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Death in Zanzibar
From one of our most beloved and renowned authors, here is a new edition of this classic masterpiece of mystery and romance.
Dany Ashton is invited to vacation at her stepfather's house in Zanzibar, but even before her airplane takes off there is a stolen passport, a midnight intruder--and murder. In Zanizbar, the family house is Kivulimi, the mysterious "House of Shade", where Dany and the rest of the guests learn that one of them is a desperate killer. The air of freedom and nonchalance that opened the house party fades into growing terror, as the threat of futher violence flowers in the scented air of Zanzibar. Richly evocative, Death in Zanzibar will charm long-time fans and introduce new ones to this celebrated writer.
Dany Ashton is invited to vacation at her stepfather's house in Zanzibar, but even before her airplane takes off there is a stolen passport, a midnight intruder--and murder. In Zanizbar, the family house is Kivulimi, the mysterious "House of Shade", where Dany and the rest of the guests learn that one of them is a desperate killer. The air of freedom and nonchalance that opened the house party fades into growing terror, as the threat of futher violence flowers in the scented air of Zanzibar. Richly evocative, Death in Zanzibar will charm long-time fans and introduce new ones to this celebrated writer.
270 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
About the author
M.M. Kaye
32 books556 followersM. M. Kaye (Mary Margaret) was born in India and spent her early childhood and much of her early-married life there. Her family ties with the country are strong: her grandfather, father, brother and husband all served the British Raj. After India's independence, her husband, Major-General Goff Hamilton of Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides (the famous Indian Army regiment featured in The Far Pavilions), joined the British Army and for the next nineteen years M. M. Kaye followed the drum to Kenya, Zanzibar, Egypt, Cyprus and Germany.
M. M. Kaye won worldwide fame for The Far Pavilions, which became a worldwide best-seller on publication in 1978. This was followed by Shadow of the Moon and Trade Wind. She also wrote and illustrated The Ordinary Princess, a children's book and authored a dozen detective novels, including Death in Kashmir and Death in Zanzibar. Her autobiography has been published in three volumes, collectively entitled Share of Summer: The Sun in the Morning, Golden Afternoon, and Enchanted Evening. In March 2003, M. M. Kaye was awarded the Colonel James Tod International Award by the Maharana Mewar Foundation of Udaipur, Rajasthan, for her "contribution of permanent value reflecting the spirit and values of Mewar".
M. M. Kaye won worldwide fame for The Far Pavilions, which became a worldwide best-seller on publication in 1978. This was followed by Shadow of the Moon and Trade Wind. She also wrote and illustrated The Ordinary Princess, a children's book and authored a dozen detective novels, including Death in Kashmir and Death in Zanzibar. Her autobiography has been published in three volumes, collectively entitled Share of Summer: The Sun in the Morning, Golden Afternoon, and Enchanted Evening. In March 2003, M. M. Kaye was awarded the Colonel James Tod International Award by the Maharana Mewar Foundation of Udaipur, Rajasthan, for her "contribution of permanent value reflecting the spirit and values of Mewar".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
April 29, 2018
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. While Death in Cyprus, which I highly recommend, is probably her best and most satisfying mystery, this one might have the most charm, and is a sentimental favorite.
Death in Zanzibar has 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 blend perfectly with the time period. Death in Zanzibar very much feels like it belongs in another era. Lash is a young man-about-town, when young men-about-town were in every mystery. He slowly comes into his own while helping Dany perpetrate a ruse during their trip to Zanzibar and the House of Shade. The mystery of why her hotel room was broken into, and her passport stolen, deepens when a murder occurs. And then there is 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. The reader knows how this will end long before they do, which is part of the old -fashioned charm of the read. 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. While the beauty of the descriptive prose doesn’t reach the level of Death in Cyprus, it’s still quite lovely — this is M.M. Kaye, after all — and filled with charm because we as readers we are seeing it through the eyes of another.
Death in Zanzibar, while a bit lean, is a very fun and entertainingly old-fashioned 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 1930s 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 pleasant surprise. All of Kaye's mysteries fit this bill and this one is perhaps my sentimental favorite. If you're searching for something intricate and complex, this isn't for you, but if you like your mystery and romance firmly ensconced on the old-fashioned side, you will enjoy this greatly, as I did. A fun summer read.
Death in Zanzibar has 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 blend perfectly with the time period. Death in Zanzibar very much feels like it belongs in another era. Lash is a young man-about-town, when young men-about-town were in every mystery. He slowly comes into his own while helping Dany perpetrate a ruse during their trip to Zanzibar and the House of Shade. The mystery of why her hotel room was broken into, and her passport stolen, deepens when a murder occurs. And then there is 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. The reader knows how this will end long before they do, which is part of the old -fashioned charm of the read. 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. While the beauty of the descriptive prose doesn’t reach the level of Death in Cyprus, it’s still quite lovely — this is M.M. Kaye, after all — and filled with charm because we as readers we are seeing it through the eyes of another.
Death in Zanzibar, while a bit lean, is a very fun and entertainingly old-fashioned 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 1930s 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 pleasant surprise. All of Kaye's mysteries fit this bill and this one is perhaps my sentimental favorite. If you're searching for something intricate and complex, this isn't for you, but if you like your mystery and romance firmly ensconced on the old-fashioned side, you will enjoy this greatly, as I did. A fun summer read.
July 4, 2018
This book was first published in 1959. In the Foreword that M. M. Kaye wrote, she mentioned that her time spent in Zanzibar was during her husband’s army posting in Kenya. She said she was so impressed with the Island and her experiences there that she kept notes on many small details that she observed. When it came time to write this book, she said she dug out her notes and there it all was.
We, the readers, are the fortunate recipients of Ms Kaye’s powers of observation and diligent notes. Ms Kaye also went on to say that when she was in Zanzibar, it was a completely different place which would almost make this historical fiction. Of course, that increased my curiosity level and I had to investigate further. From later in the 1800’s until 1963, Zanzibar, although not a colony of the United Kingdom, was a protectorate. Zanzibar had its own rule in the form of a Sultanate, and the British consul had many struggles and put pressure on the Sultan several times to put an end to the slave trade flowing through.
This also made me curious, and it turns out that not only was the United States sending out ships to bring back slaves, but so were France, Spain, and Portugal. Even though it wasn’t in the piece I read, I know that in earlier decades, the United Kingdom also imported slaves from Africa. They were, however, leaders in eliminating slavery and the slave trade.
Our story takes place during the time when Zanzibar was a protectorate and before its revolution (following the withdrawal of Britain’s shield as a protectorate) and its merge with Tanganyika to become Tanzania, which is also a blending of the two names. Something else I didn’t know.
In the 1950’s when our story took place, the very name ‘Zanzibar’ still vibrated with magic, mimosas, jacarandas, and mangos – with a huge African moon overhead at night and a hot sun with cooling breezes from the Indian Ocean during the day. Unfortunately, all the wonder that is Zanzibar could not prevent murder. Murders, to be more accurate.
”’The point,’ said Nigel, ‘is that The House of Shade is probably the worst book ever written, and certainly the dullest, and one doubts if any book-lover, worm or otherwise, could bore their way past page two.’”
Ah yes, Nigel, but do you or do you not know that there are small parts of the book that have crucial information directly tied in to the murders, and the mysterious 3 million pounds that somehow connects them?
I love how M. M. Kaye develops her mystery stories and her characters, and her descriptive writing always plunks me right down into the midst of settings that I have never known before. This is a very well written book and a great showcase for M. M. Kaye’s wide range of talent. There is only one more of this series to read, and although I am eagerly looking forward to it, I am also sad that this series will soon end.
