Customer Reviews

Death in Kenya

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4 star:		(2)
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Before I read this book, the only works of M.M. Kaye that I had read were the Far Pavilions and Shadow of the Moon. Both were excellent but I had seen her as more of a romance writer and was therefore surprised to learn that she has written mysteries as well. Death in Kenya is a very well-written mystery with a nice touch of romance but the best part is the atomosphere. Kaye does a masterful job of recreating Colonial Kenya at the end of WWII where many settlers were born and bred in the country yet clung stubbornly to their British roots. The world they inhabit is one of bungalows, afternoon tea parties, card parties at clubs, and hunts - this sounds old-fashioned even for the 1950's, but you recognize that the winds of change were already blowing over the remaining colonized countries and the white settlers were desperately trying to hold on to a disappearing lifestyle. The mystery itself is intruiging - Victoria Caryll, a young girl who had been born in Kenya but was subsequently sent to England for her education is asked to come out and be with her aunt, Lady Emily DeBrett. Victoria is reluctant because returning to Kenya would meen meeting her cousin Eden DeBrett, who she had been formerly engaged to. As a teenager, she had been in love with Eden when he had broken her heart by abruptly calling off their engagement and marrying another girl. However, her aunt prevails upon her to come. But as she is on her way out, Eden's wife Alice is brutally murdered and the story takes off from there. The mystery is interesting and genuinely suspenseful and reading about Kenya was amazing! Kaye had actually lived in Kenya and her love for the country and indeed all of Africa clearly comes through. Highly recommended!

It's been some time since I read Death in Kenya, but I know that I've read it at least 3 or 4 times over the past several years. It lead me to read her other Death in books. I liked them, and recommend them, but none can compare to Kenya. An exceptionally rousing and clever mystery that also succeeds as a romance -- and as a history lesson! Few, if any, readers will be disappointed by Death in Kenya.

Having lead a life of great travel and adventure (she was married to an army officer in British Colonial times and posted all around the world, Kaye then sat down to write a series of mysteries based in the places she had been, there were six of the "Death in..." series including Kashmir, Zanzibar, Kenya, the Andamans and Berlin.

Of the 6 of them I think this is the best so far, but I have one left to read, Death in Kashmir which I am most looking forward to. I haven't found any of these books to match the extraordinary and sweeping writing of her romances, or indeed the scope they cover, but they are reasonable and fun reads if somewhat dated.

Victoria, raised in Kenya returns at her aunt's bidding to assist her in her farm in the rift valley. She is also returning to see Eden, the cousin whom she loved but who dumped her to marry another woman, Alice. While on her way out Alice is brutally murdered. This is all in the shadow of the Maumau uprising and the incipient violence is palpable beneath the surface of the book.

There are some genuinely surprising twists in this book and Kaye doesn't cheat too much, you can actually figure this one out from the clues she makes available. If you're smart that is....I'm not, but I did go back and check!

This riveting mystery was published towards the end of the Mau Mau rebellion, when Kenya was once more considered safe for whites. Around this time the author was with her husband in Kenya, where his regiment had been sent to deal with "The Emergency." This explains the authentic feeling of MM Kaye's portrayal of white settlers and their attitudes to their African servants.

The plot revolves around two interesting women: the eccentric Lady Emily DeBrett who at 72 has made a success of farming in Kenya and loves the land - and Em's niece, young Victoria Caryll. Victoria has just left London to return to her native Kenya and help Em with secretarial work.

Relationships are complicated. Victoria was once engaged to Em's fatally handsome grandson Eden and may still love him. A neighboring youth has a tumultuous crush on Eden's wife. And the estate manager's wife is in love with Eden. The various entanglements added depth to the mystery.

And there's mystery in plenty. Aunt Em's house is afflicted with a poltergeist or vandal who's breaking her most precious things. Her favorite dog is poisoned. Finally the unknown enemy commits murder.

The local Police Superintendent spares no one in his inquiries, even his oldest friends. The murderer may be one of the settlers, who are in the grip of all sort of passions. Or one of the trusted African servants may be a terrorist in disguise.

Death in Kenya is rich in suspense, romance, history - and fabulous local color. Herds of zebra and gazelle roam at will, baboons howl and leap in acacia groves and spear-bearing Masai warriors with ochre-smeared bodies are a not-uncommon sight. I really enjoyed this book, and am happily reading my way through the whole "Death in" series by MM Kaye.

I must tell all you that I enjoyed this just like I have enjoyed ALL OF HER BOOKS since I first read 'Far Pavillons'. She is the reason I still want to go to India! In "Death In Kenya" I could picture the setting having traveled to Africa in 1989 and I was fortunate to spend some time in the bush on safari and it was simply wonderful. Her books once again bring enjoyment to me. I am ashamed to admit that after I read 'Shadow of the Moon' I was sidetracked and never read any of the others, but I am making up time for the lapse now. "Death in Kenya" is thoroughly enjoyable and I am now looking forward to reading her "Golden Afternoon". How special!

...with the other reviewers of this book. I just re-read it the other night, and it is just as enjoyable, even though the end of the story is known!

As someone else has remarked, it is the atmosphere, the setting in which this tale is written that makes it so intriguing. The story starts off with a description of evening at dusk - she calls it a "green dusk" - one can almost hear the sounds; the sudden breeze stirring the bushes, the alarmed cry of a startled bird, the disembodied, distant, cascading notes of a grand piano pouring from a drawing room window...while the vivid colors of the jacaranda, the plumbago, the roses, and the pink blush of sunset on Lake Naivasha fade into a misty gray "green". Eventually into darkness.....

This type of opening for a mystery/romance promptly engages one's attention. Her descriptions of this fascinating country continue consistently throughout the book, along with just enough history to give it depth. It sets you right down at "Flamingo", to roam at will through that lovely old house and feel the tension and nail-biting suspense that gripped the characters.

Truly an ideal book for a "dark and stormy night" by the fireside!

I've read "Death in Kashmir", "Death in Zanzibar", and now "Death in Kenya". I liked them all, but found this one to be the most fun. It has a very good twist at the end, with the discovery of the murderer. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the M.M. Kaye "Death in..." books!

I did especially enjoy this mystery by M.M. Kaye. I love all her books. The settings are exotic and beautifully decribed by someone who has obviously lived there and has known all the character types who appear in her stories. British drawing room mysteries without the drawing room. Lots of sightseeing, historical references, etc. It takes you back to a time that seems, to me at least, as very interesting. Cocktails, and tea, and nobody ever works for a living. Very intertaining.

Like Agatha Christie, Patricia Moyes has a way of transporting you to a place and time in history. It is obvious that she knows and loves Kenya in the days of the British colonial times. You feel like you are right there and can visualize the house and the nature. Not until the last chapter did I start to see who the killer is. This is my third book by Moyes and I can't wait to read the rest of them.

M.M. Kaye is a novelist of her time. She writes mysteries set in places at the end of the British Empire. All of Kaye's books are excellent and it's almost impossible to choose a favorite. Death in Kenya is excellent though and gives us not only a terrific mystery, but a window into a time and place long since past. We see into the erosion of the "white man's burden" - and it's consequences for the men and women who were at the outposts of an empire.