Book Review ~ The Missing American by Kwei Quartey

Allison & Busby
14 January 2020
My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Gordon Tilson is a lonely widower who befriends a young woman online. When her sister is injured in a car accident, he sends her thousands of dollars to cover the hospital bill and runs off to Ghana to surprise his new love. But he soon disappears without a trace…

Frustrated by the inadequacies of the local police in Accra, his son Derek turns to a PI agency for assistance where there is a new detective on the scene determined to prove her worth…

What did I think about it..

The Missing American is an interesting crime novel which is set in Ghana, a place the author obviously knows well, and he puts this knowledge to good use in the way that the place and the people are made to feel authentic.  

It took me a little time to settle into the story as there is a lot going on and quite a few characters to get to grips with, however, once the story started to take off and I became more invested in the characters I started to settle into the story with more interest. The private detective connected with this complicated case is Emma Djan, she's an interesting character and her search for the eponymous missing American takes her into the dark and dangerous world of internet crime and her quest to root out corruption makes for interesting reading.

The author writes well and brings a complexity to the story, handling the crime at the heart of the novel in a competent way. There's a sense of mystery throughout the story and the author does a tidy job of bringing all the pieces of the puzzle together, I enjoyed trying to second guess where the story was heading.

The Missing American is the start of a new series of crime novels featuring Emma Djan.

About the Author

Kwei Quartey was born in Ghana, but moved to the USA to complete his medical training at a time of political unrest between students and the then military government, He practiced as physician for more than twenty five years while simultaneously writing, before deciding to become a full time novelist in 2018. His previous work has been published to great critical acclaim and had appeared on the Los Angeles best seller list.

@Kwei_Quarty

@AllisonandBusby