Murder at Cape Three Points (Darko Dawson #3) in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 02, 2022 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery

3.5 stars

First, the good stuff: I have been really enjoying this mystery series. The setting feels rich and real. The mysteries are complex enough that I never come close to figuring them out. Detective Darko Dawson is refreshingly different - he loves his wife and his family, marijuana, and building and playing the mbira. (And he’s got a touch of the sixth sense, he can tell when people are lying or sincere.)

I have read these first three books in the Darko Dawson series all this year, which is 3.5 stars

First, the good stuff: I have been really enjoying this mystery series. The setting feels rich and real. The mysteries are complex enough that I never come close to figuring them out. Detective Darko Dawson is refreshingly different - he loves his wife and his family, marijuana, and building and playing the mbira. (And he’s got a touch of the sixth sense, he can tell when people are lying or sincere.)

I have read these first three books in the Darko Dawson series all this year, which is very unusual for me! It's a true sign that I enjoy the series, but also might be contributing to my irritation with some aspects, because things that don't bother me now and then DO bother me when they are repeated. I'll definitely read the rest of the books in this series, although maybe three is enough for me in one year and I'll save the rest for 2023!

And now the bad stuff: I’m willing to accept the argument that most of the sexist views are Dawson’s, not the author’s (although that leads one to wonder why Quartey chose to write him like that at all ...). But sometimes the sexism is just the author’s.

For example, here Dawson is reviewing autopsy photos of the two murder victims.

Dawson opened the file and went through the fifteen slides—seven for Charles and eight for Fiona. Each of them had descriptive captions. Two slides each pictured their full-length bodies lying on the autopsy table. In Charles’s case, one was the headless version and the other was with his head placed contiguous with his neck.

... Another image was a close-up of the ragged decapitation site. Dawson shuddered. On the close-up of Charles’s right side head wound, the ring of soot was visible even against his dark skin.

Even in death, Fiona’s body was curvaceous with large, firm thighs. Besides the bullet wound to her head and the ligature lines at her wrists, she was unmarked.

(Emphasis is mine.) I’ve included almost the full quote to show that not a single comment about Charles’ body is included. I have no idea what Charles looks like from this passage. But Fiona? Well, Fiona is so sexy that she’s still sexy as a dead body on an autopsy table. I’m surprised he didn’t describe her breasts as well. I have to wonder if maybe Quartey originally did, but his editor encouraged him to tone it down. And yet somehow this bit still slipped through.

Note: I started out listening to this as an audiobook, but the narration by Dominic Hoffman was not for me - too many pauses, and a terrible Scottish accent! ...more

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Jun 04, 2014 Nancy H rated it really liked it

This is an excellent mystery story set in Ghana and involving a very human policeman who can find the thread of a murder in a tangled mass of clues and circumstances. Quite good reading.

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