Fowl Murder: A Cozy Mystery with a Determined Female Amateur Sleuth (A Kenya Kanga Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Kanga Press (July 21, 2020)
ebook, 190 pages

Synopsis

A shooting on the savannah. A tragedy she’d rather forget. When past and present collide, will she survive to see her future?
Kenya, 2016. Semi-retired vet Rose Hardie just wants to enjoy her golden years and care for her disabled husband. But her peace of mind shatters when a forgotten confidant returns and reopens a case where Rose pulled the trigger. With her memories of the poacher’s shocking death flooding back, she barely catches her breath before her childhood friend is brutally murdered.

Braving blackmail and entrenched corruption, the tireless woman dives headfirst into helping the victim’s son solve the crime. But when the lead suspect is killed, Rose’s plans for a peaceful life end up dead and buried…

As her own traumatic history unravels, can Rose catch a killer before she becomes the next victim?

Foul Murder is the first book in the compelling Kenya Kanga Mystery series. If you like determined heroines, unpredictable twists and turns, and vivid African settings, then you’ll love Victoria Tait’s pulse-pounding tale.

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Guest Post

Today we welcome Victoria to StoreyBook Reviews and she shares some of her experiences in Kenya which contributed to the writing of this mystery.

Kenya, Language, and Phraseology

I began writing Fowl Murder in April 2018, four months after returning to the UK from Kenya, where we lived for eight years.  My youngest son was only eighteen months old when we moved out and he was like a native white Kenyan with brown tanned skin, blonde hair, a western Kenyan accent–courtesy of his Ayah (nanny) Esnas, who he still misses terribly–and a penchant for brightly coloured cotton kikoi trousers.

My main character, Rose Hardie, is sixty-five years old.  She was born in Kenya, although her parents were immigrants.  They left Britain after the Second World War seeking a better way of life and buying land under the British colonial post-war resettlement scheme.  They became farmers near a town called Molo, in western Kenya.

I have had a number of discussions with my editors, advanced readers and my husband about the words and phrases used in the book.  Rose spoke English with her parents and brother Matt.  Her mother died when she was only three and Matt was sent to boarding school, so Rose was brought up by her Ayah, Mary, who spoke to Rose in her tribal tongue, Kipsingis.  At the local school, and with her farm and village friends, Rose spoke Kiswahili.

The British colonised Kenya between 1888 and 1962 when the language taught in schools was British English.  There are some older Africans who cannot speak Kiswahili, now the national language, as they spoke their tribal language at home and English at school.

Rose attended a prestigious school in Nairobi, Kenya Girls School, which followed a British curriculum.  French and Latin were taught but Rose did not excel at them, or any academic lessons.  Aisha Onyango, the victim, attended the same school and it is where she and Rose met and became friends.  Despite Rose being four years older than Aisha, they were both outcasts which drew them together: Rose was a country girl who preferred running around the sports field rather than doing her hair or make-up, and Aisha was the first African girl to attend the school.

Both Rose and Aisha can speak and write English and speak Kiswahili, and Aisha can write it.  Rose still speaks Kipsingis with her house girl Kipto and Aisha speaks her tribal Kikuyu language.

The story is written through Rose’s eyes and follows her experiences and view of events.  A few chapters are in Thabiti’s voice: he is Aisha’s son and was also educated in English.  The language and phrases I have used are British English and some of the phrases are slightly old fashioned, being language Rose, and her husband Craig, would use.  I believe that this is the most authentic way to write the book, although I know some American readers will be unhappy with the use of unfamiliar words, such as car park instead of parking lot and car boot instead of trunk.

I have also used a smattering of Kiswahili words, which again add to the authenticity of the story.  When I lived in Kenya I meant to learn Kiswahili and attended six hours of lessons but became bored by the grammar.  I wanted to learn the common phrases used in the streets around Nanyuki and I did begin to understand the meaning of conversations, if not the individual words, but I was confused when people switched to their tribal languages.

Even with my limited knowledge of Kiswahili, there are everyday terms I used regularly, especially to greet and thank people.  ‘Habari’ is a form of greeting used like ‘hello’ but actually meaning ‘what’s new?’.  I think it is a great word/phrase adding a personal touch and enquiring about the person you meet.  The standard answer is not hello but ‘I am well’, ‘Mzuri sana’ followed by ‘how are you?’ or ‘habari yako’.  ‘Thank you’ is ‘asante’ or ‘asante sana’ being ‘thank you very much’.

Kiswahili is a wonderfully expressive language.  We continue to use phrases back in the UK: ‘dawa’ when referring to medicine; I call ‘kuja hapa’ when I want my children to come, especially if they are doing something they shouldn’t, and they call me ‘kali’ meaning cross or severe.

Fowl Murder uses British English sayings, expressions and spellings.  There is a glossary at the front of the print book explaining the meaning of Kiswahili words in the story.  I have tried to link the Kiswahili words with the glossary in the e-book format so it is easier to understand what words mean.  I hope this approach works and readers enjoy the experience and become immersed in the story, in spite of, and because of the unfamiliar words and phrases.

Thank you for hosting me and Fowl Murder.

About the Author

Victoria Tait is an exciting new author launching her Kenya Kanga Mystery series.  She’s drawn on 8 years living in rural Kenya with her family to transport her readers to a world of curiosity, community and conspiracy.  The Kenya Kanga Mystery series brings to life the beauty of the Kenyan landscape, the magic of its wildlife and the warmth of its people.

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