Michael Stanley & Detective Kubu: August 2

Mystery Readers Int'l NorCal chapter is proud to host Michael Stanley, author of the Detective Kubu series set in Botswana, next Sunday night, August 2 at 7 p.m. (Berkeley, CA)

O.K. if you know anything about this terrific series, you know that it's written by the team of Stan Trollip and Michael Sears. We will have Stan Trollip at the At Home (Literary Salon) in Berkeley.

Both Trollip and Sears are retired professors who have worked in academia and business, specializing in the application of computers to teaching and learning. They were both born in South Africa. They have been on a number of flying safaris to Botswana and Zimbabwe, where they say it was always exciting to buzz a dirt airstrip to shoo the elephants off. They have had many adventures on these trips including tracking lions at night, fighting bush fires on the Savuti plains in northern Botswana, being charged by an elephant, and having their plane’s door pop open over the Kalahari, scattering navigation maps over the desert. These trips have fed their love both for the bush, and for Botswana.

How they decided to write together and the mechanics of writing with a partner will be one of the topics discussed next week. The evening is certain to be entertaining.

I was privileged to have Stan Trollip on my "Around the World with Janet Rudolph" panel at Bouchercon last October, and he's a fabulous raconteur. He was telling a tale of his experiences in Botswana about the charge of an elephant, a harrowing experience, to say the least, when the lights went out in our meeting room. Stan continued his story, and I must say that I felt like we were 100 people sitting around the campfire listening to scary stories. No body moved, no body left. Eventually the lights came back on, and we were glad to find there were no elephants amongst us.

Having read the first book in the series, the award nominated A Carrion Death, I can tell you that Michael Stanley tells quite a different tale of Botswana that the 'other' mystery author who sets his books there. It's a gripping novel that will keep your attention throughout--great characterization, setting and plotting. Stanley's latest mystery is The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu (North America)/A Deadly Trade (elsewhere), and I'll be diving into that this week. Can't wait.

Stan Trollip will be in Berkeley at my home on August 2 at 7 p.m. He'll enlighten the group about writing with a partner, Botswana, his experiences, and many other topics. All are welcome, but space is limited. Please RSVP.

Can't make it? Be sure and read both of these great novels. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to hear Stan Trollip or his alter ego at another time.