Review by Booklist Review
Imagine John le Carré attempting an Agatha Christie mystery. Or the other way around. In any case, that mix is at the heart of this stunning novel, which begins with an operative barely surviving a murderous attack by agents of the Russian military's intelligence wing. Three years later, he's calling himself Greg Abimbola and working as a language instructor at a flossy prep school in Pittsburgh. Before the plot starts to cook, we see him displaying, as do Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple, a near-obsessive devotion to justice. Abimbola, who is Black, is shocked when his property is defaced with racist slurs. The culprit is a student, and when his rich dad offers a pile of money to forget the whole matter, Abimbola wants no part of it. Justice must be done. Then come the fireworks: a murder. The cops have their suspect, who begs Abimbola for help, which he must supply, however reluctantly--that bloody justice again. A scene right out of detective heaven follows as Abimbola gathers everybody together and, in a series of thunderbolts, reveals the killer. But we're not through yet. Abimbola has been forced to ask his spy contacts for help, so the killers now know where he is. They're coming for him. An outstanding debut and, naturally, a must for both Christie and le Carré devotees.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Greg Abimbola, the protagonist of this labyrinthine mystery from Oyebanji (Braking Day), teaches languages at Pittsburgh's elite Calderhill Academy. A Black teacher at a very white school, Greg focuses on conversational Russian and prefers reading Pushkin novels to socializing. Then the murder of a student's mother on school grounds shreds Greg's protective bubble of culture and literature. Unprepared for the attention the murder case brings to Calderhill, Greg is dismayed to see the academy's racist tendencies and administrative inefficiencies come to the fore. But those revelations are nothing compared to Greg's secrets, such as the personal vice that he refers to as the Devil. The more he tries to help, the less private his life becomes. When Greg's closest friend is arrested for the murder, he decides he must draw on his experiences in his dangerous former life to prove her innocence. The tension rises as the action enters espionage territory, though the surfeit of characters and the initially slow pace will frustrate some. Along the way to the satisfying ending, Oyebanji smoothly inserts commentary on topical social and political issues. Readers will eagerly await his next mystery. Agent: Brady McReynolds, JABberwocky Literary. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
A turncoat Russian spy battles his demons and solves a baffling murder in the narrow world of snowbound Pittsburgh, PA, in Oyebanji's (Braking Day) well-plotted first mystery novel. Armed with a new identity and bearing more than a few scars, Greg Abimbola is a language teacher at the elite Caldehill Academy, carefully negotiating a path through imperious parents, autocratic bureaucrats, entitled students, and a locally flavored form of racism. An especially demanding and manipulative parent, who also happens to be the wife of a quickly rising politician, is found murdered at the school, and a friend of Greg's becomes the main suspect. Reluctantly drawn into the case by tunnel-visioned police investigators, Greg is soon using the skills from his former life to sort the suspects and solve the crime while carefully avoiding his dogged Russian pursuers. VERDICT The chapters are short, and the writing is sharp as Oyebanji demonstrates a confident and developed voice and style. Never pulling punches, he smoothly places societal issues in service of the story and ends up multiplying the power of both.--James Woods Marshall
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A high school teacher battles demons past and present while helping a colleague accused of murder. After losing an eye during a mission in Djibouti that almost cost him his life, Greg Abimbola is happy to spend his days teaching French and Russian at Calderhill Academy, a private school catering to the privileged children of Pittsburgh's Shadyside and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods. If Americans assume his British accent is Australian--because surely a Black person could never be English--that's just part of the price he pays for enjoying the rolling hills of the Monongahela Valley and the vibrant cultural scene of a medium-sized American city where the Russians who tried to kill him in Djibouti would never think to look for him now. And of course nobody would guess that his British accent is also a ruse, hiding the native Russian he learned from his African expatriate mother. Greg tries to maintain his integrity while keeping his head down and his powder dry. He listens sympathetically to chemistry teacher Demetrius Freedman's withering observations on race in America but avoids becoming an activist himself. He struggles with same-sex urges his strict Russian Orthodox upbringing teaches are sinful. He's fair to his students and resists parents' demands to give unearned A's but tries not to ruffle feathers. But when Lindsay Delcade, a parent who raises entitlement to an art form, is found dead in the basement, it becomes increasingly hard to remain neutral--especially when the police focus their investigation on Andrea Velasquez, a young, vulnerable assistant custodian Greg is sure can't be guilty. Oyebanji's hero is complicated and sure to win readers' sympathies. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
