Book Review - Dancing with the Witchdoctor

Dancing with the Witchdoctor by Kelly James: I have this book to blame for a sleepless night. I bought it at the Novel Bookstore, took it back to my room at the Swiss Garden Hotel, and stayed up until dawn because I couldn’t, for the life of me, put it down. A private detective from San Francisco , James travels the world investigating as she puts it “safari, ship, and plane accidents as well as murders and thefts and I search for missing persons.” Dancing with the Witchdoctor recounts four missions in Africa for which she was hired. They take her to a coffee plantation in Kenya ; to Rwanda and on an unauthorized mountain gorilla trek during the ethnic wars; into war torn Mozambique ; and to Turkanaland in Kenya ’s far north where she really risked death by starvation, thirst, unfriendly tribes—actually, she faced dying from all three. I found myself incredulous as I read through the night. How were these stories possible? In the end, however, the idea that truth is often stranger than fiction won me over. If you fancy yourself as an accomplished adventurer, read Kelly James. Your adventures probably pale in comparison. I was going to say that she has balls, but why liken her courage (or stupidity?) to a man’s. We are a strong sex. Suffice it to say that Kelly James is someone who likes to live on the edge.

In the last newsletter I recommended Dar es Salaam ’s Novel Bookstore to load up on books on African subjects. This is another great resource: www.africabookcentre.com, suppliers of books from and about Africa . Resources include books on African languages, art, cooking, and children’s books. ABC is currently mail order only: their storefront in London ’s Covent Gardens is closed for a three year “redevelopment.”

06-01-2008