“All Come to Dust” is a long-simmering stew, with the raw-ingredients of an old-fashioned detective mystery and the mélange of spices of post-colonial Zimbabwe breaking down and melding together to offer up something far more than you might have expected when you started. The writing itself is incredibly patient, only revealing itself slowly and at its own measured pace. But within it Rheam is able to slowly develop an assortment of characters. Each time we revisit someone we learn more about them, forcing us to be patient as they reveal themselves. Similarly, the sense of place is intense. I have never visited Zimbabwe, but the writing instantly brought me to Bulawayo, from the scent of the flowers in the trees to the piles of utterly useless bureaucratic paperwork at the police station. Without ever being heavy handed, the occasional use of vernacular language combined with really specific sensory descriptions to really make the setting its own character, and one that affects every other character in their own way.

The characters are well drawn out, if slowly, just playing on enough of tropes or archetypes to let the reader assume they know something prematurely. The story itself is both riveting and small, or enclosed, at the same time. It takes its time unspooling, and offers enough red herrings mixed with its clues along the way that you want to keep reading and don’t feel cheated out of a proper resolution. All the while it is a portrait of how class, race, and gender still function in contemporary Zimbabwe, not as much an indictment as it is just a laying bare of how injustice and privilege are still baked into everyday life, and the efforts different people take to escape such social shackles.

If you’re interested in a compelling detective story, you can find that here, and although surely this novel wraps itself in that affectation it is more than that. It was a joy to read, even as it slowed me down and insisted I take it at its own pace. Every aspect, from characters, to story, to writing, was deliberate and nothing felt rushed or hackneyed. The latter third of the book did feel a little more rushed than the first parts, though that is part and parcel with whodunits. There were some things that wrapped up a little too neatly, or quickly, again common in the genre but it didn’t feel entirely fitting with the rest of the story. It wasn’t enough to feel unearned, though, and the incredibly memorable primary character, who himself was more than just a copy-and-paste genre detective but actually someone who experienced growth and development throughout the story, was more than enough to give this novel high marks and a hearty recommendation.

I want to thank NetGalley and Parthian Books, who gave me a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book, I did. I actively seek out books that offer perspectives that are new to me, and a story set in Zimbabwe that gives insight into the issues of colonialism, the realities of white and black populations even in suburban areas, the fight to reclaim one's standing in society - all of it sounds like it should make for an excellent read. But this is a character driven murder plot without enticing characters, a truly slow start, and at this point still full of typos. A spelling error on page 1 isn't the most auspicious start, and unfortunately nothing works to improve that opinion even several chapters in. This was a DNF for me, though I think I would be willing to try again after it's gone through another round of edits, because the concepts are very much there are very much intriguing. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley on Kindle for review. This is a character driven book without really loveable characters. The story is somewhat intriguing, but this is just not my type of reading.

Initially assuming that All Come To Dust was a straightforward murder mystery, I was impressed to find that actually Rheam is doing something much more intricate and important* here. Rather than a No 1 Ladies Detective Agency-style southern African comic romp of a mystery novel, All Come To Dust instead grapples with difficult issues of colonialism, racism, mental health, and memory. The insights into the lives of the remaining white population of Zimbabwe were fascinating while clear-eyed: the reader is encouraged to sympathise with certain of them, but also reminded of their privilege. Highly recommended .


* I say this as a huge fan of crime fiction, not to diminish 'straightforward murder mysteries' which are some of my favourite books!

I really wanted to like this book. The premise and description sounded so promising! However for a “thriller” this book was a tad boring. Not much happening for me I’m afraid so giving this one a ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is quite a long book,and I felt it was slow to start.
A murder,that may not even be a murder?many possible suspects.
As the pace picked up,so did various seemingly unrelated threads,and it felt a bit like a wild mix of anything and everything.
Unbelievably they all tied together by the end,in a way that made perfect sense.
Kept me entertained for several hours.