Queer Ghanaian-American author Kwei Quartey delivers his most personal novel in The Whitewashed Tombs, a new mystery that reflects the dark reality of an anti-gay bill threatening Ghana’s LGBTQ population.
Reflecting current events in Ghana, where anti-gay legislation would criminalize LGBTQ+ identities, The Whitewashed Tombs expresses Quartey’s disappointment and pain as a queer man witnessing his native country turn its back on the culture of warmth and kindness in favor of policies engendering hate and violating basic human rights. While grief underlies the political climate and mystery in The Whitewashed Tombs, the author also asserts the book as a rebellion against the hostility at work and a call for inclusivity with a belief in the power of love and humanity.
In his mystery series featuring the intrepid private investigator Emma Djan, a young LGBTQ activist is butchered one night after being lured on Grindr to a deserted building site. To investigate his murder, Emma goes undercover in the International Congress of Families—a powerful organization seeking to criminalize homosexuality in African countries—where she uncovers a web of deceit and hypocrisy much larger than one gay man’s murder. As she navigates the rampant homophobia plaguing Ghana and the dangerous waters of politics, power, and personal secrets, Emma must race against time to unmask the killer, protect the vulnerable LGBTQ community and bring justice to the victims.
The Whitewashed Tombs: An Emma Djan Investigation hits retailers on Sept. 3 by Soho Crie ($27.95).
Quartey was born in Ghana and raised by a Black American mother and a Ghanaian father. A retired physician, he lives in Pasadena. He is the author of five novels in the Darko Dawson series, as well as three other books in the Emma Djan series, including The Missing American, which was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel.
Find him on X @quarteykwei, on Instagram @kweiquarteyauthor, and on his website, kweiquartey.com.
—From staff reports