Refreshing wakeup call

West African writer shines a bright light on seedy underbelly

by Jeffrey Mannix

The pursuit of crime novels to feature in Murder Ink has always been off-road, stealthy and disobedient to the seductions of conglomerate publishing imprints that have film offers in their back pockets and roads paved in gold to entice them.

“Follow the money” is the di rection publishers and all busi nesses stray toward, notwithstanding their mission statements and visions of their rectitude.

I don’t mean to disparage the big publishing houses, many or most of the brand names pay big advances to their marquee au thors who predictably deliver popular, marketable stories year after year.

I haven’t heard the disparage ment “airport novel” in years, but if you spend inevitable waiting time in an airport and peruse the newsstand, you’ll see the embossed and overdesigned dust covers luring you into the getaway you’re waiting hours to endure while crammed into an 18-inch seat.

And in the 20-some years I’ve been searching for genuine highbrow crime fiction –mostly offshore and from small domestic presses – all of the big New York publishers have ferreted out or shoplifted some very good writers.

Or, very good fiction writers have been eager to try their hand at mys teries as they see the genre grow expo nentially with advances and royalties nearly assured.

West African countries (Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, etc.) have begun to produce some very fine crime fiction over the past decade, and you will want to pay particular attention to “Last Seen in Lapaz” by retired Ghanan physician Kwei Quartey. It was released a month ago in hardcover and eBook by the dedicated small crime imprint Soho Press in New York.

“Last Seen in Lapaz” introduces a rather bookish and audacious Emma Djan, an investigator for a successful private investigation agency in Accra, Ghana. She is assigned to find the whereabouts of the 18-year-old daughter of a retired Nigerian ambassador,

Accra with a bullet in his head and Ngozi nowhere to be found. They indeed ran away together, and Femi convinced an inexperienced Ngozi to train indentured runaways to be sex workers at the White House Hotel he managed. There, the young women were held captive until they earned enough to be smuggled out of Nigeria with hopes of better lives in Italy.

Now, with Femi dead and Ngozi missing, the countdown to finding Ngozi alive is growing shorter and more dire by the hour.

Quartey is an accomplished novelist who creates real characters and puts them in clever and palpable circumstances.

Quartey shines a bright light on the West African culture of smuggling, bribes, and renegade government and law enforcement. He does it with such easy nonchalance that we live the lives of his characters, hear the West African pidgin dialect and recoil with every trap Quartey sets for his characters.

I’m excited to have discovered Kwei Quartey, and I found myself reading late into the night and at stop lights and at lunch, or, more likely, instead of lunch.

At a respectful 300 pages, “Last Seen in Lapaz” is a refreshing wakeup during a sleepy winter of maintenance publish-

The daughter, Ngozi, was destined for law school before she became despondent and withdrawn over her parents’ disapproval of a boyfriend, Femi Adebanjo.

Ten years her senior, he was seen as smarmy and boldly distrustful by her parents. And now Ngozi has disappeared, and Ambassador Ojukwu suspects foul play and is paying handsomely to have Emma find her.

Femi, the boyfriend, is discovered in

With “Last Seen in Lapaz,” Murder Ink will help get you through this icy winter and add delight to spring and much excitement to summer with a lineup of extraordinary crime fiction books held back by Covid.

Skip lunch out and use what you would have spent to invest the savings in Quartey’s new book.

And don’t forget to ask our partners at Maria’s Bookshop for your Murder Ink 15% discount.

Thursday02

Durango Independent Film Festival, March 25, www.durangofilm.org

Envisioning a Changing DurangoScape, 8 a.m., Durango Botanic Gardens, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.

Drew Emmitt (of Leftover Salmon) plays, 4 p.m., Purgys Patio, Purgatory Resort.

Bingo Night, 5 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Author Event & Book Signing: Rebecca Wildbear, 6-8 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio.

Ecstatic Dance w/Coop Mahndala, 6:30-8:30 p.m., American Legion, 878 E. 2nd Ave.

First Thursdays Songwriter Series, featuring Julian Marcus Hood, Jeff Sontag, Ashley Casey, Mariana Joy & The Brett. 7-9 p.m., The iNDIGO Room, 1315 Main Ave.

Friday03

Durango Independent Film Festival, thru March 5, www.durangofilm.org

Gary Walker plays, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Jean-Pierre Bakery & Restaurant, 601 Main Ave.

First Friday Art Crawl, 4-7 p.m., ArtRoom Collective at the Smiley Building, 1309 E. 3rd Ave.

The Sweet Lillies play, 4 p.m., Ski Beach at Purgatory Resort.

Horizon plays, 5 p.m., Mancos Brewing.

A Conversation w/Alexandra Houchin, ultraendurance bike racer, 6 p.m., FLC’s Lyceum room.

Balloon Glow, 6 p.m., The Village Plaza at Purgatory Resort.

Lavalanche plays, 6 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Ru Paul’s Drag Race Watch Party, 6 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.

20MOONS presents “When to Hold On,” 7 p.m., Stillwater Music, 1316 Main Ave., Suite C.

Wesley Dunnagan (tenor) and Marilyn Mangold Garst (piano) play, 7-9 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 419 San Juan Dr.

Alex Paul plays, 7-8:30 p.m., The iNDIGO Room, 1315 Main Ave.

Hip Hop Night, featuring Diabolical Sound Platoon, MC Los, Lucid and DJ Recess, 8 p.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave.

Drag Show, 8:30 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.

Saturday04

Durango Independent Film Festival, thru March 5, www.durangofilm.org

Record Swap, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Holiday Inn & Suites, 21636 Highway 160. Hosted by Four Corners Vinyl Record Club.

Coke Race, 9 a.m., Durango Nordic Center.

Uncle Clyde’s Run & Slide, 11 a.m., Purgatory Resort.

Snow Science & Social, 1 p.m., Andrews Lake winter parking lot.

Coors Light Party & Giveaway, 3 p.m., Paradise Pizzeria at Purgatory Resort.

Powder Hounds Art Auction & Pet Photo Contest Kick-Off Event, 4 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

The Middlemen Duo plays, 5 p.m., Mancos Brewing.

Firework Display Show, 6 p.m., Purgys Patio at Purgatory Resort.

Smelter Mountain Boys play, 6-9 p.m., 11th St. Station.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Community Yoga, 6-7 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.

20MOONS presents “When to Hold On,” 7 p.m., Stillwater Music, 1316 Main Ave., Suite C.

Jenn Rawling “Hand Me a Shovel” album listening party, 7 p.m., Studio &, 1027 Main Ave.

Silent Disco, 9-11:30 p.m., 11th St. Station.

Sunday05

Durango Independent Film Festival, final day, www.durangofilm.org

Veterans Benefit Breakfast, 9 a.m., VFW Post 4031, 1550 Main Ave.

Storyfinding: Writing Workshop w/Craig Childs, 12:30 p.m., Hermosa Coffee Roasters, 738 Main Ave.

Feed the People! free mutual aid meal & winter gear drive for homeless community members, every Sunday, 2 p.m., Buckley Park.

Durango City Council Candidate Forum, 2-4 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 1159 East 3rd Ave.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Sunday Funday, 6 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

ON and Acid Wrench play, 8 p.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave.

Monday06

Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

Meditation and Dharma Talk, 5:30 p.m., Durango Dharma Center, 1800 E. 3rd Ave, Suite 109.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave.

Open Mic, 6 p.m., Weminuche Woodfire Grill, Vallecito.

Comedy Showcase, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Tuesday07

Coffee Connections w/Durango Police Department, 8 a.m., Durango City Hall, 949 E. 2nd Ave.