Great addition to a school or classroom library. Also, a great book club option. Characters were believable and easy to connect to.

Newly minted Ghanaian police officer Emma wants to work in homicide, like her father before her, but her dreams when she os assigned elsewhere. Meanwhile, when, an American man falls victim to an internet romance scam he is determined to find out who is behind and bring them down at all all costs. The cultural snippets dropped like breadcrumbs takes the reader to the streets of Accra and Ghana.

The title of Kwei Quartey's new book, The Missing American, does not do justice to this first in a new series featuring Emma Djan, former member of the Ghana Police Service turned private detective. I am a fan of mysteries set in countries outside of the U.S. and I have read and admired Quartey's previous Darko Dawson series. The Missing American far exceeds his previous efforts. Emma is a complex character who engages in a complicated set of scams, crimes, and murders that take the reader deep into the world of the sakawa phenomenon - the internet scams that permeate Ghana and target Americans and other westerners. We also glimpse politics, corruption, and greed, and a touch of sexual harassment too. But, Ghanaian society is not all scams and schemes and darkness, and Quartey manages to show us many good sides of the culture, too. More than 50 years ago I had a summer job working for a Yale economist whose work focused on Ghana and I was intrigued enough to want to visit. Although I never did, my resolve to spend some time in the country has been renewed. My thanks to Quartey for reigniting my interest through his excellent novel. I am looking forward to reading more in this series.