We, the readers, are the fortunate recipients of Ms Kaye’s powers of observation and diligent notes. Ms Kaye also went on to say that when she was in Zanzibar, it was a completely different place which would almost make this historical fiction. Of course, that increased my curiosity level and I had to investigate further. From later in the 1800’s until 1963, Zanzibar, although not a colony of the United Kingdom, was a protectorate. Zanzibar had its own rule in the form of a Sultanate, and the British consul had many struggles and put pressure on the Sultan several times to put an end to the slave trade flowing through.
This also made me curious, and it turns out that not only was the United States sending out ships to bring back slaves, but so were France, Spain, and Portugal. Even though it wasn’t in the piece I read, I know that in earlier decades, the United Kingdom also imported slaves from Africa. They were, however, leaders in eliminating slavery and the slave trade.
Our story takes place during the time when Zanzibar was a protectorate and before its revolution (following the withdrawal of Britain’s shield as a protectorate) and its merge with Tanganyika to become Tanzania, which is also a blending of the two names. Something else I didn’t know.
In the 1950’s when our story took place, the very name ‘Zanzibar’ still vibrated with magic, mimosas, jacarandas, and mangos – with a huge African moon overhead at night and a hot sun with cooling breezes from the Indian Ocean during the day. Unfortunately, all the wonder that is Zanzibar could not prevent murder. Murders, to be more accurate.
”’The point,’ said Nigel, ‘is that The House of Shade is probably the worst book ever written, and certainly the dullest, and one doubts if any book-lover, worm or otherwise, could bore their way past page two.’”
Ah yes, Nigel, but do you or do you not know that there are small parts of the book that have crucial information directly tied in to the murders, and the mysterious 3 million pounds that somehow connects them?
I love how M. M. Kaye develops her mystery stories and her characters, and her descriptive writing always plunks me right down into the midst of settings that I have never known before. This is a very well written book and a great showcase for M. M. Kaye’s wide range of talent. There is only one more of this series to read, and although I am eagerly looking forward to it, I am also sad that this series will soon end.
November 8, 2019
3.33 stars. After reading M.M. Kaye's epic The Far Pavilions and her almost-epic Trade Wind, it was a little startling to see a very different side of the author come out in this whodunnit murder/hidden treasure mystery. It was kind of like reading an old-fashioned Mary Stewart romantic suspense novel (pretty much always a good thing) with a liberal infusion of Agatha Christie.
I checked out this really massive book from the library that contains three of Kaye's mysteries, including Death in Zanzibar, and read this one first, because it continues the story of the gold ingots (now worth $3 million) hidden away by Rory Frost in about 1860 in Trade Wind. It's now the late 1950s, and a young Englishwoman, Dani Ashton, is traveling to Zanzibar to visit her mother and stepfather, Emory Frost, who is Rory's grandson and is living in Rory's old plantation home.
Emory asks Dani to pick up a document from his London lawyer and bring it to him. This document - dun dun dun! - has something to do with Rory's hidden treasure. Then things start to go wrong for Dani: in short order she's locked out of her London hotel room in her sheer nylon nightgown (hey, it was the fifties!); meets a rich and handsome American, Lash Holden, who may or may not be all he seems; gets her hotel room tossed and passport stolen; and finds out the lawyer she got the document from has been killed and she is personally wanted by the authorities for questioning.
Lash is drunk because of a broken engagement and Dani is scared out of her wits, and between the whiskey and the fear the two of them decide that it's a good idea to disguise Dani as Lash's secretary (so she can use the secretary's passport) and hop on a plane for Zanzibar to avoid trouble. (!!!!) Naturally, this course of action ends up stirring up way more trouble than it avoids. Plus there's a murderer in their group who wants that document Dani got from the lawyer . . .
If you like your mysteries very retro and with a dash of 50's-style romance to spice them up, this is kind of a fun one. Written in 1959, its age shows: the innocent heroine surrounded by alpha males and seductive femme fatales, some outdated social attitudes, pervasive smoking, and the aforementioned nylon nightie. It's not very deep and it's certainly not epic, but still, it's a decent murder mystery set in an unusual, exotic location.
I checked out this really massive book from the library that contains three of Kaye's mysteries, including Death in Zanzibar, and read this one first, because it continues the story of the gold ingots (now worth $3 million) hidden away by Rory Frost in about 1860 in Trade Wind. It's now the late 1950s, and a young Englishwoman, Dani Ashton, is traveling to Zanzibar to visit her mother and stepfather, Emory Frost, who is Rory's grandson and is living in Rory's old plantation home.
Emory asks Dani to pick up a document from his London lawyer and bring it to him. This document - dun dun dun! - has something to do with Rory's hidden treasure. Then things start to go wrong for Dani: in short order she's locked out of her London hotel room in her sheer nylon nightgown (hey, it was the fifties!); meets a rich and handsome American, Lash Holden, who may or may not be all he seems; gets her hotel room tossed and passport stolen; and finds out the lawyer she got the document from has been killed and she is personally wanted by the authorities for questioning.
Lash is drunk because of a broken engagement and Dani is scared out of her wits, and between the whiskey and the fear the two of them decide that it's a good idea to disguise Dani as Lash's secretary (so she can use the secretary's passport) and hop on a plane for Zanzibar to avoid trouble. (!!!!) Naturally, this course of action ends up stirring up way more trouble than it avoids. Plus there's a murderer in their group who wants that document Dani got from the lawyer . . .
If you like your mysteries very retro and with a dash of 50's-style romance to spice them up, this is kind of a fun one. Written in 1959, its age shows: the innocent heroine surrounded by alpha males and seductive femme fatales, some outdated social attitudes, pervasive smoking, and the aforementioned nylon nightie. It's not very deep and it's certainly not epic, but still, it's a decent murder mystery set in an unusual, exotic location.
December 9, 2019
3.5★
I'm wondering if I'm having so much trouble finding M.M. Kaye Death in series books is because readers, when they finish one of her books , toss it into a rubbish bin in sheer exasperation!
There is a lot to love, excellent (for the most part) dialogue, beautiful evocative descriptions of a country Kaye knew & loved, travelling in a time when air travel was still glamorous Zanzibar! Even the name sounds so romantic!
This is a country Ms Kaye clearly loved.
But there were a lot of things that make you go hmmm starting with nineteen year old Dany making a whole series of decisions that make modern teenagers look like masters of responsibility. I have to say I found Lash & Asbestos's entry into the story very funny & felt like I had been swept into a P G Wodehouse novel. But I felt the story did drag in the middle & I became very bored with the author's fixation on a relatively minor character. The book became a very uneasy mixture of a romantic suspense/whoduunit/ spy novel & Kaye just doesn't pull this off the way Mary Stewart does.
I'm wondering if I'm having so much trouble finding M.M. Kaye Death in series books is because readers, when they finish one of her books , toss it into a rubbish bin in sheer exasperation!
There is a lot to love, excellent (for the most part) dialogue, beautiful evocative descriptions of a country Kaye knew & loved, travelling in a time when air travel was still glamorous Zanzibar! Even the name sounds so romantic!
This is a country Ms Kaye clearly loved.
“Oh don't be pompous and gloomy,darling," chided Amalfi. "There are thousands of places just as lovely as this. And as peaceful."
"That's where you are wrong," said Tyson,leaning his elbows on the warm stone. "I've seen a lot of the world, A hell of a lot of it!But there's something special about this island Something that I haven't met anywhere else Do you know what is the most familiar sound in Zanzibar?-laughter! Walk through the streets of the little city almost any time of day or night, and you'll hear it. People laughing. There is a gaiety and good humour about them that is strangely warming to even such a corrugated, corroded and eroded heart as mine and this is the only place that I have hit upon where black and white and every shade in between 'em appear to able to live in complete friendliness and harmony, with no colour bar. It's living proof and a practical demonstration that it can be done.”
