Murder most foul: Kasaine claims his place as a master detective writer
TITLE: 3 Bolts from the Blue
AUTHOR: Lesalon Kasaine
PUBLISHER: Self (audiobook format by eKitabu)
REVIEWER: Mbugua Ngunjiri
AVAILABILITY: shop.eKitabu.com and ‘On eKitabu’ app
PRICE: Ksh350 (Audiobook); Ksh699 (eBook); Ksh1,000 (Print).
The girl's meticulous diary-keeping provided the key to unmasking the identity of her killer—one who thought he had covered his tracks and was confident he would get away with murder.
After smothering her with a pillow, the killer had attached a key to her necklace, just as she had earlier, in a bout of romantic vanity, requested him to do in the event of her death.
Unknown to the killer, the smitten girl had also jotted down that wish in her journal, which landed in the hands of the detective investigating her disappearance.
This murder mystery is contained in Lesalon Kasaine's book, 3 Bolts from the Blue, a collection of three short stories. It is the story of Jackline, a university student, who hooks up with a rich boyfriend, only for her body to be fished from a river a short drive away from the man's house.
Sounds familiar? Because it is. Early this year, Kenyans were treated to a chilling account of a popular socialite and Instagram model who was lured to her death by a man she had reportedly met on a dating app.
Not long afterwards, the dismembered body of another girl, a student from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, was found floating in a dam in Kiambu County after she was lured to a short-stay apartment by a man suspected to be a foreigner.
More recently,and if police accounts are to be believed, a man in Mukuru kwa Njenga slums has been killing young women, chopping up their bodies and dumping them in a disused quarry.
To pad their case and to try to convince a sceptical public that indeed they had resolved the mystery surrounding the dumped corpses, police lined up women's undergarments—as part of items purportedly recovered from the suspect's house—pointing to a man given to strange sexual fetishes. Amid anti-government protests and police abductions, the public tended to believe that the bodies were victims of police killings.
Like the Mukuru chap, Harry, for that is the name of the killer in Kasaine's second story, was also given to dark sexual fantasies, which he acted out on the victim's body after he had killed her.
Depraved sexual fantasies
It is apparent that the society is crawling with all manner of mentally-deranged persons prowling the streets; trawling the internet in search of victims. Woe unto the unsuspecting girls who fall into their snares; they end up dead, statistics of these disturbing crimes.
Confronted with such mind-numbing crimes, it is writers like Kasaine who step up to the plate, use their imagination and help us make sense of these events.
While most of the victims tend to be faceless, the author, through his pen, humanises the girl, painting the life of a happy-go-lucky girl out to have fun, only to be met with a tragic ending.
This is the author's way of cautioning girls to be extra careful with men they go out with or trust with their hearts.
The short stories also pay tribute to police investigators, like Max Njagi, who diligently execute their jobs in the face of heavy odds. Yet, they receive little appreciation from the public and their superiors.
Speaking of the detective, while investigating the disappearance and subsequent death of Jackline, who was his god-daughter, he uncovered aspects of the girl's life that left him wondering how little he knew her.
Interestingly, Njagi's bewilderment lies at the heart of what has, in the recent past, been worrying Kenyans of an older generation and, more specifically, giving the political class sleepless nights. The unravelling of the Gen Zs.
Just like detective Njagi, older Kenyans, including parents, have expressed shock at how these youngsters planned and executed the protests that led to the dropping of the Finance Bill, 2024, and the dissolution of the Cabinet.
Still, and despite their apparent resourcefulness, these young men and women require older, sober heads to gently guide them through life's challenges so that they do not end up tragically like Jackline.
Unexpected events
Just like the title suggests, the three stories revolve around the theme of unexpected, unexplained happenings. The first story, for instance, brings out the shock of a young man who wakes up to find the girl he spent the night with dead.
The other one is of a boy who plays truant, sneaking out of school to go and buy drugs, only to come back blindingly drunk, soaking wet and carrying an infant baby. Talk of biting off more than he could chew!
You only have to read the book to appreciate the twists and turns. One thing that sticks out about it is the dark tone of the narration, especially in the first two stories, which is inevitable given the subject at hand. Faint-hearted readers might find the stories somewhat overwhelming.
The melancholy notwithstanding, Kasaine must be commended for his use of imagination and creativity. He also has a way with words, though he tends to overuse them.
Stricter editing would have cured the book of a certain verbosity that comes in the way of an otherwise excellent narration.
Oh, and my copy had a page (53/54) missing.
