Dying To Live by Michael Stanley - Blog Tour Review

I'm excited to be part of the blog tour for Dying To Live, which is the sixth book in the Detective Kubu series. Any time a new Michael Stanley book comes around you can be sure that I'll be reading it, so when Orenda Books got in touch to say Dying To Live was coming out, I jumped at the chance of reading it. 

Dying To Live

When the body of a Bushman is discovered near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the death is written off as an accident. But all is not as it seems. An autopsy reveals that, although he's clearly very old, his internal organs are puzzlingly young. What's more, an old bullet is lodged in one of his muscles ... but where is the entry wound? When the body is stolen from the morgue and a local witch doctor is reported missing, Detective 'Kubu' Bengu gets involved. But did the witch doctor take the body to use as part of a ritual? Or was it the American anthropologist who'd befriended the old Bushman? 

As Kubu and his brilliant young colleague, Detective Samantha Khama, follow the twisting trail through a confusion of rhino-horn smugglers, foreign gangsters and drugs manufacturers, the wider and more dangerous the case seems to grow. A fresh, new slice of 'Sunshine Noir', Dying to Live is a classic tale of greed, corruption and ruthless thuggery, set in one of the world's most beautiful landscapes, and featuring one of crime fiction's most endearing and humane heroes.

My Review

Well they did it again, I absolutely loved this book. Detective Kubu is easily one of my all time favourite detectives. He isn't your usual grumpy, hard drinking detective. He's happy (well as happy as a murder detective can be) and has a loving and wonderful family and he genuinely tries to be good to everyone. This on top of being a really great detective. If they could get the casting right, this series should 100% be a tv series. 

The stories are always quite dark and in Dying To Live, that is still true. The stories always contain things that I've never read about and things that I wouldn't have even thought about and I love that about them. They are also incredibly well written and thought out. There are twists and turns which don't always lead to where you are expecting and will keep you guessing. As usual Botswana is a character in itself and you can feel its essence throughout the book.

It was really good to see more of Detective Samantha Khama and get to know her better after enjoying her character previously. All the characters though are very strong and there isn't any I can pick out as being weak. Ian Macgregor the pathologist is also another one of my favourite characters, even though he isn't in it quite as much. 

Though Dying To Live is the sixth book in the series, reading this as a stand alone is very easily possible. I would definitely recommend reading the whole series though just because of how good it is. 

Overall another excellent book from Michael Stanley and I'm already excited waiting for their next book. 

I gave this book 5 stars.  

About The Authors

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Both were born in South Africa and have worked in academia and business. On a flying trip to Botswana, they watched a pack of hyenas hunt, kill, and devour a wildebeest, eating both flesh and bones. That gave them the premise for their first mystery, A Carrion Death, which introduced Detective ‘Kubu’ Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. It was a finalist for five awards, including the CWA Debut Dagger. The series has been critically acclaimed, and their third book, Death of the Mantis, won the Barry Award and was a finalist for an Edgar award. Deadly Harvest was a finalist for an International Thriller Writers’ award, and book 5, A Death in the Family, was an international bestseller.

Don't Forget To Check Out The Rest Of The Tour

Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas - Day 6

Half way through and I have my stand out book from June which I was actually lucky enough to be part of the blog tour for, my post is here. 

Day 6 - June Book - Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley

A young girl goes missing after getting into a car with a mysterious man. Soon after, a second girl disappears, and her devastated father, Witness, sets out to seek revenge. As the trail goes cold, Samantha Khama – new recruit to the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department – suspects the girl was killed for muti, the traditional African medicine usually derived from plants, sometimes animals, and, recently and most chillingly, human parts. When the investigation gets personal, Samantha enlists opera-loving wine connoisseur Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu to help her dig into the past. As they begin to discover a pattern to the disappearances, there is another victim, and Kubu and Samantha are thrust into a harrowing race to stop a serial killer who has only one thing in mind …

My Thoughts

This was my second Michael Stanley book, my first being A Death In The Family which I read and reviewed all the way back in 2015 (my review for that is here). I've mentioned in both my reviews previously but as it's one of the reasons I think this book stands out to me, I'm going to mention it again. The fact that these books are written by more than one person is just amazing. I've read books before that are co-authored and you can tell which section or chapter is written by each author, but it is just not that way with the Detective Kubu books. The writing is all smooth and cohesive so when I first discovered it was a two man team I was really shocked. 

Another reason this book stands out is the characters. I adore Detective Kubu, he is just such a wonderfully well rounded character. I love the fact that he's such a family man and is in a happy marriage, adores his kids and he is really close with his parents; It's such a nice touch when books are dealing with crime and darkness to have one shining light of joy to keep the balance. 

