Blood Is Dirt

Book excerpt: In this “fine mystery . . . British expat/private investigator in West Africa, Medway is as fully realized as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe” (Publishers Weekly). In West Africa’s underworld, nothing is sacred and no one is safe. Even its most experienced denizens can get caught off guard, as fixer-for-hire Bruce Medway discovers when a case gone wrong entangles him in toxic-waste scams, mafia money, and—worst of all—a quest for vengeance. After Napier Briggs hires Medway to help recover money he lost in a scam, he winds up dead. And the police show little interest in solving the crime. But Brigg’s daughter, Selina, isn’t interested in justice—she’s out for revenge. And she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get Medway on her side. Between the lies, deceit, seduction, and murder, Medway might finally have met a job that’s too dangerous even for him. “Scintillatingly evokes a world where the scam is a way of life . . . For once, a novelist influenced by Raymond Chandler is not shown up by the comparison.” —The Sunday Times “A compelling mixture of brutal violence and deadpan wit.” —Kirkus Reviews