Kwei Quartey's Blog, page 5

RELIGION, MARRIAGE, AND MURDER (IN GHANA)

On Tuesday August 29, 2017, my fifth Detective Chief Inspector Darko Dawson novel will go on sale. It’s called DEATH BY HIS GRACE, and like the other books in the detective series, it’s set in Ghana, my birthplace.

Here’s my elevator pitch: Katherine Yeboah’s marriage to Solomon Vanderpuye is all the talk of Accra high society. But when it becomes apparent that Katherine is infertile, Solomon’s extended family accuses her of being a witch, hounding her until the relationship is soured. As some of Inspector Darko Dawson’s old demons resurface, he investigates a case of marital bliss turned deadly.

If the fourth novel, GOLD OF OUR FATHERS, took Darko far from home, this one comes too close. Darko’s wife, Christine, is Katherine’s first cousin. So, as Darko wrestles with the case, family members inject their emotions and opinions into the investigation, including and especially Darko’s consistently annoying mother-in-law, Gifty.

DEATH BY HIS GRACE is based in part on the real-life events of a Ghanaian friend of mine. The story has three major components: first, the ostensibly fairytale marriage of accountant Katherine Yeboah to lawyer Solomon Vanderpuye; second, religion, which plays a major role in the life of Ghanaians; and, third, of course, murder. Can’t write a murder mystery without  a murder.

In Ghana, fertility is very important, and having children in a marriage is the norm. In the West, we generally don’t disapprove if a married couple chooses not to have children, but Ghanaians would regard that negatively and an infertile woman would fall under suspicion. I say suspicion because one of the reasons some Ghanaians give for a woman being unable to bear a child is that she has been cursed by a witch (or someone else), or that the woman herself is the witch. One theory goes something like this: at night, the woman’s “witch form,” I guess you could call it, removes the fetus from the uterus and takes it to her coven of fellow witches, who join her in devouring her baby. I know—not a pleasant visual in the least. Incredible as it may seem, belief in witchcraft is still alive and well in Ghana, including among educated people.

If the marriage of Katherine and Solomon is front and center in the novel, the backdrop is religion. In 2013, a WIN-Gallup poll found Ghana to be the most religious country in the world. Not one of the most; the most. The poll used something called the “religiosity index,” defined as, “the percentage of the population who self-describe themselves as ‘a religious person’ in the following question: Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person or a convinced atheist?”

MEGA-CHURCH IN ACCRA

In Ghana, religiosity is everywhere. Some people go to church not just once a week on Sundays, but on one or two weekdays in addition. These may not be brief services either. They can be up to four hours of worship. If you are imagining small, humble churches, yes, there certainly are those, but Ghana also has a mammoth Pentecostal movement that involves mega-churches of the kind seen in the United States—huge structures that can seat the thousands flocking to their revered evangelist. Prayer vigils and so-called deliverance services take place in large venues like sports stadia and            the Independence Square in Accra. The most famous and prosperous evangelist religious leaders, like Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, who also has churches in the US, are able to pack these audiences in as well as any music celebrity. Although religiosity spans the different levels of society, anyone going to these events will be struck by how many poor people attend. I think this correlates closely with the global findings of the Gallup poll.

On a daily basis, Ghanaians don’t fail to remind you of their belief in God. When you say to someone, “Hello, how are you?” you’re likely to get the response, “By His grace,” which is shorthand for, “By God’s grace, I’m well,” or nowadays with socio-economic circumstances in Ghana so tough, you also hear, “By God’s grace, we’re managing.” Someone once quipped that Ghana has a lot of managers.

I borrowed this ubiquitous Ghanaian phrase, “by His grace,” for my book title, DEATH BY HIS GRACE. I’ve thought a lot about what the title means. It could be asking: while God’s grace bestows good fortune on some, did He forget to protect others, like the perfectly decent, upstanding, and churchgoing Katherine Vanderpuye, who suffered an awful murder? A fundamental issue is whether a so-called man of God can be under the same level of suspicion of murder as an outright sinner. DCI Darko Dawson apparently thinks so, much to the dismay of some of his family members.

FERVENT CONGREGATION

During my research in Ghana for DEATH BY HIS GRACE, I went to religious services held by these prominent men of God. These events can be quite spectacular; particularly the deliverance services in which healing of the sick and casting out of demons take place. Also, speaking in tongues, or glossolalia, is characteristic of the Pentecostal and so-called charismatic churches.

