Last Seen in Lapaz

In Quartey’s third Emma Djan title (following Sleep Well, My Lady), Ghanaian PI Emma Djan and her partner Jojo must locate Ngozi Ojukwu, the daughter of a wealthy retired Nigerian diplomat. Ngozi, who has just turned 18, is scheduled to start law school in the fall. Now it appears she has run off with her boyfriend Femi, a charismatic hotel manager 10 years her senior. It turns out that Femi is a criminal working as part of a human-trafficking network. Now he’s taken Ngozi, and the two are headed toward the capital, Accra. Emma is on their trail when she discovers that the boyfriend has been shot dead and Ngozi has disappeared. There are multiple suspects in the shooting, but Ngozi’s disappearance is troubling. Narrator Robin Miles enhances Quartey’s complex, gritty mystery with a wide variety of character portraits. Her delivery of Nigerian patois adds depth to the storytelling, and her character voices are well matched. The story touches on difficult subjects, including human trafficking, rape, and murder, which Miles handles with care and solemnity.