But there were a lot of things that make you go hmmm starting with nineteen year old Dany making a whole series of decisions that make modern teenagers look like masters of responsibility. I have to say I found Lash & Asbestos's entry into the story very funny & felt like I had been swept into a P G Wodehouse novel. But I felt the story did drag in the middle & I became very bored with the author's fixation on a relatively minor character. The book became a very uneasy mixture of a romantic suspense/whoduunit/ spy novel & Kaye just doesn't pull this off the way Mary Stewart does.
November 22, 2022
I came across this book by accident and liked the sound of it because I once spent a really beautiful few days in Zanzibar as part of an African holiday. Of course it has changed a lot since 1959 when this book was published but it still retains much of the atmosphere and the colour.
In Death in Zanzibar Dany Ashton is invited to spend some time with her mother and stepfather at their home in Zanzibar. The mystery begins immediately with a missing passport and Dany only narrowly managing to make the trip at all. Flying in the 1950s sounds like fun. The plane landed every night and passengers slept in hotels in places like Naples, Khartoum, Nairobi and Mombasa.
The characters are mostly upper class British and rich Americans. Lash Holden is the latter and Dany falls hopelessly in love with him. He also manages to get her into and out of a number of scrapes. There are a few murders and the culprit has to come from a fairly small group of people, most of whom are not very nice. I did not guess who until very near the end.
The book is old fashioned in an Agatha Christie type way and is all the more readable for that fact. I enjoyed it very much and intend to look out for the author's other books.
In Death in Zanzibar Dany Ashton is invited to spend some time with her mother and stepfather at their home in Zanzibar. The mystery begins immediately with a missing passport and Dany only narrowly managing to make the trip at all. Flying in the 1950s sounds like fun. The plane landed every night and passengers slept in hotels in places like Naples, Khartoum, Nairobi and Mombasa.
The characters are mostly upper class British and rich Americans. Lash Holden is the latter and Dany falls hopelessly in love with him. He also manages to get her into and out of a number of scrapes. There are a few murders and the culprit has to come from a fairly small group of people, most of whom are not very nice. I did not guess who until very near the end.
The book is old fashioned in an Agatha Christie type way and is all the more readable for that fact. I enjoyed it very much and intend to look out for the author's other books.
August 8, 2018
surprisingly, this was the least evocative of the Death in... novels by M.M. Kaye. and I had such high hopes for imagining myself in Zanzibar, which is one of those places like Tangier and pre-war Beirut and pre-separation Cyprus that I would have loved to live in before various traumas changed those places utterly. Zanzibar! even just the name conjures up so much.
the reason that this novel is so different from its predecessors is that fully half of it takes place over the course of our cast of characters actually traveling to Zanzibar. so many scenes in hotels and waiting rooms and airplanes. fortunately this is not at all as boring as it may sound, and it was an interesting and unusual experience for me. murder across several continents, murder while the cast is constantly moving, murder as various randos are coming and going. it was fun.
unfortunately the heroine is the drippiest and dullest of all the heroines I've read so far in a Kaye novel. quite a bother. she's balanced out a bit by a great leading man - a drunken, brash American aristocrat with one of those amusingly insulting styles that appeared to get a pass mid-20th century - but still. she's on every. single. page. she sucks.
once they get to Zanzibar, Kaye does her usual job at creating wonderful atmosphere full of foreboding moments and plummy dialogue.
so far: Death in Cyprus > Death in Kashmir > Death in Kenya > Death in Zanzibar.
the reason that this novel is so different from its predecessors is that fully half of it takes place over the course of our cast of characters actually traveling to Zanzibar. so many scenes in hotels and waiting rooms and airplanes. fortunately this is not at all as boring as it may sound, and it was an interesting and unusual experience for me. murder across several continents, murder while the cast is constantly moving, murder as various randos are coming and going. it was fun.
unfortunately the heroine is the drippiest and dullest of all the heroines I've read so far in a Kaye novel. quite a bother. she's balanced out a bit by a great leading man - a drunken, brash American aristocrat with one of those amusingly insulting styles that appeared to get a pass mid-20th century - but still. she's on every. single. page. she sucks.
once they get to Zanzibar, Kaye does her usual job at creating wonderful atmosphere full of foreboding moments and plummy dialogue.
so far: Death in Cyprus > Death in Kashmir > Death in Kenya > Death in Zanzibar.
April 19, 2020
Sheltered and naive Dany Ashton is on her way for her first visit to Zanzibar to meet her mother and stepfather by way of London, Naples, Khartoum, Nairobi, Mombasa, Tanga, and Pemba. Air travel has certainly changed since the 1950s. Through a series of missteps and impulsiveness, Dany with the assistance of the drunk and newly jilted Lash Holden become embroiled in a conspiracy of murder, subterfuge, and theft in the search for a lost treasure. Even though there was a narrow list of suspects, I was still guessing until the end.
March 27, 2024
Hurray for Americans, even silly ones who spew slang like they belong in a 1920s gangster film.
I enjoyed the main lead as he demonstrated slightly more personality than the average Kaye hero. And the whole premise of the heroine pretending to be someone else reminded me enough of Greensleeves to justify any number of plotting problems. Throw in this song for background music and you've got quite the ambiance.
That is, until you hit the end.
The conclusion was disappointingly dramatic and Cold War and belonged more properly in a Dorothy Gilman novel. It was one of the more distasteful conclusions, actually, and I include in that the many times 'madness and jealousy' service as the only motivation many of her other "Death In..." books.
But I'll still round up to 4 stars for that opening scene, which felt like something straight out of a movie. The comical timing of it all had me in stiches.
I enjoyed the main lead as he demonstrated slightly more personality than the average Kaye hero. And the whole premise of the heroine pretending to be someone else reminded me enough of Greensleeves to justify any number of plotting problems. Throw in this song for background music and you've got quite the ambiance.
That is, until you hit the end.
The conclusion was disappointingly dramatic and Cold War and belonged more properly in a Dorothy Gilman novel. It was one of the more distasteful conclusions, actually, and I include in that the many times 'madness and jealousy' service as the only motivation many of her other "Death In..." books.
But I'll still round up to 4 stars for that opening scene, which felt like something straight out of a movie. The comical timing of it all had me in stiches.
August 6, 2017
Fun, classic read! Put a bunch of Brits in an exotic locale
& bodies start dropping like flies. When you need a break from Christie, give this a try. The author lived in these venues while her husband served in the British military & she took voluminous notes, so everything feels authentic. Recommended.
& bodies start dropping like flies. When you need a break from Christie, give this a try. The author lived in these venues while her husband served in the British military & she took voluminous notes, so everything feels authentic. Recommended.
November 28, 2020
The locale: the island of Zanzibar, and a return to Kivulimi: "The House of Shade", made memorable as the home of that 19th century slaver, Rory Frost, in Kaye's epic historical masterpiece: Trade Wind. Now 70 years after Rory's death, his writer grandson Tyson Frost now holds the lease to Kivulimi, and is preparing to soon publish "Roaring Rory's" infamous diaries. Dany Ashton's mother is married to Tyson, and Dany has been asked to pick up a parcel from Tyson's solicitor in England before she makes a visit to Zanzibar. Little does anyone realize that this simple request will plunge Dany into a whirlwind of murder, hidden identity, political intrigue and romance.