The casting out of demons can be extraordinarily violent and creepy. A person may writhe around on the ground screaming and sweating while a pastor yells at them in order to expel the demons. One girl in a church setting was worked on for more than an hour straight and the bishops trying to exorcise her had to take a break because they were so exhausted. At a service I attended run by a bishop called Bonegas, there was a mother with her infant who suffered from epilepsy. The story was that the mother’s sister, presumably out of jealousy or hatred, had cursed the child. So mom came to Bishop Bonegas with her baby to have the demons cast out.

BONEGAS BILLBOARD

So, why all this piety with poverty in Ghana and other countries like it? Is it belief for the sake of belief? Is it that the charismatic faiths hold out the promise that God in His wisdom and at some point of His choosing, will bestow blessings and financial success on the worshipper? I don’t have all the answers, but that’s part of the reason I wrote the book. Writing a story with a backdrop I don’t fully understand is a way to explore it through the lens of murder, and that always renders it more intense.

 

The post RELIGION, MARRIAGE, AND MURDER (IN GHANA) appeared first on Kwei Quartey .

ANCHOR YOUR LIFE NOW!

Directly from Sweden and inspired by its rocky coasts of unspoiled beauty comes an ingenious, unique and elegant device that a reader could only love.

One of my slight but definite irritations while reading is the “page stray,” when you step away from your book for a minute only to return to find your page has errantly turned or been flipped by a passing breeze.

Also, it can get a bit awkward reading while indulging in a nice hot coffee and a delectable dessert. I practically need three hands to hold the book as I drink and nibble.

A reading easel doesn’t necessarily prevent the pages from flipping on their own accord, and a boomark can’t hold the pages open for you. Finally, some genius has come along with something I wish I’d thought of myself: the Page Anchor. It’s a device you can take with you anywhere, it’s cute, and it’s functional. Thinking of lying around the pool or beach reading this summer? Well, don’t leave without your Page Anchor because the sea breeze won’t leave those pages alone!

At the beach reading? Anchor your pages(Photo courtesy Page Anchor)

 

 

Or if a cafe is more your style:

Coffee black, pages anchored (Photo courtesy Page Anchor)

 

 

Lazy Sunday?

R&R: Read & Relax (Photo courtesy Page Anchor)

 

Working on your project:

You might need more than one anchor here! (Photo courtesy Page Anchor)

 

 

So, the reason I’m talking about this device is that in celebration of the launch of my new website, the first ten new signups between 25 May and 8 June will win a beautiful Page Anchor! So sign up quick on my home page! Just click on the “Kwei Quartey” logo at the top of this page.

(Note that if you win a Page Anchor and you live outside the USA, your country’s postal regulations may slap on whatever local tarriffs apply.)

 

The post ANCHOR YOUR LIFE NOW! appeared first on Kwei Quartey .

A UNIQUE PLACE TO STAY

If you’re ever in Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city, make it a point to stay at the Four Villages Inn.

 

 

FVI is an unique bed and breakfast with four individually designed rooms. I stayed in the “Carver’s Room,” featuring wood carvings from the village of Ahwiaa.

FVI has been around for about seventeen years now, owned by a Canadian-Ghanaian couple Chris and Charity Scott, for whom the bed and breakfast has been a labor of love.

Charity was away in Canada while I was a guest at FVI, so unfortunately I did not get to meet her. Apart from being an hotelier, Charity is a professionally trained chef who has schooled the delightful kitchen staff herself. One testament to her tradition of great cuisine was the absolutely scrumptious zucchini soup I had on the first night I was there–part of the excellent four-course dinner they offer.

Chris is an outgoing man with a terrific hearty laugh that often erupts from him as he recounts some of the hilarious absurdities of living in Ghana, and he does have lots of stories.

Lodging at Four Villages Inn is really like staying in someone’s home as a pampered guest in friendly surroundings. My experience was that all Chris’s guests were very interesting to chat with, and unlike other hotels where you pass others in the hallway in silent anonymity, at FVI you get to interact with other guests and make new friends. Several more people know about Wife of the Gods, than before I got to FVI, especially since Chris has been talking it up enthusiastically to all the guests who have passed through since I’ve been here.

The Inn is the only lodging I’ve been to in which it feels natural to leave your door open, because you don’t feel like you’re living in a room, but in a house–which in fact you are. The rooms have personal handwritten notes politely requesting moderation with water and electricity use, particularly the air conditioner, which is sensible. It’s a good thing to sensitize people to the reality that there isn’t an inexhaustible supply of resources. The assertion that one has “paid for it so I can use it any way I want” is so last century.

