Thanks to Hachette Livre, here is your chance to win a copy of Michael Stanley's new book 'A Carrion Death.

In this mesmerising crime debut, Michael Stanley uncovers the real Botswana: a modern land caught between traditional culture and globalism, colonial paternalism and independence; a beautiful, vibrant country threatened by the poverty, crime and brutal trade in blood diamonds of its neighbours.

Poachers, witch doctors, diamond-smuggling and corruption: welcome to the world of Detective Kubu...

They find the first body - or what the hyena had left - near a waterhole considered magical by the local bush people. A string of clues suggests that the victim was murdered and his identity hidden. For Assistant Superintendent David 'Kubu' Bengu, it's obvious from the start that sinister forces are at work. On the surface a convivial figure with a passion for his wife, his wine and his music, Kubu is a clever and resourceful lawman, well versed in Botswana's deadliest secrets. As Kubu follows a blood-soaked trail, marked by lies and superstition, he uncovers a chain of crimes linked to the most powerful figures in the country - influential enemies who will stop at nothing to remove those who stand in their way...

Praise for A CARRION DEATH:

"The challenge of unravelling the many mysteries of Africa has been taken up by Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, natives of Johannesburg and veterans of many flying safaris. Writing as Michael Stanley in A CARRION DEATH, the two adventurers have produced a first novel saturated with local color. . .the oversize plot is a reflection of its protagonist, Assistant Superintendent David Bengu of the Botswana police, whose great girth and immense appetite account for his nickname, Kubu, the Setswana word for hippopotamus. Happily, Kubu is also hugely appealing - big and solid and smart enough to grasp all angles of this mystery... Readers may be lured to Africa by the landscape, but it takes a great character like Kubu to win our loyalty." New York Times Book Review, April 13, 2008

'[An] impressive debut. The intricate plotting, a grisly sense of realism and numerous topical motifs make this a compulsively readable novel. Despite a shared setting with Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, this fast-paced forensic thriller will resonate more with fans of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'Rich with the atmosphere of modern Botswana, and peopled with interesting and well-drawn characters, this is an exciting debut' Booklist

About the authors:

Michael Stanley is the writing team of native Africans Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. The two friends have had many adventures together, including tracking lions at night, fighting bush fires on the Savuti plains in northern Botswana, surviving a charging elephant, and losing their navigation maps while flying over the Kalahari. Michael Sears lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. Stanley Trollip divides his time between South Africa and Minneapolis, MN. A Carrion Death was shortlisted for the 2006 Crime Writers' Association's Debut Dagger.