While it was great to get some additional snippets of information about my all time favorite fictional hero, Rory Frost, I have to admit that I found this whodunit the weakest of M.M. Kaye's 6 book "Death in..." murder mystery series. It was a bit too madcap and silly in places, and I disliked Dany's love interest intensely. That being said, Kaye still knows how to write an engrossing mystery better then most, and her weakest offering is still 100% better then most of the current stuff I read. Like Mary Stewart and Daphne du Maurier, Kaye's writing style features a real and palpable sense of "place", and the time periods in which she wrote these (1940's and 1950's) give the books an authenic period feeling. Kaye's remarkable and exotic life bring all her locations to vivid reality, as she actually lived or visited all the places in her books for long periods of time and took copius notes that she used years later in this novels.
It is wonderful to revisit Kaye's novels once again. The strength and charm of her novels can't be over-emphasized.
While it was great to get some additional snippets of information about my all time favorite fictional hero, Rory Frost, I have to admit that I found this whodunit the weakest of M.M. Kaye's 6 book "Death in..." murder mystery series. It was a bit too madcap and silly in places, and I disliked Dany's love interest intensely. That being said, Kaye still knows how to write an engrossing mystery better then most, and her weakest offering is still 100% better then most of the current stuff I read. Like Mary Stewart and Daphne du Maurier, Kaye's writing style features a real and palpable sense of "place", and the time periods in which she wrote these (1940's and 1950's) give the books an authenic period feeling. Kaye's remarkable and exotic life bring all her locations to vivid reality, as she actually lived or visited all the places in her books for long periods of time and took copius notes that she used years later in this novels.
It is wonderful to revisit Kaye's novels once again. The strength and charm of her novels can't be over-emphasized.
August 10, 2017
This is - sadly - my final M.M. Kaye vintage mystery. I've thoroughly enjoyed all of them, with their exotic settings, their vintage atmosphere, and their old-school romances. In order or preference:
Death in Kenya
Death in Kashmir
Death in Zanzibar
Death in the Andamans
Death in Cyprus
Death in Berlin
I'm contemplating rereading Kaye's masterpiece - the doorstopper-sized The Far Pavilions - although I may go ahead and read her other two, less well-known, sweeping epics first: Trade Wind and Shadow of the Moon.
Death in Kenya
Death in Kashmir
Death in Zanzibar
Death in the Andamans
Death in Cyprus
Death in Berlin
I'm contemplating rereading Kaye's masterpiece - the doorstopper-sized The Far Pavilions - although I may go ahead and read her other two, less well-known, sweeping epics first: Trade Wind and Shadow of the Moon.
June 29, 2015
3.5 stars
My geography education is sadly lacking. When the protagonist of this novel, Dany, mentioned that Zanzibar was an island, I was surprised. I knew – vaguely – that it was somewhere in Africa but I didn’t know exactly where, or how large it is. I looked it up in Wikipedia.
Dany is a recent high school graduate in England. Her mother, a beautiful society lady, is married to the super-rich writer Tyson Frost, but Dany grew up in a staid British village with her respectable great aunt. Now, she is invited to spend some time in her stepfather’s home in Zanzibar. Excited to get out of her prim aunt’s supervision, to travel on her own for the first time in her adult life, she embarks on a spree of London shopping, movies, and theatre before she boards her plane to Africa.
Unfortunately, her trip starts off with disturbing news: her stepfather’s old solicitor is murdered on the same day she went to see him. She is carrying a letter from the solicitor to her stepfather. Young and naive, she doesn’t think it has anything to do with her, until her international passport is stolen from her room.
Now she is in real trouble. Her desire to see Zanzibar, to start her exciting new adventure, explodes. She can’t imagine missing her flight, not for anything. She would go to Zanzibar, no matter what, so she accepts a harebrained help offer from a drunken stranger who stays in the same hotel.
That one cockeyed step thrusts her into an international intrigue that involves multiple murders, Communists’ plots, a long-dead adventurer-slash-pirate, and a treasure of three million dollars. And Zanzibar, of course, is in the middle of it all.
Dany is a charming and naive teenage heroine. She has nothing in common with the modern fictional girls of the same age, but for 1959, the year of this book’s publication, she is rather typical, and so is the author’s attitude to sexes in general. All the plot-moving stuff is performed invariably by men. The women in the book are either striking femmes fatales or naive and honest dupes like Dany. They either fall in love and get married or want to be married or have their female companions/friends instead of male partners, but they are always relationship-oriented. They don’t act, investigate, fight, create, or generally do anything worth mentioning.
The novel is a mystery/thriller/romance set in the exotic milieu of Zanzibar. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed reading it and I might read another book by this author, but to tell the truth, her treatment of female characters chafed me. I like my heroines more active, while Dany always finds important clues or overhears pertinent bits of information by either accident or sheer stupidity. She is always in the right spot at the wrong moment, and this strings of coincidences gets stale pretty soon.
From the political standpoint, Zanzibar was still under British rule at the time, and the British imperialist disposition colors this story from start to end. I’m not sure I disagree with everything it implies, but I’m not sure I agree wholeheartedly either. Here are a few quotes demonstrating this book’s strong and weak sides:
My geography education is sadly lacking. When the protagonist of this novel, Dany, mentioned that Zanzibar was an island, I was surprised. I knew – vaguely – that it was somewhere in Africa but I didn’t know exactly where, or how large it is. I looked it up in Wikipedia.
Dany is a recent high school graduate in England. Her mother, a beautiful society lady, is married to the super-rich writer Tyson Frost, but Dany grew up in a staid British village with her respectable great aunt. Now, she is invited to spend some time in her stepfather’s home in Zanzibar. Excited to get out of her prim aunt’s supervision, to travel on her own for the first time in her adult life, she embarks on a spree of London shopping, movies, and theatre before she boards her plane to Africa.
Unfortunately, her trip starts off with disturbing news: her stepfather’s old solicitor is murdered on the same day she went to see him. She is carrying a letter from the solicitor to her stepfather. Young and naive, she doesn’t think it has anything to do with her, until her international passport is stolen from her room.
Now she is in real trouble. Her desire to see Zanzibar, to start her exciting new adventure, explodes. She can’t imagine missing her flight, not for anything. She would go to Zanzibar, no matter what, so she accepts a harebrained help offer from a drunken stranger who stays in the same hotel.
That one cockeyed step thrusts her into an international intrigue that involves multiple murders, Communists’ plots, a long-dead adventurer-slash-pirate, and a treasure of three million dollars. And Zanzibar, of course, is in the middle of it all.
Dany is a charming and naive teenage heroine. She has nothing in common with the modern fictional girls of the same age, but for 1959, the year of this book’s publication, she is rather typical, and so is the author’s attitude to sexes in general. All the plot-moving stuff is performed invariably by men. The women in the book are either striking femmes fatales or naive and honest dupes like Dany. They either fall in love and get married or want to be married or have their female companions/friends instead of male partners, but they are always relationship-oriented. They don’t act, investigate, fight, create, or generally do anything worth mentioning.
The novel is a mystery/thriller/romance set in the exotic milieu of Zanzibar. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed reading it and I might read another book by this author, but to tell the truth, her treatment of female characters chafed me. I like my heroines more active, while Dany always finds important clues or overhears pertinent bits of information by either accident or sheer stupidity. She is always in the right spot at the wrong moment, and this strings of coincidences gets stale pretty soon.
From the political standpoint, Zanzibar was still under British rule at the time, and the British imperialist disposition colors this story from start to end. I’m not sure I disagree with everything it implies, but I’m not sure I agree wholeheartedly either. Here are a few quotes demonstrating this book’s strong and weak sides:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~It was a delightful if rather dated read, but the author’s volatile sense of humor and her indisputable love for the location saved it from being banal. For those interested in that time period, I would place this author beside Mary Stewart, although I like average Stewart better.
