Death in Kenya
by M.M. Kaye
by M.M. Kaye
(Edited) Blurb:
When Victoria Caryll is offered a position at Flamingo, her aunt's family estate in Kenya's Rift Valley, she accepts-- knowing full well that the move will mean seeing Eden DeBrett once again. She was once engaged to Eden, but it's been years since he broke her heart and married someone else. The desire to return to Kenya, her childhood home, is strong, but she doesn't realize that the Rift Valley is now an unstable region still recovering from the bloody Mau Mau revolt. Worse yet, her aunt's household has just been thrown into grief and chaos by a gruesome murder.
My Reaction:
I've been slowly working my way through M.M. Kaye's "Death" series of mystery novels. After this one, there's only one left, and I'll be sad to see the end of them. They're solid suspense novels set in the 1950s. I think of them as historical, but I guess that's not technically true, as they were contemporary when written and published. Still, to a modern reader, they have that very specific quality of mysteries written in the golden age of the mystery novel. The "Death" series are all set in exotic locales, too, with the powerful atmosphere of the setting usually acting almost as a character in its own right.
This was exactly what you'd expect it to be, if you're familiar with any other books from this series. It's very much a book "of its time", meaning that some of the attitudes might rub modern readers the wrong way. Some are disturbed by the colonialism. Others might be annoyed by statements like this: "Eden's superior male intelligence had saved her from disaster..." What's that, now? To be fair, this heroine probably is of inferior intelligence, but why the need to include the word "male" there? Surely the author didn't believe that men are generally more intelligent than women! Then there's the irritating old trope of the momentarily unhinged woman needing to be slapped back to her senses due to hysterical laughter. How much these things ruin the reading experience will vary from reader to reader. I can overlook them, for the most part.
I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could, but I'll have to round down to three for a variety of reasons-- coming down mainly to my gut reaction to the book. (That's how I determine most of my star ratings...) But despite my quibbles, it's a great choice for escaping to a different place and time. I do recommend Kaye to fans of Agatha Christie or Mary Stewart. I can always count on these authors to deliver fiction that's charmingly unlike anything being written today. (Or anything that I've come across, at least!) The romance element is slight, but the mystery kept me guessing and uncertain until the end. I saw one reviewer describe the conclusion as sad, and I'd agree, but on the whole, it's an entertaining read.
