The Whitewashed Tombs

by Kwei Quartey Narrated by Adjoa Andoh

Overview

Vicious hate crimes are rocking the LGBTQ+ community in Accra, and prejudice and politics threaten to stymie PI Emma Djan's efforts to find the killer. Author Kwei Quartey tackles a timely and deeply personal issue as a very-real anti-gay bill threatens to tear Ghana apart if ratified by the president.

Marcelo Tetteh, a twenty-seven-year-old LGBTQ activist, is butchered to death one night after being lured on Grindr to a deserted building site. With high instances of homophobia in Ghana, Marcelo's wealthy father doesn't trust the Ghana Police Service to find the killer, so he goes to the Sowah Private Investigators Agency for help, partly because he still feels guilty for disowning his son when he came out.

Emma is assigned the case, but quickly learns of a complication that prevents her from teaming up as usual with Jojo, her trusted colleague. Emma is the only one at work who knows Jojo is gay, and now he reveals something else: for some time, Jojo was dating Marcelo, the victim.

Working with Manu, whom she's never gotten along with at work, Emma goes undercover in several organizations including International Congress of Families, a powerful organization seeking to criminalize homosexuality in African countries. As Emma infiltrates the ICF, she uncovers a web of deceit and hypocrisy and discovers that the mastermind behind the murders is someone much closer than she ever imagined. Emma must race against time to unmask the killer, protect the vulnerable LGBTQ community, and bring justice to the victims, all while navigating the dangerous waters of politics, power, and personal secrets.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for The Whitewashed Tombs

Finalist for the CALIBA Golden Poppy Award for Mystery Fiction

“Reflects the dark reality of an anti-gay bill threatening Ghana’s LGBTQ population . . . [Quartey] asserts the book as a rebellion against the hostility at work and a call for inclusivity with a belief in the power of love and humanity.”
—Dallas Voice

“If you haven’t read Quartey, take the plunge now . . . Another terrific mystery in this fine series; reflected in a dark mirror held to the current human rights abuses unfolding in Africa.”
—Lavender Magazine

“The Whitewashed Tombs succeeds on many levels, first, as an expertly plotted mystery, then as a window into Ghanaian culture but, most crucially, as the story of the human rights tragedy currently unfolding in Africa where draconian laws, some carrying the death penalty, threaten the very existence of LGBTQ communities. Though never didactic, Kwei Quartey’s novel nonetheless records the horrifying consequences suffered by ordinary people targeted by ignorance and bigotry even to the point of murder. An indispensable book.”
—Michael Nava, author of the Henry Rios mysteries

“For fans of PIs, Ghana settings, murder mysteries, and undercover work!”
—Book Riot

“Once again, author Kwei Quartey has given readers a tense, compelling mystery that takes them right into the heart of politics, power, and the LGBTQ+ community.”
—Kittling: Books

“A compelling mystery with a foundation in a real issue, something that is true of all of [Quartey's] mysteries. This fourth entry in the Emma Djan series continues to build on strengths and will inform as well as entertain its readers.”
—Reviewing the Evidence

“[A] piercingly written tale of modern life in Ghana . . . The murder mystery is compelling here, but readers will also be absorbed by the politics and religious machinations and the emotional brutality the mixing of the two creates.”
—First Clue, Book of the Week

“Quartey’s fourth mystery featuring PI Emma Djan is the best yet, interweaving an agonizing portrait of anti-LGBTQ prejudice in Ghana with a top-notch whodunit . . . Quartey never puts a foot wrong, keeping the plot twists coming fast and furious without sacrificing the story’s heart. Readers will be wowed.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Quartey’s most personal crime novel asks Emma Djan and her colleagues at the Sowah detective agency to figure out who’s running through Accra’s LGBTQ+ community silencing its loudest voices . . . Quartey manages to produce a culprit who’ll surprise most readers. Murder is only the tip of a ferociously toxic iceberg.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“An exhilarating, suspense-filled read with excitement that doesn’t let up until the final page.”
—BookTrib

“The courageous and compelling narrative, elevated by Emma’s outstanding wit, brings the Ghanaian characters and settings to life and gives voice to the persecuted LGBTQ+ population.”
—Booklist

