The Congo Venus

When a Belgian beauty dies in the Congo, “sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued Dr. Mary Finney” is on the case in this “witty, well-written” mystery from 1950 (The New York Times).

It doesn’t take a lot to be the belle of the expat community in Leopoldville, a tiny outpost in the Belgian Congo. A pulse and a pair of pumps will do the trick. Liliane Morelli brought more than that to the party, but it apparently wasn’t enough: She’s still dead of what the doctor calls blackwater fever—though any idiot could tell you that mosquitoes were not to blame. One way or another, Liliane was just a little too fatale for her own good.

Enter Dr. Mary Finney, the Miss Marple of the missionary brigade. She doesn’t do a lot of praying, but her sleuthing skills are top-notch. Now she’s looking into the young Mrs. Morelli’s death, the so-called blackwater fever, and her much old husband who is somehow nowhere to be found. The more she looks, the more she sees the truth: Lots of people wanted Liliane. And a few others wanted her dead.