‘... Ever noticed how for all their bellowings about “Peace and Brotherly Love” the average Red is eaten up from nose to tail with envy, hatred, malice and all uncharitableness. Their gods and their gospel are hate and destruction...’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In common with all young women she had dreamed of the time when she would fall in love. It would be a romantic and rapturous and altogether wonderful moment, and the hero of it would certainly not be a pallid and disheveled stranger who was suffering from an imperial hangover...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘...there is something special about this island. Something that I haven’t met anywhere else. Do you know what is the most familiar sound in Zanzibar? – laughter! ... People laughing. There is a gaiety and good humor about them that is strangely warming to even such a corrugated, corroded and eroded heart as mine, and this is the only place I have yet hit upon where black and white and every shade in between ’em appear to be able to live together in complete friendliness and harmony, with no color bars. It’s a living proof and a practical demonstration that it can be done. ... But it won’t last.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He looked down at Dany’s white face and smiled a little crookedly. ‘It’s a helluva mess, honey, but you don’t have to lose your nerve.’
‘I haven’t any left to lose!’ admitted Dany ruefully. “Not an atom!’
Lash laughed and reached down his hands to pull her to her feet.
‘Nuts, Miss Kitchell! Momentarily mislaid, perhaps, but never lost.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 22, 2017
Oh this was a tough one to grade.
The descriptions of the various locations, the deft handling of the politics of the time (late 1950s) and place (East Africa, especially Zanzibar itself) rate 5 stars with me. The mystery itself was a rather nice one, what with two murders, a mysterious letter and rumors of a vast wealth in hidden gold. I give that part a solid 3 stars.
I had a lot of trouble with our young heroine. Dany Ashton is so young (in age, experience and common sense) that I spent most of the book wanting to shake her. Naive is a perfect description for her. Of course, if she had acted with a grain of common sense at the beginning we would have had a very different story. Nor was I impressed when, early on, she declares herself in love with Lash Holden. At this point in the story Lash was sleeping off the massive bender he indulged in after being jilted right before his wedding. Lash does improve, somewhat, as the story progresses, but I never really believed in their romance.
The rest of the supporting cast is nicely drawn. I was very fond of Larry Dowling, the reporter who is hoping to do an in depth interview with Dany's step-father, novelist Tyson Frost. I also liked Tyson's no-nonsense sister, Gussie Bingham. Tyson's secretary Nigel Ponting is presented to us as an effete gossiper who is failing to keep Tyson's nose to the grindstone (book deadlines, don't you know).
Originally published in 1959, I first read this back in 1983, when it was reissued. I must say that I remembered absolutely nothing of the mystery plot. So the revelation of the bad guys and their motive was a surprise.
i don't regret the time spent in reading this. I got a good deal of pleasure from the trip back in time to an exotic location.
The descriptions of the various locations, the deft handling of the politics of the time (late 1950s) and place (East Africa, especially Zanzibar itself) rate 5 stars with me. The mystery itself was a rather nice one, what with two murders, a mysterious letter and rumors of a vast wealth in hidden gold. I give that part a solid 3 stars.
I had a lot of trouble with our young heroine. Dany Ashton is so young (in age, experience and common sense) that I spent most of the book wanting to shake her. Naive is a perfect description for her. Of course, if she had acted with a grain of common sense at the beginning we would have had a very different story. Nor was I impressed when, early on, she declares herself in love with Lash Holden. At this point in the story Lash was sleeping off the massive bender he indulged in after being jilted right before his wedding. Lash does improve, somewhat, as the story progresses, but I never really believed in their romance.
The rest of the supporting cast is nicely drawn. I was very fond of Larry Dowling, the reporter who is hoping to do an in depth interview with Dany's step-father, novelist Tyson Frost. I also liked Tyson's no-nonsense sister, Gussie Bingham. Tyson's secretary Nigel Ponting is presented to us as an effete gossiper who is failing to keep Tyson's nose to the grindstone (book deadlines, don't you know).
Originally published in 1959, I first read this back in 1983, when it was reissued. I must say that I remembered absolutely nothing of the mystery plot. So the revelation of the bad guys and their motive was a surprise.
i don't regret the time spent in reading this. I got a good deal of pleasure from the trip back in time to an exotic location.
September 19, 2013
This was a good who-dunnit but can not compare to "Death In Kenya". Not nearly as atmospheric or intense. Still, it was good and I look forward to reading the others in the series.
*just a FYI This book is a sequel to "Trade Wind", although it was written before Trade Wind. In other words, M.M. Kaye wrote "Death In Zanzibar" and then afterwards went back and wrote the story which was to have taken place 100 years prior (Trade Wind). Maybe thats why this story just didn't satisfy me. Trade Wind is an epic (a blockbuster) and this is a mild who dunnit. Not nearly as good. But still worth reading and a good murder mystery with some hidden treasure thrown in there too.
CONTENT:
CUSSING: Mild, sprinkled throughout
VIOLENCE: Not shown, but a few people are murdered.
SEX: None
SPIRITISM: rumor of an old curse is mentioned.
*just a FYI This book is a sequel to "Trade Wind", although it was written before Trade Wind. In other words, M.M. Kaye wrote "Death In Zanzibar" and then afterwards went back and wrote the story which was to have taken place 100 years prior (Trade Wind). Maybe thats why this story just didn't satisfy me. Trade Wind is an epic (a blockbuster) and this is a mild who dunnit. Not nearly as good. But still worth reading and a good murder mystery with some hidden treasure thrown in there too.
CONTENT:
CUSSING: Mild, sprinkled throughout
VIOLENCE: Not shown, but a few people are murdered.
SEX: None
SPIRITISM: rumor of an old curse is mentioned.
January 30, 2015
Another fun little mystery from one of my favorite authors. There is a touch of romance in this one. I do enjoy these mysteries but they are dated with a very meek, helpless heroine.
June 30, 2018
Quite a good mystery, which kept me guessing till the end. The writing reminded me of Mary Stewart, although her heroines are more fleshed out and not as naive. But the setting - Zanzibar - made up for that. It's a lovely, mystical place I loved when I visited it as a child.
March 20, 2015
I'm wavering between 3 1/2 and 4.
I didn't figure the mystery out till the end but, the journey wasn't all that suspenseful. And took a little bit too long to get going. But it was a fun read. I think that had they not so often been "plastered" they might have saved themselves lots of trouble. That being said I was nearly as deep in the dark as they where. I did like the characters Lash and Dany ( Dany is a girl! ) even if Lash did drink to much. Sadly it wasn't anywhere near as good as Death in Kenya, but still it was worth the time it took to read it. Also this is the sequel to Trade Wind. ( Trade Wind was better, it had more atmosphere ). It was however better than Agatha Christie, in my opinion.
There was some language ( Hs, Ds, and Bs. ) and a fair bit of drinking and some smoking. other than that it had nothing to offend most readers.Death in Kenya and Trade Wind both had more depth than Death in Zanzibar but its a good read anyhow.
I didn't figure the mystery out till the end but, the journey wasn't all that suspenseful. And took a little bit too long to get going. But it was a fun read. I think that had they not so often been "plastered" they might have saved themselves lots of trouble. That being said I was nearly as deep in the dark as they where. I did like the characters Lash and Dany ( Dany is a girl! ) even if Lash did drink to much. Sadly it wasn't anywhere near as good as Death in Kenya, but still it was worth the time it took to read it. Also this is the sequel to Trade Wind. ( Trade Wind was better, it had more atmosphere ). It was however better than Agatha Christie, in my opinion.
