Death in Zanzibar

This is quite an odd book, it is really a sequel, of sorts, to one of Kaye's most famous books, Trade Winds. In that book set in Mid nineteenth century, the reprobate Rory (emory) Frost, had married Hero, but left behind a huge cache of gold which they believed cursed, unlucky and completely unwanted. They left it for future generations to decide. And this brings us to the start of this mystery novel, as part of his will Rory Frost requested that his papers not be released for 70 years, this included a strange letter giving a clue to the treasure. His descendent, Tyson Frost, finds a reference to where the letter is, and gets his step-daughter Dany to bring the letter out to him in Zanzibar. Her trip is Fraught with problems, someone is trying to set her up by stealing her passport and planting a gun on her. Then the lawyer whom she just visited is brutally murdered. She is forced to assume a new identity and with the help of a man she has just met, Lash, she makes the long flight to Zanzibar which takes her via Kenya and some long layovers. Even once in the House of Shade in Zanzibar she is still not safe as murders continue, setting her up, but her room is ransacked and the secret letter stolen. She is set up for a murder and it is only dumb luck which saves her. There are suspects all around and the clues, while there are not helpful to solving who and what happens, especially when it turns out one of the murders is a red-herring. This is more a romance than anything, as Lash and Dany fall in love with one another, only to have Dany's love challenged by the belief that he is in fact the murderer. This book staggers around a bit and I didn't find it up to Kaye's usual standard. Her book Far Pavillions is one of my favourite books ever, while this one is really just a piece of fluff. A good fun read, but nothing I would want to read again. The characters haven't 'aged' well. Perhaps it is in the nature of writing contemporary novels but the Dany is rather weak and ineffectual, and Lash a bit too smooth and careless for my liking. Nice to have read it but really a 3.5 star book, not good but not by any means bad either.

If you like old-fashioned mystery and romance set in an exotic locale, this is a very fun read. M.M. Kaye wrote several of these atmospheric mystery romance novels which always incorporated some exotic setting she had been to as she and her husband moved all over the world. In the forward she writes that it is a Zanzibar which no longer exists, but one she saw and wanted to share before memories of it had faded into the sunset. There is a light and entertaining feel to the overall story and a very likable heroine in Dany Ashton. The characters are colorful and well defined and fit right in to the time period. Lash is a young man-about-town who slowly comes into his own helping Dany with a ruse during their trip to Zanaibar and the House of Shade, where the mystery of why her hotel room was broken into and her passport taken deepens into murder and more. Dany is sweet and endearing as she shows old-fashioned bravado during the course of the mystery. She will emerge from her mother's shadow and come into her own just as Lash does. There is, of course, an innocent and growing romance between the two and the reader knows how this will end long before they do. Kaye makes good use of the exotic locale as we see it through the eyes of her heroine, who is also seeing it for the first time. This is a very fun and entertaining mystery with the values and mores of a bygone era. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be to say it has much the same feel as watching one of those early 1930's mystery films set in an exotic locale; the kind you catch late at night when you can't sleep and enjoy all the more because it was a surprise. All of Kaye's mysteries fit this bill and this one is perhaps my favorite. If you like your mystery and romance a bit on the old-fashioned side, you will enjoy this greatly, as I did. A fun summer read.

I love M.M Kaye's "Death in.." series but I would have to say that my two favorites are 'Death in Zanzibar' and Death in the Andamans! This was the first book I read of her series and ever since, I have been addicted. This was the most romantic in the series and I found it difficult to foil the ending...her endings are killer (no pun intended!)

This terrific installment in M. M. Kaye's "Death in" series is a fun, entertaining read that is also written with intelligence and wit. Kaye weaves a spell with exotic islands, mysterious characters, and of course, true romance. It is even better if you first read Kaye's exceptional novel "Trade Wind", as "Death in Zanzibar" can be taken as a sequel to it.

Another of M.M. Kaye's great 'Death in' series. I enjoy the old British empire settings, exotic locales under British rule. All the usual British types seeing the sights, whispering in the moonlight, plotting murder, keeping secrets. The historical facts and physical decriptions are superb. Lots of fun reading.