Detective Kubu Books In Order

Publication Order of Detective Kubu Books

Publication Order of Detective Kubu Collections

The Detective Kubu series is a well known book series of mystery and crime fiction novels. This series is written by the writing team of South African writers, Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Both the authors have retired from their previous professions as professors and are now working towards the development of the Detective Kubu books. The two like to go on flying safari trips in Zimbabwe and Botswana, and during one such safari trip they came up with the idea of Detective Kubu’s character and a crime fiction story revolving around him, taking place in Botswana. The writers eventually finished the writing part of the first book, A Carrion Death. And immense success after the publication set their hopes high of a prolonged career in the field of writing. Subsequently, Michael Stanely penned down a few more books in the series, all of which are as successful and interesting as the first one of the series. The Detective Kubu novel series is comprised of a total of 6 books, which were released between the years 2008 and 2015. Each and every novel of the series consists of the chief protagonist in the role of David Bengu, who is an assistant police superintendent hailing from Botswana. David Bengu is often referred to as Kubu, which means hippopotamus in the Setswana language. As David Bengu is very large in size, his colleagues often call him with the nickname Kubu and he doesn’t even mind this. People generally see him as a slightly overweight, but his wife thinks that he is too overweight. Kubu is a very friendly man in nature, but he does not spare anyone who tries to cross him. He believes that it is very important for all the policemen to work as a team in order to solve any case. His own police team is quite excellent and effective. Detective Kubu’s boss and director of the CID is Jacob Mabaku. Kubu sees him as a brilliant leader. The CID team is often assisted by the forensics and pathology departments. Kubu thinks that most of the criminal cases are solved with clues’ patient sifting and boring hard work. As described by author Michael Stanley, Detective Kubu grew in Mocudi. He had very wonderful parents, who inculcated some very good qualities in him and helped him become a good person.

The debut novel of the Detective Kubu series is entitled ‘A Carrion Death’. It was published by the Harper publication in the year 2008. Set in Botswana, the book features the lead characters in the form of Detective David Bengu and Jacob Mabaku. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that a dead body is found with its ribs snapped and skull smashed. It was left in the Kalahari desert to rot and get eaten by the hyenas. However, the game rangers of Kalahari stumble upon the corpse during the midmeal and inform the police. It appeared from the first look of the dead body and the crime scene that the killer is not a skilled murderer. The murder didn’t to be perfect in any sense. The police find several evidences at the scene which hinted that a foul play had taken place. When the police are not able to arrive at any conclusion, the officials decide to hand over the case to Detective Bengu. The physique and personality of David Bengu perfectly match his nickname. Kubu’s translation in Setswana means hippopotamus, which is a pretty docile creature, but very deadly on the whole continent. And Bengu is just like a deadly hippopotamus. He hides his unwavering resolve under his pleasant surface and because of this he becomes very dangerous. He is known to trample anything that comes in his path of solving a case or reaching an objective. As with the murder case of the unknown victim, Detective Kubu follows the blood soaked trail from the sun baked Kalahari riverbeds, up to the biggest offices at the level of international conglomerates to find the answers.

Lying under the mountain of superstitions and rituals, Detective Kubu uncovers a series of crimes that lead him to several figures of the country. These powerful figures are typically influential enemies who will not hesitate to kill anyone who come in their path. But, Detective Kubu does not fear to take the dangerous course. The book shows a memorable detective making his debut. Overall, this book seems to be a mesmerizing and gritty thriller. Michael Stanley was praised for choosing to set the story in the middle of the darkness and beauty of the contemporary Africa. The first entry in the evocative series cuts to the heart of the modern day Botswana, which is a democracy threatened by poachers, diamond smugglers, and unstable neighbors. Author Stanley has mentioned that people like Detective Kubu, who try to expose the ringleaders dealing corruption, will end up fighting to save their own lives.

Another mind blowing book written in the mystery series is called ‘Deadly Harvest’. It was published by the Harper Paperbacks in 2013. The primary characters in this story are mentioned as Detective Kubu and Samantha. In this novel’s story, Detective Kubu is depicted a trying to track down multiple murders and a mysterious and deadly witch doctor, who is suspected to be involved in a web of disappearing persons with the use of his nefarious potions. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that young girls begin to vanish one after the other, which makes the people of the city worried for the safety of their children. When one such case of a missing girl lands on the table of Samantha, a newly appointed detective in the Botswana police, she begins to investigate. The information found by her make her suspect that a traditional medicine, having its roots in the African jungles is the prime reason of the disappearances. Samantha teams up with Detective Kubu and races to hunt down a serial killer, who they fear has planned to kidnap some more girls and sacrifice them for his witch-related activities. Also, they try to stop the father of a victim from doing something horrible as he has threatened about taking the matters in his hands if the detectives are not able to catch the serial killer very soon. With the help of this book, author Stanley has weaved a thrilling mystery along with providing a fascinating look of the modern day Africa. All in all, Deadly Harvest comprises of elements of suspense and mystery and interesting plot twists that will keep the readers captivated until the last page of the book.