There was some language ( Hs, Ds, and Bs. ) and a fair bit of drinking and some smoking. other than that it had nothing to offend most readers.Death in Kenya and Trade Wind both had more depth than Death in Zanzibar but its a good read anyhow.
August 19, 2011
I actually read this many years ago and was delighted to run across it in my local public library. Poor Dany. Born to a rich and attractive couple, neither of which possessed any interest in being a parent, Dany spent her childhood with an anal, old fashioned, repressed aunt while her mother made her way through multiple husbands. Her father is dead.
Now an adult in her twenties, Dany is delighted when her mother Lorraine, married to a wealthy writer, invites her to visit them for a houseparty in Zanzibar of all places. Eager to get out from under Auntie's thumb and do some real living, Dany leaps at this opportunity. While staying in a London hotel, she takes advantage of the chance to see a lot of movies and plays. It is this love for theater and movies that causes her to go early to an appointment to pick up an envelope for her stepfather at his semi-retired solicitor's home.
Later, Dany finds , to her horror, that the man was murdered by someone he let in and the police have found a handkerchief with her initials and someone reported seeing a young lady leave the house around the time of the murder. The young lady is Dany and she panics. Will they think she did it (well, of course they will!)
She turns to a friend of her step-father's who is a little older than her and was going to the house party to deal with the stepfather about a writing project (his dad is the step-father's publisher)and well as be on his honeymoon with a much married cougar friend of Lorraine's who dumped him in favor of a hot Spanish rich guy. Her new friend Lesh has a tendency to stay drunk (he was just dumped) and he makes a wild plan while having too much to drink and no sleep- his secretary has the mumps and can't go. Since someone got into Dany's room and planted the murder weapon and stole her passport, he will take Dany and get her hair colored red and curled and with a cheap pair of reading glasses, Dany will use his secretary's passport and masquerade as her!
There is witty conversation, some romance leading to marriage, and more murders as well as some very odd and eccentric characters as the two of them go to Zanzibar and the plot thickens. I loved the descriptions in this book, the dialogue, and the suspense. I highly recommend this book.
Now an adult in her twenties, Dany is delighted when her mother Lorraine, married to a wealthy writer, invites her to visit them for a houseparty in Zanzibar of all places. Eager to get out from under Auntie's thumb and do some real living, Dany leaps at this opportunity. While staying in a London hotel, she takes advantage of the chance to see a lot of movies and plays. It is this love for theater and movies that causes her to go early to an appointment to pick up an envelope for her stepfather at his semi-retired solicitor's home.
Later, Dany finds , to her horror, that the man was murdered by someone he let in and the police have found a handkerchief with her initials and someone reported seeing a young lady leave the house around the time of the murder. The young lady is Dany and she panics. Will they think she did it (well, of course they will!)
She turns to a friend of her step-father's who is a little older than her and was going to the house party to deal with the stepfather about a writing project (his dad is the step-father's publisher)and well as be on his honeymoon with a much married cougar friend of Lorraine's who dumped him in favor of a hot Spanish rich guy. Her new friend Lesh has a tendency to stay drunk (he was just dumped) and he makes a wild plan while having too much to drink and no sleep- his secretary has the mumps and can't go. Since someone got into Dany's room and planted the murder weapon and stole her passport, he will take Dany and get her hair colored red and curled and with a cheap pair of reading glasses, Dany will use his secretary's passport and masquerade as her!
There is witty conversation, some romance leading to marriage, and more murders as well as some very odd and eccentric characters as the two of them go to Zanzibar and the plot thickens. I loved the descriptions in this book, the dialogue, and the suspense. I highly recommend this book.
June 8, 2021
Molly Kaye led an interesting life. Growing up in India, she married an army officer who was thereafter posted to locales around the world, which provide the settings for a series of murder mysteries: the Andamans in the Indian Ocean, Kashmir, post-war Berlin, Kenya, Cyprus and this one in Zanzibar.
MM Kaye’s fame rests on her magnum opus The Far Pavillions. She also wrote three clear-eyed memoirs: of her early years in India The Sun in the Morning: My Early Years in India and England, and thereafter Golden Afternoon and Enchanted Evening. But for these works, the murder mysteries may not have created more than a passing interest. They are old fashioned, which is sometimes good, but not always.
I’ve reviewed Death in the Andamans, which is very good; Kaye creates a claustrophobic and isolated remote colonial island outpost where a murder follows a fearsome storm. Copper, our plucky heroine has to deal with currents of greed, jealousy, long-standing resentment and disappointment among the permanent residents as well as serious doubts about the trustworthiness of her closest current companions, including an attractive suitor. It’s a good story.
Death in Berlin is cold, full of Germans trying to shut out their past, or at least hide it, and a mysterious murder which again threatens the heroine, Miranda. This is a lived-in story well anchored in its immediate post war setting. The rainy streets are forbidding.
Death in Zanzibar is the least of the three, by some distance. I am not encouraged to read the others in the ‘Death in…’ series, Kenya, Cyprus and Kashmir. Kaye readily discloses that her mysteries were written well after the actual times she was living in those places and were constructed from her extensive notes taken at the time. But whereas I felt I could feel the heat and storms and colonial culture of the Andamans (and the critters in the wall of the big house) and I felt I could drop in to post-war Berlin, we have little of that quality in Death in Zanzibar. We have no feel for what Zanzibar was like.
Off-putting for a start is the rather ludicrous story made worse by the startlingly badly conceived characters. In London, Dany Ashton is asked to courier an important letter from her stepfather’s solicitor to said larger-than-life author stepfather in Zanzibar. The solicitor is then murdered. At risk of being compromised, Dany is persuaded by an unconvincing American to travel in disguise on someone else’s passport. That is correct. Then there is a long aeroplane journey, of several stages, with colourful and suspicious characters on board, many of whom end up at Kivulimi, the ‘House of Shade’, a conveniently old, court yarded and thick–walled, and much renovated house. Funny (peculiar) goings on ensue. In fact the tale becomes an old dark house mystery.
Our heroine narrowly escapes danger amid the mayhem, the mystery is solved and the murderer satisfactorily disclosed. But I still can’t tell you much about Zanzibar in the 1950s (I think it is set in the 1950s).
MM Kaye’s fame rests on her magnum opus The Far Pavillions. She also wrote three clear-eyed memoirs: of her early years in India The Sun in the Morning: My Early Years in India and England, and thereafter Golden Afternoon and Enchanted Evening. But for these works, the murder mysteries may not have created more than a passing interest. They are old fashioned, which is sometimes good, but not always.
I’ve reviewed Death in the Andamans, which is very good; Kaye creates a claustrophobic and isolated remote colonial island outpost where a murder follows a fearsome storm. Copper, our plucky heroine has to deal with currents of greed, jealousy, long-standing resentment and disappointment among the permanent residents as well as serious doubts about the trustworthiness of her closest current companions, including an attractive suitor. It’s a good story.
Death in Berlin is cold, full of Germans trying to shut out their past, or at least hide it, and a mysterious murder which again threatens the heroine, Miranda. This is a lived-in story well anchored in its immediate post war setting. The rainy streets are forbidding.
Death in Zanzibar is the least of the three, by some distance. I am not encouraged to read the others in the ‘Death in…’ series, Kenya, Cyprus and Kashmir. Kaye readily discloses that her mysteries were written well after the actual times she was living in those places and were constructed from her extensive notes taken at the time. But whereas I felt I could feel the heat and storms and colonial culture of the Andamans (and the critters in the wall of the big house) and I felt I could drop in to post-war Berlin, we have little of that quality in Death in Zanzibar. We have no feel for what Zanzibar was like.
