THIS WAS THE TIME OF THE BELGIAN CONGO DEBACLE, where ethnic cleansing coincided with Stephen R. Matthew's first police posting near the Northern Rhodesia border with the Congo. During this time, and at just 21 years old, Stephen was knifed, ambushed, stoned, wounded by bow and arrow and shotgun and had his hand broken several times. Action-packed, unadulterated stories of those frantic and dangerous years are meticulously detailed here.
This young police inspector found himself confronted by fearsome actions and events well beyond his understanding, while serving in the elite police force in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He found that the police were fighting on two fronts; trying to protect the vulnerable citizens of the country whilst at the same time endeavouring to stop the slaughter of wildlife.
A stand-out, unique and comprehensive book, Murder, Witchcraft and the Killing of Wildlife depicts dramatic accounts of witchcraft-murders and cannibalism in all its repugnant forms. Highly dangerous solo investigations carried out by Stephen are detailed, including incidents of black magic, kidnapping, arson, gun-running and people trafficking.
44 b/w illustrations
About the Author
Stephen was born in Guernsey shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and later illegally deported to concentration camps in Germany with his family. After these horrendous events, Stephen and his family returned to Guernsey where he was educated at Elizabeth College. Stephen went on to join the Northern Rhodesia Police in 1959, with the express purpose of helping to Africanise the force prior to independence.
His investigations took him over a great deal of the country, investigating horrendous and dangerous crimes, and securing more than 125 convictions for wildlife poaching. The recipient of a plethora of awards and commendations, Stephen married Dr Xue Fen Matthews and now spends much of his time living in both France and China.
Industry Reviews
Each in its own way, these books track important changes in the legal systems that deal with heinous crimes against men, women and children. So, what's left -- animals? Well, yes. Stephen R. Matthews covers that ground in MURDER, WITCHCRAFT AND THE KILLING OF WILDLIFE: Police Investigations at the Heart of Africa (Pen & Sword, 231 pp., $34.95). It's tough to compete with witch doctors, gun runners, government assassins, mercenaries and assorted other strong personalities of that ilk, but the author's magnificent Doberman, modestly named Alex, comes off best in this rattling good memoir by a former British police officer writing of his colorful career while on assignment in Congo. As a visitor to the police station patiently explains his complaint to the desk sergeant: "You know, this is all about witchcraft and of course, the Bwana's big brown dog Alex knows who did it." I mean, what's not to love about a story featuring a canine revered for his courage, sagacity and insight into human malfeasance? In between solving murders and settling village grievances, Matthews is frequently called upon to deal with a variety of local scams, like the self-serving hustle of a mortician who has convinced a woman that her dear departed husband would be restored to life if she would have sex with him -- the mortician, not the dead husband. But the soul of the book resides in the author's efforts to stem the evil practices of slaughtering endangered wildlife and dealing with foreign agents in the dirty business of smuggling animal parts. Despite his best attempts, Matthews could never shake off the way the locals saw him, as a white witch doctor with the ability to speak with the spirits of the dead and place spells against the living. There's a story -- several, in fact -- about what led to this perception, which proves that, at the very least, the author learned a thing or two about telling a tale.--New York Times
