Elephants' Graveyard [Mass Market Paperback]

Karin McQuillan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1994

"Fascinating . . . colorful . . . fast-paced." San Francisco Chronicle
American expatriate Jazz Jasper happily ekes out a living running safari tours and working for animal rights. When the lifeless body of wealthy American Emmet Laird, head of the Save the Elephants foundation, is found beside a watering hole, Emmet's grieving lover, Mikki, presses her friend Jazz to investigate. But as Jazz stalks her game high in the forested hills and through the streets of Nairobi, she becomes certain that the murderer she seeks is someone she knows well . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After her husband left her for another woman, American Jazz Jasper launched a safari outfitters business in Kenya that turned up hyenas, lions and corpses on its maiden trip, the subject of McQuillan's first novel ( Deadly Safari ). With tourism now quashed by bad press and a stalling economy, she is persuaded by her friend Mikki to investigate the shooting death of her lover, Emmett Laird, a rich conservationist whose Save the Elephants Foundation opposes the lucrative illegal ivory trade. Suspects include Laird's disdainful wife and her boyfriend; a field biologist and her cantankerous husband; and Laird's wastrel son and radical-nationalist daughter. McQuillan's cast comments intriguingly, and often amusingly, on African culture as she conjures evocative scenes of dusty bush heat, squealing elephants, barking lions and the wilder urban life of Majengo, a treacherous, teeming slum where Jazz nearly vanishes in pursuit of a juicy clue. Sadly, stiff dialogue and Jazz's boring romantic seesaw between her remarkably selfish journalist boyfriend and smooth-talking Omondi, her pal on the police force, adds little spice to the game. A swift twist in the final pages can't quite redeem the perilous but clunky finale.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

McQuillan's ( Deadly Safari , St. Martin's, 1990) second title easily evokes an exotic locale. The colorful Africa setting, so effectively described here, transcends the murder of wealthy Emmet Laird, would-be savior of the elephants and bane of the ivory trade. Amateur sleuth Jazz Jasper, a good buddy of Laird's girlfriend, undertakes the task of finding the man's murderer, despite having to question the jealous widow, greedy children, and stealthful others. A perceptive, realistic, dramatic mystery set in problematic present-day Kenya, this book is an excellent selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett (June 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345388623
• ISBN-13: 978-0345388629
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,261,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love and adventure set in Kenya safari country., February 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Elephants' Graveyard (Mass Market Paperback)

Karin McQuillan's three Jazz Jasper mysteries - Deadly Safari, Elephants' Graveyard, and the Cheetah Chase - are set in Kenya safari country. In Elephant's Graveyard, #2 of the series, Jazz takes on the murder of a friend's lover, found dead beside an elephants' watering hole. She pursues the killer through the politics of African animal conservation, the back streets of black and white Nairobi, and the beautiful Kenya safari country.

McQuillan provides every ingredient of a successful mystery: likeable and believable characters, credible motives, a fine sense of pacing, a satisfying conclusion, a passionate love story, and a setting so vivid it becomes a character in itself. Elephants' Graveyard is a "one-sitting" read. Don't even start it if you're busy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery - Nature - Africa Lovers' Book, March 12, 2000

By 

S. Thomson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elephants' Graveyard (Mass Market Paperback)

This is my second book by author Karin McQuillan, and I am ready to read her third - Cheetah Chase! The book is well written, interesting - fast paced and lyrical at different points. The author's love of Africa, of its wildlife and her perceptive understanding of human nature come through very clearly. The book is written intelligently, with unexpected twists and turns to keep the reader curious and challenged. Its main protagonist is a real and likeable personality. I look forward to book number four!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best action heroine, March 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Elephants' Graveyard (Mass Market Paperback)

The other two reviews have pointed out how, in Elephant's Graveyard and the other McQuillan books, the African nature scenes are terrific, and they are. What I want to point out is what a great heroine Jazz is. She moves fast, takes on adventures as if she were born for the chase, and never misses a beat as she navigates this exotic landscape. She has a thoroughly modern risk-taking sensibility and yet is totally feminine, not just a reproduction of tough guy detectives found in other novels. The real mystery is why this series hasn't continued. McQuillan's readers want to know more about this world of Africa and this character in it.