“An impassioned plea for advocacy in LGBTQIA+ rights, specifically in the current political climate of Ghana.”
—Library Journal

Praise for the Emma Djan Investigations

“There is courage in these pages, in every sense—in the choices of the story’s heroes, the storytelling and the extensive research Quartey reportedly undertook to inform his story . . . A thrilling mystery, a compulsively emotional novel that doesn’t turn away from either extreme violence or the necessity of hope.”
—The Washington Post

“Quartey’s plots are expansive, free-ranging, and packed with characters to manipulate . . . It’s a delicate balance, even in this period of true-crime mania, transforming real tales of human suffering into works meant to entertain while remaining respectful of the victims. Quartey, so far, hasn’t misstepped.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Fascinating . . . This tightly crafted mystery immerses readers in the sights, sounds and characters of Ghana . . . Emma is an audacious and compassionate private investigator with a keen awareness of her country's dangerous class hierarchies and deep cultural misogyny.”
—Star Tribune

“There’s plenty of the locale here which adds spice to an excellent and topical plotline but at its heart, this novel is a well-crafted tale of clues followed and information gained.”
—The Globe and Mail

“[A] well-crafted tale. Those who love crime fiction are going to lean all the way into this one.”
—Audiofile Magazine

“Kwei Quartey's Last Seen in Lapaz is a true reward. A daring, ingenious thriller propelled by strong women, ceaseless intrigue and scintillating prose.”
—Kalisha Buckhanon, author of Speaking of Summer

“From Lagos to Ghana, and through the Sahara to Libya, Last Seen in Lapaz is a story that is as gripping as it is important.”
—Leye Adenle, author of Easy Motion Tourist

“Quartey is an accomplished novelist who creates real characters and puts them in clever and palpable circumstances . . . He does it with such easy nonchalance that we live the lives of his characters, hear the West African pidgin dialect and recoil with every trap Quartey sets for his characters.”
—Murder Ink, The Durango Telegraph

“Quartey portrays terrible crimes, human trafficking and the exploitation of sex workers, with unflinching clarity, while painting a panoramic picture of life in contemporary West Africa—the good, the bad, and the everyday.”
—Lisa Henricksson, Air Mail

“Quartey always brings great skill and a sense of urgency to his stories.”
—CrimeReads

“For armchair travelers and PI fans!”
—Book Riot

“Terrific . . . Smooth prose complements the well-wrought plot. This distinctive detective series deserves a long run.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Kirkus Reviews

2024-08-03
Quartey’s most personal crime novel asks Emma Djan and her colleagues at the Sowah detective agency to figure out who’s running through Accra’s LGBTQ+ community silencing its loudest voices.

Even before he’s killed, Marcelo Tetteh has already paid a high price for his activism. When he speaks out at a rally of the right-wing International Congress of Families, he’s grabbed by security officers, and his community is targeted by an aggressive new series of anti-gay laws backed by ICF leader Christopher Cortland; Peter Ansah, the minister of tourism, arts, and culture; and their allies in the ultraconservative religious and government communities. So it’s shocking but not entirely surprising when he’s hacked to death by what forensic evidence indicates are two assailants. Godfrey Tetteh, his grieving father, wants the Sowah Agency to identify his killers, who may also have executed Marcelo’s co-worker and friend Abraham Quao. So Yemo Sowah, the agency’s founder and owner, sends Emma and Jojo Ayitey undercover to infiltrate the ICF. Jojo backs out because he’s a closeted gay man who doesn’t want his identity to compromise the investigation, or vice versa. But his reticence doesn’t protect him from getting arrested for the murder of famous transgender singer Henrietta Blay, who’s killed before she can talk to Emma. It’s hard to tell whether the murders are the work of a single mastermind or a wave of vigilantes because the public stance throughout Ghana is so horrendously anti-LGBTQ+. Even though the persecutors’ obvious hypocrisy makes them all look guilty, Quartey manages to produce a culprit who’ll surprise most readers.

Murder is only the tip of a ferociously toxic iceberg.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192652046
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/03/2024
Series:	Emma Djan Investigation , #4
Edition description:	Unabridged

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