Dying to Live

Something secret is hidden deep in the Kalahari desert. People will kill for it. But does it even exist?

When the body of a Bushman is discovered near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the death is written off as an accident. But all is not as it seems. An autopsy reveals that, although he's clearly very old, his internal organs are puzzlingly young. What's more, an old bullet is lodged in one of his muscles... but where is the entry wound?

When the body is stolen from the morgue and a local witch doctor is reported missing, Detective 'Kubu' Bengu gets involved. Kubu and his brilliant young colleague, Detective Samantha Khama, follow the twisting trail through a confusion of rhino-horn smugglers, foreign gangsters, and drug manufacturers. And the deeper they dig, the wider and more dangerous the case becomes...

A fresh, new slice of Sunshine Noir, Dying to Live is a classic tale of greed, corruption, and ruthless thuggery, set in one of the world's most beautiful landscapes, featuring one of crime fiction's most endearing and humane heroes.

'Kubu investigates a particularly baffling murder in his sixth, and best, outing. Stanley keeps the intriguing plot twists coming.' Publishers Weekly

'Stanley mixes strongly developed characters, puzzling plot twists and a textured African setting in an international police procedural with heart and soul…' Library Journal

'The best yet, with both an ingenious mystery and a deeper and more textured depiction of modern Botswana and Kubu's piece of it.' Kirkus Reviews