I really feel that I have learnt a lot from reading Deadly Harvest in particular about Botswana. The books have introduced me to Setswana, one of the languages spoken in Botswana as well as different traditions and cultures, all interspersed with police work and family life. The subject of Deadly Harvest also introduced the darker side of the culture and I ended up doing a lot of my own research following reading it which is good as I love books that make me want to expand my knowledge and really know about the subject they have brought up. 

Overall though I am specifically saying that Deadly Harvest was my stand out book in June, I would definitely recommend the Detective Kubu series as a whole. 

About The Authors

Michael Stanley is the writing partnership of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Michael lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Stanley in Minneapolis.
We have travelled extensively in Southern Africa and have a special love of Botswana, where our detective novels are set.

Deadly Harvest - Michael Stanley Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley, the fourth instalment following the wonderful Detective Kubu.

Last year I was lucky enough to review A Death In The Family (my review is here) and at the time I said I was looking forward to getting time to read other books in the series, so when this blog tour came up I jumped at the opportunity to learn more about Detective Kubu and follow him in solving cases.

I mentioned it last time, but I'll mention it again this time, but you would never know that there are two authors writing these books. The whole thing is so well written and it flows beautifully. There aren't sections that you can tell that are written by one person or the other which is what I've found when reading other books by more than one author.

The story itself is wonderfully crafted and is full of the twists and turns that I now expect from a Michael Stanley book. I don't want to say too much about the contents of the story as I don't want to spoil anything for people, but it is a lot darker than A Death In The Family and I really liked that about it, I felt because of the darkness I was drawn deeper into the story and I felt really invested in what would happen next to the characters.

The setting of Botswana is a wonderful backdrop to the story and again I learnt so much more about it and it's people and traditions. I very rarely read books that are set in places other than America, England or a fantasy setting, so it is really interesting to diversify into such a different country. There has been a lot of research gone into making sure a true image is given and it really shows.

I have to mention how well rounded all the characters are, in patricular Detective Kubu. Kubu is just an amazing character, he's intelligent, he's funny, he's caring, he loves his family and he totally owns the fact that he is a larger frame. I really enjoy following him and seeing the way he goes about his day and how he works his way around a case.

Overall an excellent book and I thoroughly enjoy it to anyone who loves their crime novels.

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads.

Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip

I received a copy of Deadly Harvest from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

My Review of A Death In The Family

I received an advance e-book copy of A Death in the Family by Michael Stanley directly from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A Death in the Family is the fifth outing for Detective Kubu and is written by Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip (known together as Michael Stanley). I always find it mind boggling when more than one person has written a book as to how they can get on and make their ideas work together and yet these two are on their fifth book.

 I've never read a Kubu book before but the synopsis sounded great and was exactly what I was in the mood for reading, When the weather turns cooler and autumn arrives, I love a good crime book. This book centres around the murder of Kubu's father and murders related to a mine expansion in a small town called Shoshong. We follow Kubu as he deals with the grief of losing his father and trying to keep away from that investigation (and failing) while trying to concentrate on the murder of an official and the troubles in Shoshong,

The story was really well written and full of twists and turns which worked perfectly without feeling shoehorned or pasted together. The characters are all really well formed and I really loved Kubu, he felt very real and you felt his emotions with him. His relationship with his family and his mother is portrayed beautifully as well and it was nice to see a strong family that loved each other and got on with each other, Seeing a detective with a wife and family that was together was really good to see for a change, I think my favourite character however is Jacob Mabaku, the Director of the Botswana CID. He is exactly the kind of boss you want, someone who respects you but is willing to put you in your place when it's needed. He came across as a really nice man but a complete badass,

Before reading this my knowledge of Botswana was a complete zero. Throughout the book I learnt so much about the country and about its culture, and it incredibly interesting. I felt that all the cultural references and explanations fit smoothly into a crime novel and it really gave a sense of the country the book is set in. I also think the fact the Kubu in Setswana (one of the languages spoken in Botswana) means hippopotamus is fantastic, it fits the character so perfectly, I definitely want to look into finding out more about this part of Africa in the future.

My only niggle about the book is that the bad guy felt a little stereotypical or cardboard cutout - actually I think I might go with panto villain, I wanted to scream "he's behind you" a few times. But really this doesn't take away from how well the rest of the book is written and how well thought out and plotted the storyline is.

Overall a really interesting and enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone even if like me you haven't read a Detective Kubu book before, you can very easily just jump in on this book. I personally will also be seeking out the earlier books to read in the future.

A Death in the Family is out on October 27th 2015.

I started this book on the 11th of October and finished it on the 19th of October 2015
I gave this book 4.5 Stars on Goodreads