I rounded this book up to three stars. The plot of the book was fascinating to me; an American couple went to Africa during the 1960s with the Peace Corps and were the victims of a heinous crime. We see the legal aftermath and how the couple deals with it. The author had a strong sense of place, particularly as the novel went on and the reader really got a sense of what this part of Africa was like at the time (one example was how the author effectively used lists of things people ate or bought, which was very poetic).
The beginning of the book was confusing. Readers were immersed in dialogue when perhaps a bit more grounding in the characters or place might have been helpful. I almost gave up because I was not sure exactly what was happening until 14% in.
However, the biggest issue with the story was that the number of characters was confusing and, even more importantly, the characters appeared to be rather "lukewarm." One would have expected them to be much more upset and/or angry about what happened. It is not that there wasn't any reaction but it did not seem proportionate to the gravity of the situation. The author showed us a little of the effect that the event had on the couple's relationship but, again, not as much as one would anticipate. I think if this aspect was reworked, it would strengthen what would have been a fascinating story.