here I go again with another example he is describing cars now:

", . . and the most ostentatiously obnoxious of them all, Hummers, "

We know that Hummers are ostentatious and obnoxious,

"Razorthin" and "the broiling sun" or "the scorching sun, " Physical descriptions are jejune and often inserted into unmanageable sentences:

"Her forehead was high, as were her lovely cheekbones, her nose straight yet flared, and her lips were rich.
"

"Sometimes, when she looked at her son, at his tallness, his strength, his beauty, she felt a jolt, a shock as she realized that she had him and that he was real and not just a vision.
He was her jewel. He made her heart hurt, "

"With the vision of a hawk, . . "

More:

", . . it stabbed Efia like a redhot dagger and she jumped visibly, "

"It was tearing at her heart, . . "

"She was pretty, with a heartshaped face and lovely skin, "


The writing is wholly derivative and amatuer it reads like a first draftthe stuff you write before you clean it up.
The tone is flat and without a style, Aesthetics are absentthe author fails to convey the sensory component of writingthe power of choice words and the art of connecting them in vital and vigorous passages.


The locale and subject matter of the novel enticed meI love novels with an African geography and culture.
But this book had no seasoningjust sentences sputtering with a dull thud, I thought it would have piquant passages depicting an exotic ambience, Instead, you get trumpeted exposition that prevents a mood from emerging and an atmosphere from ascending, No nuance, no style. There is an agenda hereto educate us about the disenfranchised culture of a marginalized community, It is as if he forgot he was writing a novel and began writing a polemical magazine article about the trials and tribulations of living in Arccra capital of Ghanabut there was no flair there.
Even as a magazine article, it would flail, So many lost opportunities to create a rich atmosphere with a tasty blend of textures, But there is no sensory substance or strength to the prose, Sentences are hamstrung together with a fingerless hand,

The story is diluted by the various loud pronouncements of Ghanian life, Subtlety is absent. What could have been charming was churning and dull, The author never leaves your sideand he doesn't trust us to get it unless he delivers it with hammerblows and drives it on with retreads.
Tension was absent, suspense was suspended for lack of imagination, The novel isn't tautit's trite and forced,

The dialogue/banter between Darky Dawson and his colleagues is puerile and corny, Again, no texturejust banal bluster, This is the second book from the Vine shelf this month that I have read that was marketed improperly.
It was described as "crisp, " And "great artistry. " Crisp An English professor or competent editor would keel after seeing these unwieldy, soggy sentences, Apparently, editing wasn't a priority with this novel, Great artistry Who is writing these blurbs It was pallid, readymade, It is written like a drugstoreshelf mysteryclichéd and hokey, Are publishers getting more cynical or just more desperate

The only positive strokes I can offer are to workshop it.
This reads like an early draft, It needs several more to trim the fat and polish the prose, Although my review is blunt and brutal, it is honest, I see onlyandstar reviews so far and I am puzzleddid they receive an improved manuscript A later draft I risk being highly unpopular with my solitary and excoriating criticism.
Negative reviews are not appreciated by many voters on Amazon, but astute literature lovers may welcome a frank assessment.

For a smart, polished, and contoured African detective story, read A Beautiful Place to Die: A Novel, by Malla Nunn.



After finishing another book set in Ghana, sitelinkHomegoing, I thought I should go back to this book.
I first started it back in July, when I included it in a pile of books I was sitelink"speed dating.
" It passed thepage test and went back on the shelf until now, I'm still working my way through reading a book from every country, and now Ghana is covered!

This is a solid crime novel featuring Darko Dawson, who is called in from Accra to help with an investigation of the murder of an AIDS relief worker.
His investigation reveals police corruption, multiple suspects, and it takes a while to unravel the stories, What I like about reading a crime novel set in another country is how much the author can include about the culture.
Food, history, traditions, family structure, politics, . it's all here! One major element becomes about the fetish priest and belief in spells/magic in the village, something that is still true in some parts of Ghana and making the investigation more complicated.

The viewpoint character detective is so out of control that he is unable to see the

truth about the case.
If he weren't blinded by his anger and biases, he could have solved the case a great deal sooner.
Although he's aware that he's out of control, he makes no attempt to change his behavior, I find this unsympathetic and I consider him a bad cop, It's true that he's not the only bad cop depicted, but I don't want to read a viewpoint character of this type.


Any attempts of becoming dissatisfied with this book will be close to impossible, For, Wife of the Gods is that impressive of a narrative, Consisting of suspense, mystery, and adventure, it is not surprising that Kwei Quartey gained noteworthy attention for this gripping novel.


Wife of the Gods is a spellbinding mystery, set in Ghana and taking place within the vigorous capitol of Accra and small town of Ketanu.
Readers are introduced to the main character, Detective Darko Dawson, living contentedly in Accra as a Detective Inspector, when he is summoned to Ketanu to investigate the startling murder of a young village woman.
The victim is Gladys Mensah, a promising medical student and AIDS activist, who is found murdered by a nearby village woman.
The assignment is imperative and holds much significance for Detective Dawson, because the town of Ketanu is where his mothers family originated and is where she is last seen alive.
The hunt for the murderer will expose hidden truths concerning his mother, divulge the powerful impact of his role as a detective, and address several adverse cultural practices within the village.


Author Kwei Quartey earns a nod of admiration for his literary performance in Wife of the Gods.
Quartey eloquently constructed a tale that exhibited authentic Ghanaian culture, Whether by describing various foods, languages, or customs, Quartey seemed to effortlessly familiarize the reader to numerous traditions, I found myself salivating as he described the preparation of plantains, garri also known as tapioca and fufu pounded cassava and plantains.
I was also keenly aware of myself becoming greatly appalled by the treatment of women living as Trokosi or “wife of the gods“, a practice where young virgin girls are offered as payment to a man for a misdeed done by a family member.
Disturbingly, these girls usually serve against their will as slaves to the priests or elders of a traditional shrine.


Written with impeccable skill, Wife of the Gods is a superb book, guaranteed to intrigue and appease ones desire for a good read.
I look forward to reading the next book in the Darko Dawson series, Children of the Street,
.