Tail of the Blue Bird

Mar 12, 2026 11:00 PM

Author:Nii Ayikwei Parkes

'A delightful book that combines the basic tug of the whodunit with the more elegant pleasures of the literary novel' Independent

Sonokrom, a village in the Ghanaian hinterland, has not changed for hundreds of years. Here, the men and women speak the language of the forest, drink aphrodisiacs with their palm wine and walk alongside the spirits of their ancestors. The discovery of sinister remains - possibly human, definitely 'evil' - and the disappearance of a local man brings the intrusion of the city in the form of Kayo, a young forensic pathologist convinced that scientific logic can shatter even the most inexplicable of mysteries.

As old and new worlds clash and clasp, and Kayo and his sidekick, Constable Garba, delve deeper into the case, they discover a truth that leaves scientific explanations far behind.

Reviews

A delightful book that combines the basic tug of the whodunit with the more elegant pleasures of the literary novel

—— Independent

A lyrically beautiful tale

—— Arise

A deeply complex novel; each character, every line entices the reader into feeling the beating heart of urban and rural Ghanaian lives... Parkes' steady, assured writing weaves a cosmological mystery that keeps you guessing to the very last page

—— Courttia Newland

A brilliant new voice

—— Time Out

A magical and engaging read

—— Margaret Busby

An African whodunit that alludes to the troublesome relationship that lies between the modernity and custom ... Parkes has managed to write fabulously poetic and fresh prose that is both vernacular and contemporary

—— Hisham Matar

In this tale of crime, punishment, and forgiveness Parkes' landscapes are filled with magic, his characters speak with the wisdom of the ancients; he has used his poet's sensibility to recreate for us the oral tales, fables and wonders of a world before time, a world overtaken by time

—— Helon Habila

The novel has a compelling draw; the supernatural is undercut by a psychological authenticity with strong Freudian resonance and a very human pull...like all good detective stories of the gentler persuasion, it is a humane investigation of human failing as much as it is about crime, but it also touches on more threatening and mysterious territory

—— Times Literary Supplement

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