"Unusual." That’s the one-word answer Sergeant Ben Kella provides to the question, "What kind of copper are you?" in Graeme Kent’s second Sergeant Kella and Sister Conchita mystery, One Blood (Soho Crime: Feb. 7, 2012 release).
Kella is indeed unusual. The six foot tall Malaita native is both an officer in the Solomon Islands Police Force and an aofia – a spiritual peacekeeper for his kinsmen, the Lau people.
Joining Kella in this second book in Kent’s series is another unusual character, a Boston-raised nun who has taken on the name of Sister Conchita. Both Sister Conchita and Sergeant Kella, who first met in the 2011 series debut novel Devil-Devil, share a fondness for challenging authority that has not endeared them to their superiors.
Kella’s multiple academic degrees from universities in Australia and England, along with his frequent postings abroad, result from Chief Superintendent Grice’s desire to keep him away from the Solomon Islands. Sister Conchita’s recent promotion to an administrative position at the run-down Marakosi Mission is due to Father Ignatius’s wish for her to experience some of the power she so frequently questions.
Kella and Sister Cochita renew their acquaintance when Kella is sent to the Western District to investigate sabotage attempts at an Australian logging company run by Jake Michie. Sister Conchita also seeks Kella’s help in solving the murder of Ed Blamire, an American tourist who died under suspicious circumstances at the Marakosi Mission.
Although the action in this novel takes place in 1960, the events Kella investigates have ties to an earlier period in the history of the Solomon Islands. In 1943 Japanese forces there sank PT109, John F. Kennedy’s ship. Since Kennedy is, at the time of the novel, a candidate for the U.S. presidency, the islands are experiencing an upsurge in tourists seeking to visit that area.
Even for those without an interest in U.S. history, Kent’s latest novel has much to offer. Kent provides vivid descriptions of the Solomon Islands, highlighting both their beauty and their danger. He also excels at characterization, creating appealing protagonists and vivid secondary characters.
Kent also writes with a light touch about serious political and social concerns. On one occasion, he has Kella and Mary Gui, who like Kella was born in the Islands but educated abroad, stop for a drink at the Mendana Hotel. The dismay of the hotel guests at their entry into a “whites only” establishment is narrated with disarming humor.
Kent acquired his knowledge the Solomon Islands while working there for eight years in as Head of BBC Schools. He now is the Educational Broadcasting Consultant for the South Pacific Commission.
FTC Full Disclosure: A review copy of this work was provided by Soho Crime.
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