I recently read a book titled “Who Killed Madam Rosa” and when I began reading, I knew this was going to be one book that would change my perception on the way crime stories are told by some Nigerian Authors.
A Brief Summary of Who killed Madam Rosa.
The book tells the story of a prodigal police officer who despite his battles with his inner demons, relentlessly and ruthlessly seeks to uncover and discover what lies underneath the ever buzzing nightlife in the city that never sleeps-Lagos.
A Murder case turns up and in the process of investigating, a channel of events leads to him discovering the “dirt beneath the ruins” in many sectors of the country and with his childhood love interest innocently caught in the line of fire.
Would he succeed or would he fail in uncovering the culprits behind these series of insurmountable murder mysteries?
My Thoughts on Who Killed Madam Rosaa.
The last line (would he succeed or fail?) was exactly what laid in my thoughts all through while reading this book.
To say I was held spellbound would be an understatement.
The author harmoniously wove strings and strings of words and action until the very end.
Storytelling was Supèrieur!
The lead character and hero, Inspector Dike is a true definition of a round character. On his own, his life both past and present, make up enough to tell a story of pain, grit, loss, betrayal and growth. I thoroughly enjoyed his character.
One hard lesson I’ve taught myself over the years, is to implore the use of “distancing” effect when reading fiction. A strategy I culled from Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt.
I tend to distance my emotions from focusing solely on the protagonist, in order to not get too caught up with the protagonist and pay less attention to other characters.
Hence, I hardly consider the main character in most stories to be my favourite.
I love to look out for smaller characters and how their stories help make the larger picture.
One way to spot a fantastic writer, is in his or her ability to successfully use minor characters as pawns in his/her game of storytelling.
That’s exactly what this author did!
The book had a lot of characters and not once did I consider any character underdeveloped.
Their personalities shone through whatever little life span the author gave them in the story.
Kudos to the author on her use of imagery! Crime thriller is a difficult genre, I find only a few authors deliver in this genre.
So when I first began reading “Who Killed Madam Rosa” I had little to no expectations.
However, from the prologue, I was gripped into the worlds of the different characters in this story.
For every action, I could literally see and feel it play out in my head. So you can only imagine the level of thrill I got from reading this oh-so-wonderful thriller.
Why Should You Read This Book?
Don’t read it because I say read it.
Read it because you wish to experience an extremely stimulating story of love, betrayal, crime, underworld dealings and more.
Because these and more are what you stand to enjoy from the book- Who Killed Madam Rosa.
Not forgetting, you also get a glimpse into what the world of crime probably looks like in the city that never sleeps-Lagos!
Grab the E-book from the links below
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/954406
https://okadabooks.com/book/about/who_killed_madam_rosa/28667
About The Author
Udemezue, Oluoma grew up in the Eastern part of Nigeria. She is the last of seven children.
Her educational background wraps around arts from High school to the University where she studied English Language and Literature (Literature major ).
Growing up in a large family of readers influenced her life and writing a lot. What she writes wrap around life. She started writing at a very tender age, and authors like Adaeze Atuegwu fueled her ink.
Oluoma enjoys arts in its fullness, and it has come in handy in the way she incorporates it in what she writes. For her, romance and thriller complete a story.
A member of Mbari group, her works have appeared on pulse.ng, creativeprizes.com, Bagmus Mutendi blog, amakaanozie.wordpress.com, and she was one of the finalists in Tony Fernández International poetry competition, 2018 and many others. Presently, her short stories are constantly published online on coutales.com and lamlam.inking.com.ng/
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