Play Book Tag discussion

In The Missing American, author Kwei Quartey introduces readers to Emma Djan, the daughter of a homicide detective who wants to follow in her dad’s footsteps. After joining the police department, she is placed in Commercial Crimes. She interviews for a job in Homicide but loses hope when the police commissioner attempts to assault her.

She knows she can't stay with the Ghana police. A former colleague sets her up for an interview with the Sowah Detective Agency, a private investigation firm and she can't wait to begin her new job. Her opportunity comes when Derek Tilson hires the agency to find his missing dad.

Middle-aged American, Gordon Tilson, has traveled to Ghana to track down whoever swindled him out of $4,000 in an Internet scam. The widower, who married his Ghanaian wife years earlier while in the Peace Corps, had been lured into a romance with a nonexistent woman, the creation of “sakawa boys,” Internet scammers. Now he is missing.

After a slow start and a series of mysterious coincidences, the nature of these scams and the corruption preventing exposure are interlinked with the search for the missing American. As in the Darko Dawson series, Quartey provides authentic flavor through Ghana’s food, colorful clothing, and its distinctive landscape.

I listened to the audio version, narrated by Robin Miles, which was very atmospheric, with people speaking mostly colloquial English, but also pidgin English and local dialects. I really liked Emma Djan, who has a compelling backstory, but I didn't quite feel like I got to know her because there were just so many characters. I definitely plan to get Sleep Well, My Lady, the next Emma Djan mystery, published earlier this year.

Nice review, I just started the audio yesterday and got sucked into completing 5 hours while walking and doing chores. I am enjoying though there are lots of people and coincidences as you note but such a great setting.