One Blood

December 19, 2011
Kent’s second mystery set in the Solomon Islands in 1960 (after 2011’s Devil-Devil) will appeal to history buffs and those fond of exotic locales. During the open day held by the Marakosi Mission for villagers from the surrounding islands, Sister Conchita encounters a frightened American tourist, Ed Blamire, who has sought refuge in the mission church. Soon afterward, Blamire’s body turns up on a ceremonial bonfire that’s been prematurely set ablaze. A distraught Conchita vows to discover the cause of his death. Meanwhile, police sergeant Ben Kella investigates sabotage at a logging operation near where then naval lieutenant John Kennedy spent the night after the sinking of PT109 in 1943. Only after Conchita and Kella survive separate attempts on their lives do they suspect their cases are linked through the sins of the present and not-so-distant past. The Solomons, then a British protectorate, come fully alive in this absorbing adventure.

March 15, 2012
The killing of an American tourist in the Solomon Islands reunites the singular sleuthing duo from Devil-Devil (2011). A brief, provocative prologue, set in 1943, describes a Japanese destroyer attacking an American craft, PT-109 to be specific. Nearly 20 years later, brusque young nun Sister Conchita has been challenged with running a dilapidated mission in the Western District, where the other nuns have settled into an amiable inertia. Intransigent Sisters are the least of her problems on the day someone sets the ceremonial bonfire alight hours ahead of schedule as a corpse lies atop it. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ben Kella of the Islands Police Force is sent west to investigate violence and sabotage at the Alvaro logging station. Though the area is unfamiliar to Kella, most of the workers there are from his native island of Malaita. While Kella is questioning the lusty Australian logging boss Michie, Sister Conchita, not far away, talks to former prizefighter Joe Dontate, whose chain of trading stores also sponsors mission tours. Given their proximity and common goals, it's not long before this combustible duo is back together. Sister Conchita is chagrined to see that the nuns who treat her with indifference fawn over Kella. She finds the evasive responses of the District Commissioner about the death highly suspicious. Sister Conchita appeals to Kella for help. Is there a link to John F. Kennedy, about to become President of the United States? Kent could provide more detail about the workings and ambience of his exotic setting, but his two sleuths are compelling and refreshingly unique.

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Starred review from February 1, 2012
Sister Conchita is temporarily posted to a small mission in the Western Solomons to keep an eye on three elderly nuns before the new priest arrives, and one of her first ideas is to hold an open house. All the locals and a group of tourists are in attendance when one of the American men is found dead. Naturally, the curious sister can't resist snooping around, which means she's more than ready to serve as assistant to the new policeman, Ben Kella, who has been exiled to the islands by bureaucrats wanting the troublesome cop out of their way. Soon Ben and Sister Conchita realize that their investigating has roots that reach back to World War IIto Lieutenant John F. Kennedy and the other survivors of PT-109, which landed nearby in 1943. Now it's the fall of 1960, and the American presidential elections are only a few weeks away. Can Ben and Conchita solve the crime and avert a scandal? This second clever and atmospheric Sister Conchita and Sergeant Ben Kella mystery is just as appealing and enjoyable as the first (Devil-Devil, 2011). The exotic locale of the Solomon Islands in the last days of colonialism makes the series stand out. Recommend it to fans of the Inspector Ghote mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)