LONG DARK NIGHT OF BARON SAMEDI

African doctor-detective Samuel Quarshie returns--now vacationing on Ebony Coast's Ile de Sintra (once an infamous embarkation point for the slave trade), where he and wife Prudence are guests of retired Judge Kwami Oturu. But the holiday ends when Kofi Akasaydoo, hated chief of Ebony Coast's secret police, is found with a slit throat and voodoo trappings: Quarshie is pressed into service (under threat of death) by Darapa, the country's dictator. And, though lacking the resources available to him in his native Akhana, Quarshie goes to work uncovering personal and political motives galore: Darapa's French advisor seems to have some scheme going involving Rastafarian exiles; Darapa's light-skinned lieutenant has secrets, shared by the late Akasaydoo's beautiful young mistress; and even Judge Oturu seems to be concealing something. But only after Quarshie arranges for Prudence's escape from the island (with instructions to track down assorted clues), do the pieces fall into place. Slightly muddy plotting and unsurprising climax--but Quarshie and resourceful Prudence are as likable as ever, and the exotic locale is sketched in with the usual color and insight.