FVI is highly recommended. In addition, Chris and Charity are able to take you on a personal tour of the city.

 

 

 

The post A UNIQUE PLACE TO STAY appeared first on Kwei Quartey .

LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE_002: Code Blue

(Scroll to bottom for podcast)

ER staff “coding” a patient

Emergency Room dramas are popular on TV. Scenes often open with the emergency services rushing in a critical patient who could die if not rescusitated. Sometimes the victim has “flat-lined,” and so he is given a shock with defibrillator paddles. Miraculously, he wakes up.

Defibrillator paddles

In fact, we never rub defib paddles together. It's time-wasting and dangerous. Instead we use conductive adhesive pads on the patient's chest. Secondly, even more important, we never, ever, shock a “flat line,” which in medicine we call asystole. That's like flogging a dead horse. We administer IV medications, but we only give countershocks for life-threatening heart irregularities like ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, hence the term defibrillation.

A different scene from a Netflix show called Rosewood: Morris Chestnut as Dr. Beaumont Rosewood stands over a dead woman on an autopsy table. Rosewood is wearing street clothes and a pair of blue nitrile gloves. He picks up a scalpel to begin his first incision. You might already have guessed what's wrong with that scene. Right: we never do an autopsy in street clothes. See this photo of Wayne County deputy medical examiner Leigh Hlavaty, M.D wearing correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for an autopsy.

Correct PPE at Wayne County ME Office (Photo Kelly Root)

Some medical TV programs and movies, especially American ones, appear more preoccupied with how young and beautiful doctors and staff look. The real world isn't like this, and I feel European and Scandinavian TV do a better job showing plain, average-looking people who are genuine and genuinely smart.

COMING AUGUST 2017

I don’t have much need for Code Blue situations in my detective novels, but forensic pathology is a different matter. It's often crucial to the plot. All of my Inspector Darko Dawson books include at least one autopsy, and my novel Death By His Grace briefly describes the fascinating science of blood spatter—fascinating to me, anyway.

I once visited the LA County Medical Examiner's Office to see the facilities and witness a few autopsies. When the chief ME discovered from I was also a novelist, I was immediately disinvited back. That was certainly one occasion when my double credentials didn't work out the way I would have liked.

 

 

Refs:

1. 7 CSI Fails

 

LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE: Writer-Doctor, Incorporated

(Please scroll down to the bottom for the podcast)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WAIT IS OVER

At last, today the trailer for DEATH BY HIS GRACE makes its debut. DBHG is the 5th novel in the Inspector Darko Dawson series, and in many ways, it marks a turning point–but no spoilers here!

I made the trailer because–well, I just like doing stuff like that, but also I hope it will be entertaining and pique your interest in the novel. After viewing, you can leave comments on Youtube or on https://twitter.com/Kwei_Quartey using hashtag #crime or #bookchat.

So without further ado, click on the thumbnail, switch to full screen, put on your headphones, and enjoy!

DEATH BY HIS GRACE–THE VIDEO

On or around Saturday, March 4, 2017, the trailer for the fifth Inspector Darko novel, DEATH BY HIS GRACE, will premiere. It will hint at the themes in the story, which differs in many aspects from the previous four novels in the series. For one, Darko’s wife Christine, who has played mostly a background (albeit inspirational) role up till now, is forced this time to be strongly involved by way of a tragedy that affects her very personally. Her involvement presents Darko with a conflict of interest, and neither Christine nor her mother Gifty likes the way he deals with it.

So far, Darko hasn’t had to confront religion in any of his cases, but he has to now. It’s practically inevitable in one of the most religious countries in the world.

Watch this space for the upcoming trailer!

COMING AUGUST 2017

GOD, MARRIAGE, & MURDER: A deadly trinity

For a few years now, Ghana has topped many lists of the most religious countries in the world with 96% of West African nation’s population staking a claim to a major religion. Christianity takes the lion’s share with about 71%, followed by Muslim with 16%. Traditional and other religions make up the rest. Christianity in Ghana includes Protestantism and Catholicism, but more dominant is the charismatic movement, which embraces the Pentecostal principles of spiritual gifts, speaking in tongues, and divine healing.

Huge billboards for large events (Image: Kwei Quartey)

Make no mistake, charismatic churches are big business in Ghana.They carry vivid names like “Great Fire Pentecostal” and are associated with stars like Bishop Bonegas above, whom I met during my last visit to Ghana in October 2016. I witnessed one of his “deliverance” services in which he cast out demons from those suffering from varieties of mental torment. These bishops, many of them reportedly millionaires, can pack a sports stadium to the rafters with devoted followers.