Off-putting for a start is the rather ludicrous story made worse by the startlingly badly conceived characters. In London, Dany Ashton is asked to courier an important letter from her stepfather’s solicitor to said larger-than-life author stepfather in Zanzibar. The solicitor is then murdered. At risk of being compromised, Dany is persuaded by an unconvincing American to travel in disguise on someone else’s passport. That is correct. Then there is a long aeroplane journey, of several stages, with colourful and suspicious characters on board, many of whom end up at Kivulimi, the ‘House of Shade’, a conveniently old, court yarded and thick–walled, and much renovated house. Funny (peculiar) goings on ensue. In fact the tale becomes an old dark house mystery.
Our heroine narrowly escapes danger amid the mayhem, the mystery is solved and the murderer satisfactorily disclosed. But I still can’t tell you much about Zanzibar in the 1950s (I think it is set in the 1950s).
March 19, 2012
I'm addicted to Agatha Christie's novels. I've always been a mystery fan, since I picked up my first Nancy Drew at age six or seven (I was terrified. It may have been the first book I ever read that featured a legitimate villain.), and I'm always looking for new whodunnits. But I can't pick up just any book in the mystery section of the library. I'll never say no to fantastic plot twists, red herrings, character development, ingenious methods of murder and shockingly unique solutions. But to me, one of the most important elements of a good whodunnit is the atmosphere. Yes, many of Agatha Christie's stories are unique and shocking and clever. But some of them aren't. If you've read twenty or so, it could be argued that you've read them all. But I keep reading her books in particular because I just can't get enough of the atmosphere. It has pulled me in since day 1. It's old-fashioned and English and tea can be found around every corner. Modern murder stories just don't seem to cut it for me. And no one else has ever really come close to the Queen of Crime.
But the inside flap of Death in Zanzibar compared the style to Agatha Christie's, and it sounded promising. The atmosphere was completely satisfying, and everything I was looking for. It had almost everything: poison, hidden treasure, old mansions, foreign travel, disguises, forged notes enticing victims to their doom, evening gowns, engagements and gossip on the veranda.
As an experienced reader of murder stories, I have learned to keep characters at arm's length. #1 rule of murder mysteries: everyone is a suspect. Well-read Christie fans will know that sometimes, the murderer may even be the protagonist or narrator. And if your favorite character doesn't end up being the killer, they're in constant danger of becoming the next victim. Nevertheless, I couldn't help getting attached to Dany Ashton and her handsome American accomplice, Lash Holden. Not as memorable as Hercule Poirot, or Tommy and Tuppence, or Sherlock Holmes or Lord Peter Wimsey, but very likable.
As usual, I thought I had the murderer pinned down. I was surprised at the end. But not shocked.
Of course the style differed from Christie's in many respects. None of the suspects were truly strong characters with motives and alibis. But as Dany and Lash are not real detectives, only two young people in a big mess, I can't blame them for not discussing these particulars in as much detail as I would have liked.
Altogether, I really enjoyed this. A little romance, some danger and excitement, a red herring, and THREE murders. Agatha Christie fans should definitely check it out.
But the inside flap of Death in Zanzibar compared the style to Agatha Christie's, and it sounded promising. The atmosphere was completely satisfying, and everything I was looking for. It had almost everything: poison, hidden treasure, old mansions, foreign travel, disguises, forged notes enticing victims to their doom, evening gowns, engagements and gossip on the veranda.
As an experienced reader of murder stories, I have learned to keep characters at arm's length. #1 rule of murder mysteries: everyone is a suspect. Well-read Christie fans will know that sometimes, the murderer may even be the protagonist or narrator. And if your favorite character doesn't end up being the killer, they're in constant danger of becoming the next victim. Nevertheless, I couldn't help getting attached to Dany Ashton and her handsome American accomplice, Lash Holden. Not as memorable as Hercule Poirot, or Tommy and Tuppence, or Sherlock Holmes or Lord Peter Wimsey, but very likable.
As usual, I thought I had the murderer pinned down. I was surprised at the end. But not shocked.
Of course the style differed from Christie's in many respects. None of the suspects were truly strong characters with motives and alibis. But as Dany and Lash are not real detectives, only two young people in a big mess, I can't blame them for not discussing these particulars in as much detail as I would have liked.
Altogether, I really enjoyed this. A little romance, some danger and excitement, a red herring, and THREE murders. Agatha Christie fans should definitely check it out.
September 3, 2016
★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) I’ve never read a book by M.M. Kaye, but I’m doing a “Lifetime in Books” challenge as well as a “Double-Decker” (double letters in title, etc.) challenge and wanted to kill two birds with the same stone before the end of the year. The results of my searches have been hit or miss. This one, luckily, was a home run. Not out of the ballpark, but very well played.
I’ve not heard Bahni Turpin narrate before, nor am I familiar with her acting on the large or small screen. Nevertheless, I thought she elevated this story, kicking it up at least a half a star or more. Great voice differentiation, deliver of international accents from a large cast of characters, and inflection for characters’ tones and moods.
While dated, especially as far as male chauvinism goes, I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Great sense of time and place, with a nice little mystery that kept me guessing, but didn’t make me feel too stupid as I started catching on near the end.
June 25, 2023
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December 9, 2020
Okay, I'm done with these books now. The first was mildly entertaining, but succeeding ones got worse and worse. Sexism, colonialism, and thinly disguised racism. The last straw was the main male character constantly telling the female that she was stupid, had a low IQ, and that her stepfather needed to give her "six good ones with a slipper", not to mention that she was 18, he was much older, and she fell "in love" with him in less than 48 hours! Ick, and bleah.
June 25, 2013
Dany Ashton is an innocent abroad. Brought up by a very strict, ultra-protective aunt, she has seen very little of the world and this story is about her first excursion alone. And it just might wind up being her last.
Dany's mother hasn't been much of one. She has made her way through several husbands and is currently married to the famous author, Tyson Frost. They decide to invite Dany to Zanzibar where Frost (through his father, the rakish Emory Frost) has rights to Kivulimi: "The House of Shade", a house bestowed up Emory as a gift from a local potentate. Dany is thrilled at the chance to finally see the world and has great plans to have a good time.
Before she leaves she has been commissioned to stop by Frost's lawyer's house and pick up an important envelope. She changes the appointment time from afternoon to morning and that's when her planned vacation begins to fall apart. The lawyer is killed not long after Dany's visit and the police are interested in finding the "mysterious young woman" who was seen leaving the scene. She obstinately refuses to identify herself with the authorities because she doesn't want her chance at an exotic trip to be cancelled.
Her hotel room is ransacked, her passport is stolen, and she manages to lock herself out of her hotel room in the middle of the night. Enter Lash Holden--handsome and impetuous son of a friend of her stepfather's--who is also in the hotel waiting to leave for Zanzibar. Lash is spending his last hours getting thoroughly drunk in response to being jilted by his fiancee and comes across Dany in the hotel hallway on his return from his binge. He comes up with a plan for Dany to impersonate his secretary (who conveniently has the mumps and who Dany happens to vaguely resemble--enough to get by on her passport).
With a quick dye-job turning Dany into a rather dowdy looking redhead, they manage to smuggle Dany past the airport officials and are on their way. But danger follows them. A fellow passenger is poisoned on the journey and then one of her step-father's house guests falls to her death from a stone staircase. Clues are constantly being planted to frame Dany even after the envelope's contents disappear, but they manage to foil the murderer's plans. Will they manage to unmask the villain before s/he decides to eliminate Dany altogether?
