NAIROBI HEAT

SOON ENOUGH I FOUND MYSELF OUTSIDE THE AIRPORT IN WHAT FELT LIKE A MARKET -- A WALL OF PEOPLE SHOUTING AND HECKLING, SELLING NEWSPAPERS, PHONE CARDS, EVEN BOILED EGGS. BUT IT WASN'T THE PEOPLE THAT STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS, IT WAS THE HEAT. THE HEAT MADE NEW ORLEANS ON A HOT SUMMER DAY FEEL LIKE SPRING. HUMID, THICK AND SALTY TO TASTE, THAT WAS NAIROBI HEAT. WHEN A BEAUTIFUL BLONDE GIRL IS FOUND MURDERED ON THE PORCH OF AN AFRICAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR IN MADISON, USA, HARD-WORKING DETECTIVE ISHMAEL FOFONA KNOWS IMMEDIATELY THAT IT WILL BE THE NEWS EVENT OF THE YEAR. WHAT HE CANNOT KNOW HOWEVER IS THAT THE DISCOVERY OF THE DEAD GIRL WILL CHANGE HIS LIFE FOREVER AND THAT BARELY SEVENTY-TWO HOURS AFTER BEING CALLED TO THE SCENE HE WILL FIND HIMSELF ON AFRICAN SOIL, HUNTING FOR CLUES IN A CASE THAT SEEMINGLY MAKES NO SENSE. WHY WOULD JOSHUA HAKIZIMANA -- A HERO OF THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE, A MAN WHO HAD SAVED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE FROM THE MACHETES OF THE GENOCIDAIRES -- KILL A RANDOM WHITE GIRL A