One of the best examples of such a powerful bishop is Dag Heward-Mills, the founder of the Lighthouse Chapel International, which includes branches in the United States. I visited his Qodesh (Hebrew for “holiness”) compound in Accra and was impressed by the physical layout. I joined one of the services in which some of the congregants were speaking in tongues.

Qodesh, spaciously planned and well maintained (Image: lighthousechapelqodesh.org)

Religion is taken very seriously in Ghana. When you call someone on your mobile, you will likely hear a religious song play before the person picks up, and if you like the song you can press * to save it to your phone. Many use a religious image (Jesus or something related) as their Whatsapp avatar and may accompany it with a declaration like, “God is my strength always.” When someone asks how you are, the customary response is, “I’m well, by His grace,” or you can just say, “By His grace” for short.

Jacket design: Katherine Grames

Hence, perhaps, the title of the next (fifth in the series) Inspector Darko Dawson novel, Death By His Grace, which hits stores August 29, 2017. But don’t read too much into the title before you’ve finished the novel, because by then, it might mean something different from when you started it. In this story, the awful murder of lovely but infertile Katherine Vanderpuye, née Yeboah, takes place against the background of piety and religiosity. And in the midst of it, a handsome, rich pastor, Bishop Clem Howard-Mills. But he isn’t the only suspect by far.

A fundamental question the novel raises is whether religion in Ghana is a guide to moral conduct and behavior in everyday life. From my perspective, the answer is largely, no. Ghana’s piety is a phenomenon in and of itself, a “carve-out” that doesn’t necessarily play a part in whether one resists corruption, dishonesty, or murder for that matter. Churchgoing, it seems, can absolve one from the seven deadly sins.

In my view, relentless piety and prayer is part of the Ghana’s penchant for begging for stuff–cash, aid, expertise, and so on–and waiting passively for it to arrive. A Ghanaian minister of parliament once quipped that the country is stagnant because the folks who should be at work are always in church. A cynical view of course, but raise the living standard and I will bet the number of congregants will decrease. When you are poor and at the mercy of your environment, the government, and the 1%, all you have left is hope and prayer. That’s why you continue to contribute your hard-earned money to the coffers of your rich, Mercedes-riding pastor.

 

DESERT NIGHTS, RISING STARS

The Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference is an annual creative writing conference at Arizona State University that brings together writers, readers, and lovers of literature for three days of instruction, inspiration, and community.

So states the introductory line on the home page of Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference, Thurs Feb 16 – 18, 2017, at Arizona State University. The faculty has been kind

I specialize in Wound Medicine and Sugery–perhaps appropriate for a murder mystery writer

enough to invite me to lead a breakout session called, “Pulling Double Shifts: Balancing Writing & Other Careers.” After decades of the dual careers of writing fiction and being a physician, I might have a little something to say on the topic.

Also on the schedule, I join a panel discussion, “Writing Culture for Other Cultures,” along with Angela Savage, Chandani Lokuge, and moderator Michael Green. Dr. Chandani Lokuge is a prolific academic nonfiction writer, also with three novels to her name. Angela Savage, who has garnered high praise and multiple awards for her novels, has blogged about her upcoming trip to Phoenix, AZ.  All the panelists write stories set in developing countries, but our readers are almost exclusively Westerners. Our task as authors is to make these foreign settings feel like they are in the western reader’s backyard. How much is “too” authentic, and how little is not enough?

The curriculum is packed full of intriguing topics with an equally impressive list of speakers: Ask an Expert: What Do You Want to Know About Getting Published? with Paolo Bacigalupi, Writing with Diversity, Malinda Lo; Lyrical Fiction, T.M. McNally; The Tortured Artist: Writing & Mental Health, Amy Nichols; Raise the Dead: Animating Your Prose, Mary Sojourner, and many others. This should be a terrific conference, and I look forward to meeting the other authors, faculty, and above all, the attendees!

AFRICAN SAFARI–Part 2

Zaina staff member Zahir Alhassan picked me up from Tamale Airport for the 2.5 hour journey to Zaina Lodge. The journey was once a torturous 5 hours over an unpaved road that became especially treacherous during the rainy season. Thankfully, there’s now a fine road (by the Chinese, naturally) all the way to the Mole Park junction, after which there just a few kilometers unpaved road gets you to Zaina.

