Book 208: Kiribati (English) – Food of Ghosts (Marianne WHEELAGHAN)

Louisa approached the main prison entrance. A padlock the size of a small shoebox held the heavy metal gate closed. She rang a little old fashioned bell, which was attached to a stiff wire dangling down from the side of the gate-frame, and waited. It was common knowledge at HQ that the gate only appeared to be locked. In fact, the padlock had seized up years ago. It never occurred to the inmates who knew the secret to escape – where could they go? They were inside as much for their own sake as for the safety of the public: the fence and gate kept victims’ avenging relatives out and the prisoners in. Louisa was not about to give the secret away by lifting the bolt and walking in. She rang the bell again and waited.

Kiribati was one of the hardest coconuts to crack for this project! My apologies to my friend Anita (the world’s nicest security guard) who is from Tarawa, for continuously harassing her to find a novel for me or to write one herself!

Author Marianne Wheelaghan was a teacher in Kiribati. Her heroine Louisa, who had left the main island of Tarawa at eight to live in Scotland, returns for a visit as a mere detective sergeant, and unexpectedly finds herself leading a messy murder investigation for the Kiribati Police Service. She grabs at her lucky break, but how’s this for a catalogue of difficulties for a newbie (or any) detective?

– She is inexperienced and this is her first job;

– There is no forensics in the country;

– EVERYONE is lying to her;

– The police face poor working conditions and resources;

– Just getting around the small island is a logistical difficulty (she has to take a bus to the place of the first murder);

– The crime scene has been contaminated;

– The evidence has been tampered with;

– The murder scene has been trampled;

– The witness has been ‘hijacked’;

– And the sexist Sergeant Tebano is continuously undermining her.

(Murder investigations under less than ideal conditions are fast becoming a theme for my Pacific novels!) Louisa has to deal with local customs and superstitions, but she has her own strange customs (such as her superstitious ‘rule of 4’)

She finds that people are continuously hijacking her agenda. She is dogged by bad luck, and can be irritable and short tempered but is very believable and sympathetic!

The title comes from the ancient custom of offering an enemy’s severed head for ghostly spirits to eat, of which their favourite bit was the eyes. And the first victim’s eyes have been gouged out. Two more victims follow and Louisa seems to be caught in a rip. When she tracks down a suspect to Maiana island for the thrilling climax and wants to nab them straight away, she is held up by a ceremonial welcome.

Despite the gory death, the story is often quite funny, including the mixed-up sayings (e.g. ‘the gritties and the nitties’)!

With its intriguing mystery, endless amusing difficulties to overcome, and local colour, I loved Food of Ghosts and can’t wait to read more of Louisa’s adventures!

Wheelaghan, Marianne, Food of Ghosts, Edinburgh, Pilrig, 2012, ISBN 978-0-9566144-3-8