The Tanzania Conspiracy: A Max O'Brien Mystery

By Mario Bolduc

Con man Max O’Brien gets pulled into a grisly conspiracy while investigating his lover’s murder.

Distraught by the murder of Tanzanian lawyer and ex-lover Valéria Michieka and her daughter Sophie, Max O’Brien travels to Tanzania to track down those responsible. What starts as a fight for justice quickly becomes entangled with the persecution of albinos in the East African state. Thought by some to have supernatural powers, many albinos find themselves targeted for their body parts, and Max has reason to think that Valéria and Sophie were killed because of her legal work defending albinos’ rights and safety.

Did the lawyers’ fight against this horrendous business upset the human traffickers? Max’s search for the truth about their deaths is filled with unknowns, each more impenetrable than the last.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dundurn
• Release date: Oct 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781459736108

Mario Bolduc

Screenwriter Mario Bolduc has written three novels featuring Max O’Brien, originally published in French. The Kashmir Trap starts the series and Tsiganes (The Roma Plot) won the 2008 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Book in French. Mario lives in Montreal.

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Reviews for The Tanzania Conspiracy

[eyes92c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Edgy crime series!A strong, racey, crime noir that takes you from Tanzania to the United States and on to the north west area of Canada. From the scourge of abhorrent superstitious practices with albinism and body parts, centered in Tanzania to a black market trade in the world beyond (thanks to the dark side of the web), to the small exclusive world of American executioners in those States where the death penalty is still part of the legal system.There are two storytellers. We approach the story from the perspective of the first, Max O'Brien, a con man without pretensions. We first meet him carrying out a sting in Zanzibar. The second story teller is Roselyn Kerensky, wife of a retired executioner.How these two stories might intersect puzzled me. I kept wondering about the relevance. That was decisively put to rest as the action evolved.When Max is notified of the deaths of his ex mistress Valéria and her daughter Sophie he is thrown. Valéria was an Albino rights worker, killed in her home in Tanzania. Max's hunt for their killers begins.There is some resolution for me but not in all areas. This leaves questions, although the immediate reasons for Valéria's death are closed.This is the first Max O'Bien novel I've read. I loved it and I will be keeping my eyes open for more works by Mario Bolduc. The Tanzania Conspiracy confirms my opinions about edgy works Québécois produce in the arts. Even the cover is exciting. This novel by Bolduc won't be my last!A Dundurn ARC via NetGalley