The first piece of information I learned quickly from Alhassan, who is a pleasant, avuncular man, is that this part of the year, the tail end of the rainy season, is decidedly not the best time to see wild animals in Mole National Park because the ground is covered by tall grass and green shrubbery in and behind which the animals hide. For example, the antelope somewhere in the image below might not be so easy to discern for everyone.

Can you spot it?

 

In case you missed it

 

 

I had a sinking feeling that my safari was about to turn out to be a dud. I felt a little encouraged when, soon after entering the park, I saw my first antelope, the kob. That’s when I learned the second item of fact: the kob is the dominant antelope at Mole and is about as ubiquitous as the trees themselves. In other words, spotting a kob is not exactly a news flash.

A wary female kob

A couple of hours after settling in at the Lodge and having my first sumptuous lunch, it was time for a community tour, something Zaina includes for every guest because of the Lodge’s commitment to interacting with villages/communities that surround the park. There are no human settlements inside because they were all resettled, controversially, outside of the park on its creation.

The Lodge tries to bring business and attention to these communities. After a tranquil canoe trip along the Mole River, we visited the Larabanga Mosque located at the village of the same name and the oldest mosque in Ghana. I found it surprisingly small, much different from the impression I had from photographs. The same thought I had when I first saw the Mona Lisa.

The centuries-old Larabanga Mosque

A well-educated volunteer gave us the history and legend of the mosque, after which we were encouraged to sign the visitor book and leave a donation. This system in such circumstances is always awkward because one is never sure how much is reasonable and how much is over the top. You don’t want to appear either stingy or a chump either. Added to this, the “volunteer” might hit you up for a tip, because he says the donation goes to the community and he profits nothing from it. My suggestion is that Zaina, for example, might recommend to their guests what, in Zaina’s opinion from experience, is a reasonable amount to donate or give as a tip, if you should so choose.

Anyway, on to my first real safari day, which began 0630 the following morning after coffee by the pool at Zaina. Alhassan was driving the Toyota 10-seater jeep, and Daniel was our accompanying ranger and guide.He explained how Mole, 1800 square miles in size, is home to over 93 mammal species, 9 species of amphibians, 33 species of reptiles, and over 300 species of birds.

Like all rangers showing visitors around, Daniel was armed with a rifle in case of an emergency like an elephant charge. At some 13,000 pounds (around 6000 kg), an elephant can run up to speeds of 30 mph. Just a week prior to our arrival, an elephant had charged full speed at a vehicle that narrowly escaped. The noise of the safari jeeps apparently irritates elephants severely (I don’t blame them). Nevertheless, a ranger would be loath to actually shoot an elephant and this has almost never happened. A warning shot will usually suffice.

I was praying that our sighting of a group of baboons was a prelude to greater things to come.

A group of baboons

By the way, little trivia for you: baboons don’t travel in families, just in assorted groups. The males basically make out with any females available, and sometimes the reverse applies. When the females are in heat, they try to force themselves on a male who has any stamina left after making the rounds. The rest of the time, I guess baboons eat, fight or groom each other. Interesting life.

Along with three other Zaina guests, I was keeping a lookout for what everyone in the park, including the rangers, wants to see most: elephants. We were not to be disappointed. “Elephants!” was all Daniel exclaimed and we sat bolt upright to attention. Crossing the road ahead of us was a train of the massive pachyderms.

Their size and majesty are awe-inspiring

One of the elephants paused slightly, as if for a photo op.

In the clip, you can hear Daniel reassuring someone not to be scared of the colossal beasts. Not that Seth, whom he was addressing, would be. Four-year-old Seth was with his older sister and parents. Seth is adorable, irrepressible, hilarious . . . and a bit of a handful. He kept everyone–me, in particular–endlessly entertained.

Seth enjoys shaking up a bottle of soda and then releasing the pressure

Seth–I’m worried about that mischievous smile

It was clear where our elephant friends were heading: to the waterhole below the Lodge, and since they would be there for hours, we had time to have a mid-morning picnic of coffee, tea, and sandwiches.

Something special about a safari breakfast

After our picnic, we headed to the waterhole on foot, as it wasn’t far from where we were. Here’s a couple of clips of the elephants enjoying themselves.

The voices off camera are those of Daniel the park ranger, Seth’s mother, and of course Seth himself, who seemed more taken with the dragonflies than the elephants taking a dip.

After the elephants had spent some time in the first pool, they decided they would move over to the next one to spend some time there. Ah, what a life!

In my next blog, I come face to face with an elephant and tug a crocodile by the tail.