Wife of the Gods [Hardcover]

Kwei Quartey (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (2009)
• ISBN-10: 1588368572
• ISBN-13: 978-1588368577
• ASIN: B002HJ6BZA
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,450,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kwei Quartey is a physician practicing in the Los Angeles area, but his first love was always writing. When he was eight-years-old, he wrote three short novels that he bound with colorful cardboard covers. They were mystery stories, and Quartey has retained his preference for that genre into adulthood. His novel WIFE OF THE GODS is a murder mystery set in Ghana, West Africa. Quartey is able to set his story in that country because he grew up there until his late teens. He is the son of an African American mother and Ghanaian father.

While in medical school and during his training as a physician, Quartey found little to no time to write, but once he began his practice, he was able to return to his very early ambition to be an author. The arc of his career began with a UCLA extension class in creative writing, then about three years of belonging to a writing group. Thereafter, Quartey settled down to writing on his own. One novel, KAMILA, was subsidy published, which gained him no traction in the publishing world.

His idea for his present novel, WIFE OF THE GODS, was born at the turn of the millennium. It went through multiple transformations before it was ready to be shown. Agent Marly Rusoff, highly regarded in the publishing world, took Quartey's novel on and sold it to Random House at auction.

In WIFE OF THE GODS, featuring Detective Darko Dawson, the tangible, physical world coexists with beliefs in another realm of gods and their magical powers, and it is against this complicated background that Darko must try to solve the mystery of the murder of a beautiful young woman in a small rural town.

Quartey notes that there are many parallels between detective work and being a physician. In the first place, both doctors and detectives are presented with mysteries they must solve. In the physician's case, it's an unknown illness or cause of an illness. Detectives interview suspects and witnesses, doctors interview patients. A detective and a doctor both have a set of clues that they must try and sort out to get to the bottom of the mystery, and some of those clues may be red herrings that lead them astray. In addition, just as a detective must strive to understand the patient's perspective, the detective must "get into the mind" of his suspect.

The next Darko Dawson novel is CHILDREN OF THE STREET, release date July 12, 2011. His novel, KAMILA, now on Kindle, might be called "Life before Darko Dawson." In the early to mid nineties, Quartey subsidy published this story of a young Algerian woman who gets caught between the love of a Frenchman and the persuasions of a fiery young nationalist Arab who wants Kamila to join the cause. This is a very different kind of book from the mystery genre that Quartey loves.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Debut with Detective Dawson, June 16, 2009

By 

Phyllis Rhodes (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wife of the Gods: A Novel (Hardcover)

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Kwei Quartay's debut is an entertaining debut that not only focuses on Darko Dawson, the family man and the detective, but immerses the reader in Ghanaian culture and traditions, and introduces a cast of lively characters. The novel opens with the murder of a young AIDS prevention worker in the same remote region Darko's mother disappeared 25 years earlier while visiting her sister. He is assigned to support the local police because he speaks Ewe and dives into the case with a practiced, methodical approach despite objections from the local officials who suspect a young admirer of the victim (and town troublemaker) as the culprit. Darko initially treads carefully as he navigates between modern and traditional worlds; reverence for the tribal priests and practice of trokosi challenges his "progressive" thinking where women are viewed and treated equally to men and his non-belief in witchcraft and sorcery.

Darko is an exceptionally likeable character in that he is not the "perfect" detective; his love of marijuana mars his innocence along with repressed feelings of guilt and loss surrounding his brother's life-altering, childhood accident and his mother's unsolved disappearance. He also has a strained relationship with his father and mother-in-law, for good reasons; but loves his wife and son unconditionally. He is unbelievably human; he makes mistakes along the way, falls to anger which clouds his judgment, and at times, he prematurely jumps to the wrong conclusions at a cost. The other characters via their actions, environmental settings/way of life, and mindset provide the reader with a view into Ghanaian culture, sociology, social services (health care system, law enforcement, etc), which for me, was very enlightening.

The writing style works with the story -- it is simplistic, somewhat imperfect, but yet effective -- just like Dawson. I think most readers can and will figure out "whodunit" long before it is revealed, but it will not detract from the story. I am happy to see the author is planning another novel as I would definitely love to read it.

Reviewed by Phyllis
Date: June 16, 2009
APOOO BookClub

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great First Novel, May 2, 2009

By 

M. Branco - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wife of the Gods: A Novel (Hardcover)

Inspector Darko Dawson has been sent to Ketanu, a village several kilometers away from his home base of Accra, the capital of Ghana, to investigate a murder. He has mixed emotions about going, since Ketanu is the site of his mother's disappearance more than 25 years ago. In fact, he still has relatives living there. While in Ketanu, not only must the urbane Dawson contend with a population fixated on witchcraft, but the murder investigation involves him with many local superstitions, faith healers, and priests with several wives.

While the publisher compares this book to Alexander McCall Smith's 1st Ladies Detective Agency series, the only similarity is the setting. This is a good police procedural, with well developed and believable characters, an engaging setting, and a cleverly twisting plot that kept me guessing until the end.

Dawson is an engaging character-- a dope smoking, firey tempered, independent, 'take no prisoners' detective. He reminds me very much of J.A. Jance's J.P. Beaumont character. While he fights his own demons, sneers at inept superiors and peers, and constantly annoys everyone, he befriends the helpless, listens to his inner senses, and cleverly solves the crime.

Dr. Quartey writes eloquently, in spare but beautiful prose. The book proceeds quickly from the opening to the end, in fact, the cliche 'page-turner' is quite apt. I couldn't put it down. I especially enjoyed having a glossary of Ghanian terms available. It made the dialogue (which is masterful) readily accessible to a reader unfamiliar with the area. It was good to see that he is already working on book #2. Both the character of Dawson and the author have the makings of a great series.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Liesurely Paced Murder Mystery, June 7, 2009

By 

J. W. Kennedy "in statu uiae et meriti" (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wife of the Gods: A Novel (Hardcover)

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Meet Darko Dawson, Ghanaian police detective. He's a pretty good detective but he has issues ... although he doesn't drink, he does smoke marijuana. He is an insomniac. He has anger-management problems. His mother disappeared when he was a child. His brother is a paraplegic. His son has a serious heart problem. His mother-in-law is meddlesome and unbearable. His partner is a slacker. He gets sent to a small town out in the sticks to help solve a murder which is too mysterious for the bumbling local cops to handle. Oh, and by the way: Dawson's aunt and uncle live in this small town. It is the last place his mother was seen before she disappeared. As you can guess, Dawson becomes personally involved in the case.

The murder investigation moves slowly, and for most of the book it seems to take a back seat as Dawson deals with personal issues. This is postmodern detective fiction, in which the mystery is almost an afterthought, and the novel is really about something else. Dawson's inner personal conflict is one theme, as is the friction between two parts of Ghana's culture: traditional African magic versus "civilized" Western science. Suspects are eliminated one by one, and the murder case gradually comes into focus as the book progresses. The final reveal of the murderer is rather anti-climactic. By the time you find out who did it, it is no longer a surprise.

The pace is slow and relaxing. The book seems longer than it actually is, but it is not boring or tiresome. The characters are very well fleshed-out and the setting is fascinating. I have never before read a book set in Ghana, so that part of it was a new experience for me. There is a glossary of select Ghanaian words in the back of the book, but it is not necessary to consult the glossary in order to understand the story.

The author's bio says he is working on his next novel, and I think Kwei Quartey may be an author to watch. Well done. Four stars.