Mbugua Ngunjiri, a Kenyan art and literary journalist, is the curator of the digital arts and culture platform Maisha Yetu. Email: mbugua5ngunjiri@gmail.com
Murder most foul: Kasaine claims his place as a master detective writer
TITLE: 3 Bolts from the Blue
AUTHOR: Lesalon Kasaine
PUBLISHER: Self (audiobook format by eKitabu)
REVIEWER: Mbugua Ngunjiri
AVAILABILITY: shop.eKitabu.com and ‘On eKitabu’ app
PRICE: Ksh350 (Audiobook); Ksh699 (eBook); Ksh1,000 (Print).
The girl's meticulous diary-keeping provided the key to unmasking the identity of her killer—one who thought he had covered his tracks and was confident he would get away with murder.
After smothering her with a pillow, the killer had attached a key to her necklace, just as she had earlier, in a bout of romantic vanity, requested him to do in the event of her death.
Unknown to the killer, the smitten girl had also jotted down that wish in her journal, which landed in the hands of the detective investigating her disappearance.
This murder mystery is contained in Lesalon Kasaine's book, 3 Bolts from the Blue, a collection of three short stories. It is the story of Jackline, a university student, who hooks up with a rich boyfriend, only for her body to be fished from a river a short drive away from the man's house.
Sounds familiar? Because it is. Early this year, Kenyans were treated to a chilling account of a popular socialite and Instagram model who was lured to her death by a man she had reportedly met on a dating app.
Not long afterwards, the dismembered body of another girl, a student from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, was found floating in a dam in Kiambu County after she was lured to a short-stay apartment by a man suspected to be a foreigner.
More recently,and if police accounts are to be believed, a man in Mukuru kwa Njenga slums has been killing young women, chopping up their bodies and dumping them in a disused quarry.
To pad their case and to try to convince a sceptical public that indeed they had resolved the mystery surrounding the dumped corpses, police lined up women's undergarments—as part of items purportedly recovered from the suspect's house—pointing to a man given to strange sexual fetishes. Amid anti-government protests and police abductions, the public tended to believe that the bodies were victims of police killings.
Like the Mukuru chap, Harry, for that is the name of the killer in Kasaine's second story, was also given to dark sexual fantasies, which he acted out on the victim's body after he had killed her.
Depraved sexual fantasies
It is apparent that the society is crawling with all manner of mentally-deranged persons prowling the streets; trawling the internet in search of victims. Woe unto the unsuspecting girls who fall into their snares; they end up dead, statistics of these disturbing crimes.
Confronted with such mind-numbing crimes, it is writers like Kasaine who step up to the plate, use their imagination and help us make sense of these events.
While most of the victims tend to be faceless, the author, through his pen, humanises the girl, painting the life of a happy-go-lucky girl out to have fun, only to be met with a tragic ending.
This is the author's way of cautioning girls to be extra careful with men they go out with or trust with their hearts.
The short stories also pay tribute to police investigators, like Max Njagi, who diligently execute their jobs in the face of heavy odds. Yet, they receive little appreciation from the public and their superiors.
Speaking of the detective, while investigating the disappearance and subsequent death of Jackline, who was his god-daughter, he uncovered aspects of the girl's life that left him wondering how little he knew her.
Interestingly, Njagi's bewilderment lies at the heart of what has, in the recent past, been worrying Kenyans of an older generation and, more specifically, giving the political class sleepless nights. The unravelling of the Gen Zs.
Just like detective Njagi, older Kenyans, including parents, have expressed shock at how these youngsters planned and executed the protests that led to the dropping of the Finance Bill, 2024, and the dissolution of the Cabinet.
Still, and despite their apparent resourcefulness, these young men and women require older, sober heads to gently guide them through life's challenges so that they do not end up tragically like Jackline.
Unexpected events
Just like the title suggests, the three stories revolve around the theme of unexpected, unexplained happenings. The first story, for instance, brings out the shock of a young man who wakes up to find the girl he spent the night with dead.
The other one is of a boy who plays truant, sneaking out of school to go and buy drugs, only to come back blindingly drunk, soaking wet and carrying an infant baby. Talk of biting off more than he could chew!
You only have to read the book to appreciate the twists and turns. One thing that sticks out about it is the dark tone of the narration, especially in the first two stories, which is inevitable given the subject at hand. Faint-hearted readers might find the stories somewhat overwhelming.
The melancholy notwithstanding, Kasaine must be commended for his use of imagination and creativity. He also has a way with words, though he tends to overuse them.
Stricter editing would have cured the book of a certain verbosity that comes in the way of an otherwise excellent narration.
Oh, and my copy had a page (53/54) missing.
Mbugua Ngunjiri, a Kenyan art and literary journalist, is the curator of the digital arts and culture platform Maisha Yetu. Email: mbugua5ngunjiri@gmail.com
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