The Whitewashed Tombs

June 21, 2024

Ghanaian American author Quartey's fourth "An Emma Djan Investigation" novel (following Last Seen in Lapaz) is an impassioned plea for advocacy in LGBTQIA+ rights, specifically in the current political climate of Ghana. A vocal gay rights advocate is found viciously murdered, which sets off a series of violent hate crimes. Homophobia is rampant, and if a new anti-LGBTQIA+ law passes, things will get worse. The murdered man's father requests the services of the Sowah Private Investigators Agency to find the killer, and Emma is assigned to the case. While conducting interviews with the man's friends and coworkers, Emma finds the violence closer to home than she realizes. The stakes are high on both sides, as an American religious organization works closely with the International Congress of Families to pass the anti-LGBTQIA+ bill and terrorize the community through both the church and medical establishments. Someone has compiled a hit list of the bill's opponents and is cutting their way through it; by going undercover with the ICF, Emma puts herself in the line of fire. VERDICT Quartey's author's note discusses the current anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in Ghana and its effect on him as a queer author. Recommended for readers who enjoy international fiction and detective fiction.--Jen Funk

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Starred review from July 8, 2024
Quartey’s fourth mystery featuring PI Emma Djan (after Last Seen in Lapaz) is the best yet, interweaving an agonizing portrait of anti-LGBTQ prejudice in Ghana with a top-notch whodunit. Djan works for Accra’s Sowah Agency, an investigative firm retained by Godfrey Tetteh to probe the murder of his gay 27-year-old son, Marcelo, who’s been hacked to death by someone who posed as a potential partner on a hookup app. Godfrey hires Djan’s agency because he doesn’t trust the local authorities with the inquiry, given Marcelo’s status as one of Ghana’s most vocal queer activists. In a recent television appearance, Ghana’s antigay tourism minister, Peter Ansah, told viewers they “knew what to do” if they ever saw Marcelo on the street; Ansah was also present when Marcelo disrupted a speech by a well-known Christian fundamentalist. Emma’s investigation—which treats Ansah as a primary suspect—grows complicated when she learns that her closeted partner used to date Marcello. To find answers, Emma goes undercover, with one of her least favorite colleagues, to infiltrate the upper ranks of Ghana’s government. Quartey never puts a foot wrong, keeping the plot twists coming fast and furious without sacrificing the story’s heart. Readers will be wowed. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff & Assoc.

August 1, 2024
Ghanaian PI Emma Djan's fourth investigation (after Last Seen in Lapaz, 2023) addresses what the author calls "the harrowing realities of LGBTQ+ murders and human rights violations in Ghana." Homophobia runs rampant country-wide, and when a young activist is butchered, his wealthy father, not trusting the police, hires the Sowah Private Investigators Agency. There are two subsequent gruesome deaths that appear to be related. Emma goes undercover as a volunteer for an American Christian organization determined to criminalize homosexuality worldwide, posing as a cleaner at a bar frequented by the victims. She encounters mind-numbing hypocrisy at every turn and is astonished at the prevailing ignorance of African sexuality, even among her colleagues. Adopting her "Ruby" persona, sometimes donning a long auburn wig and glasses, she manages to pull together random bits of information to unmask the murderer before there is a fourth occurrence. The courageous and compelling narrative, elevated by Emma's outstanding wit, brings the Ghanaian characters and settings to life and gives voice to the persecuted LGBTQ+ population.

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September 1, 2024
Quartey's most personal crime novel asks Emma Djan and her colleagues at the Sowah detective agency to figure out who's running through Accra's LGBTQ+ community silencing its loudest voices. Even before he's killed, Marcelo Tetteh has already paid a high price for his activism. When he speaks out at a rally of the right-wing International Congress of Families, he's grabbed by security officers, and his community is targeted by an aggressive new series of anti-gay laws backed by ICF leader Christopher Cortland; Peter Ansah, the minister of tourism, arts, and culture; and their allies in the ultraconservative religious and government communities. So it's shocking but not entirely surprising when he's hacked to death by what forensic evidence indicates are two assailants. Godfrey Tetteh, his grieving father, wants the Sowah Agency to identify his killers, who may also have executed Marcelo's co-worker and friend Abraham Quao. So Yemo Sowah, the agency's founder and owner, sends Emma and Jojo Ayitey undercover to infiltrate the ICF. Jojo backs out because he's a closeted gay man who doesn't want his identity to compromise the investigation, or vice versa. But his reticence doesn't protect him from getting arrested for the murder of famous transgender singer Henrietta Blay, who's killed before she can talk to Emma. It's hard to tell whether the murders are the work of a single mastermind or a wave of vigilantes because the public stance throughout Ghana is so horrendously anti-LGBTQ+. Even though the persecutors' obvious hypocrisy makes them all look guilty, Quartey manages to produce a culprit who'll surprise most readers. Murder is only the tip of a ferociously toxic iceberg.

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