This is a fun, light, romantic mystery. Dany is a shade too babe-in-the-woods. Honestly, I don't drink and hadn't been out amongst people who did much--but I recognize my first drunk when I saw him. It does seem a bit unlikely that she had no idea that Lash was plastered when she first met him. But--I suppose it's necessary to suspend one's disbelief in order for the story to proceed as planned. The cast of characters, witty dialogue, and spectacular descriptions and local color (based on Kaye's notebooks from her trip to Zanzibar) all make the read well worthwhile. Three and a half stars.
This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks!
Dany's mother hasn't been much of one. She has made her way through several husbands and is currently married to the famous author, Tyson Frost. They decide to invite Dany to Zanzibar where Frost (through his father, the rakish Emory Frost) has rights to Kivulimi: "The House of Shade", a house bestowed up Emory as a gift from a local potentate. Dany is thrilled at the chance to finally see the world and has great plans to have a good time.
Before she leaves she has been commissioned to stop by Frost's lawyer's house and pick up an important envelope. She changes the appointment time from afternoon to morning and that's when her planned vacation begins to fall apart. The lawyer is killed not long after Dany's visit and the police are interested in finding the "mysterious young woman" who was seen leaving the scene. She obstinately refuses to identify herself with the authorities because she doesn't want her chance at an exotic trip to be cancelled.
Her hotel room is ransacked, her passport is stolen, and she manages to lock herself out of her hotel room in the middle of the night. Enter Lash Holden--handsome and impetuous son of a friend of her stepfather's--who is also in the hotel waiting to leave for Zanzibar. Lash is spending his last hours getting thoroughly drunk in response to being jilted by his fiancee and comes across Dany in the hotel hallway on his return from his binge. He comes up with a plan for Dany to impersonate his secretary (who conveniently has the mumps and who Dany happens to vaguely resemble--enough to get by on her passport).
With a quick dye-job turning Dany into a rather dowdy looking redhead, they manage to smuggle Dany past the airport officials and are on their way. But danger follows them. A fellow passenger is poisoned on the journey and then one of her step-father's house guests falls to her death from a stone staircase. Clues are constantly being planted to frame Dany even after the envelope's contents disappear, but they manage to foil the murderer's plans. Will they manage to unmask the villain before s/he decides to eliminate Dany altogether?
This is a fun, light, romantic mystery. Dany is a shade too babe-in-the-woods. Honestly, I don't drink and hadn't been out amongst people who did much--but I recognize my first drunk when I saw him. It does seem a bit unlikely that she had no idea that Lash was plastered when she first met him. But--I suppose it's necessary to suspend one's disbelief in order for the story to proceed as planned. The cast of characters, witty dialogue, and spectacular descriptions and local color (based on Kaye's notebooks from her trip to Zanzibar) all make the read well worthwhile. Three and a half stars.
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March 13, 2023
This mystery/romantic suspense novel is part of a series written by the author set in places she had lived in or visited and based on what were apparently very detailed notebooks of each region, so you get a wonderful sense of place along with an interesting series of events to unravel. There's always a bit of romance, though it's pretty low-key. I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't until the half-way point that it really picked up. A couple of revelations, one on top of the other, ratcheted my interest significantly.
There were a couple of problems with this book, though. I disliked the way our young American talked, especially in the first half of the book - he sounds, and drinks, like someone out of a Sam Spade movie - and he's named Lash. lol Worse, the heroine is soppy and spends her time being desperately afraid as the action swirls around her. Instead of making plans, trying to discover what's happening, or acting in any way she wrings her hands a lot and fantasizes running screaming down the road. Very disappointing. When I read this type of book I expect a heroine who is spunky and willing to take some risks - maybe even a little careless - but definitely active. Dany is not.
And finally, the solution to everything was disappointing because There were a couple of big let-downs at the end. So, though I did enjoy some of this book, I can't give it three stars, even tepid ones. Skip this unless you're a big fan, and read Death in Cyprus or Death in Kashmir instead. (I haven't read the others yet.)
There were a couple of problems with this book, though. I disliked the way our young American talked, especially in the first half of the book - he sounds, and drinks, like someone out of a Sam Spade movie - and he's named Lash. lol Worse, the heroine is soppy and spends her time being desperately afraid as the action swirls around her. Instead of making plans, trying to discover what's happening, or acting in any way she wrings her hands a lot and fantasizes running screaming down the road. Very disappointing. When I read this type of book I expect a heroine who is spunky and willing to take some risks - maybe even a little careless - but definitely active. Dany is not.
And finally, the solution to everything was disappointing because There were a couple of big let-downs at the end. So, though I did enjoy some of this book, I can't give it three stars, even tepid ones. Skip this unless you're a big fan, and read Death in Cyprus or Death in Kashmir instead. (I haven't read the others yet.)
July 7, 2019
Ok another good one. Is it just me or do a lot of these books start with a woman hearing a noise in the middle of the night? I am now listening to noises when I'm in bed in the dark! Anyway, enjoyable. There's a bit or romantic comedy in this one with the hero being a little plastered when he first meets the heroine (who was locked out of hotel room and asking for help), and it's amusing where that goes and how this ends up messing things up for the bad guy. Made the romance pretty cute too. Liked that so much of the story is merely travelling from London to Zanzibar! Really interesting to see what travel was like compared to now (eg. Air steward saying people can smoke while the plane sits on the tarmac - on the plane), and how many stops there were. And as usual there's a truly remarkable house in this story. M.M. Kaye draws her locations so well.
May 22, 2021
Heed not the trashy cover, or buy the upscale version. This is a fun read, written by a remarkable woman, MM Kaye. In her introduction to this book, MM Kaye notes the popular tune playing in 1950's England, where she was the mother of two small girls while her army husband was away in Korea. On his deployment back, the family could meet in Kenya and from there to Zanzibar. The notes MM Kaye took from there allowed her years later to write this, very Agathe Christie like "who dunnit?" While the notes helped here and there give a little flavor of this wonderful island and a little Moscow/Western world intrigue, the key is a mystery tied up with a little romance and high society banter--where the incentives and the opportunities for mischief play a much bigger role than the romance. A very satisfying conclusion and well worth reading if you are not afraid of being accused of reading "bodice-ripping" romances--which again, despite the publisher's efforts to lure those who might be thrilled with those novels--this novel is NOT!
August 5, 2017
This mystery by M.M. Kaye is not quite a cozy and not exactly a classic mystery in the 'golden age' sense either. It's a romantic mystery set in the 1950's in the exotic location of the isle of cloves, Zanzibar. It has the usual set of English characters - an actress, eccentric spinsters, a girl newly out of school, a secretary with exaggerated mannerisms, and his blustery, commanding English boss. Their crowd is enlivened by the addition of an American, a journalist, and an enigmatic, wealthy Arab. Three murders, buried treasure and several real and potential love affairs round out the plot. All of this adds up to several hours of entertaining reading, light and tropical.
December 1, 2017
Well, I’d like to give this 5-stars for the description of the Zanzibar scene, the constant consumption of alcoholic libation, smoking on airplanes and everywhere else, AND of course the nylon nightgowns!
But this is a whodunnit and the resolution/uncovering the details of the crime was unsatisfactory. It seems as if MMK concocted an interesting and intricate mystery, but was not equal to the task of crafting final resolution of all that was going in a satisfying way.
But this is a whodunnit and the resolution/uncovering the details of the crime was unsatisfactory. It seems as if MMK concocted an interesting and intricate mystery, but was not equal to the task of crafting final resolution of all that was going in a satisfying way.
May 6, 2019
In this novel, Dany is invited to visit her mother and step-father in Zanzibar for a relaxing vacation, but murder, suspense and danger follow her from England to Africa. While at times absurdly unbelievable, Death in Zanzibar is consistently entertaining and atmospheric. I enjoyed it much more than anticipated, and will certainly read more of Kay's mystery-adventures.
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