Death of the Mantis: A Detective Kubu Mystery

"The best book yet in one of the best series going: a serious novel with a mystery at its core that takes us places we've never been." --Timothy Hallinan, author of The Queen of Patpong

Death of the Mantis is the third Kubu novel from author Michael Stanley--following the critically acclaimed A Carrion Death and The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu--and it plunges the robust manhunter into the chaotic center of a murder case involving a ranger found dead in a ravine, surrounded by three nomads, that is stoking the fires of prejudice and hatred. When the local police arrest them, Kubu's friend Khumanego insists that the arrest was motivated by racist antagonism, and Kubu must decide how to solve the emotionally charged case.

Set in Botswana--the fascinating equatorial country also explored by Alexander McCall Smith in his #1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels--Death of the Mantis is a book alive with the sights and sounds of a breathtaking land. The exploits of Stanley's singularly captivating policeman protagonist will delight you and keep you guessing.

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Sears was born in Johannesburg, grew up in Cape Town and Nairobi, and teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand. Trollip was also born in Johannesburg and has been on the faculty of the universities of Illinois, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and at Capella University. He divides his time between Knysna, South Africa, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.