Femi Kayode’s debut crime novel, Lightseekers, is a riveting and gruesome tale that packs a punch, threading together a brutal murder case and contemporary Nigeria. Inspired by the killing of four university students Kayode has written a high octave, spirited tale that follows psychologist, Dr Philip Taiwo, and his quest to get answers around the death of his father’s friend’s son.
When three young students are brutally murdered in a Nigerian university town, their killings – and their killers – are caught on video. The world knows who murdered them, but no one has the motive. Contacted by Kevin’s father, Emeka, Philip Taiwo is put to the task of sourcing the motive, the answers to the questions surrounding this murder. Philip is no detective, but although he doesn’t feel equipped to work on this job, he travels to Okiri, the sleepy town that bore witness to the killings, and soon realises what he’s left over in the States. It’s not long before he feels completely out of his depth.
With fleshed out characters folded into the novel that give it an edge (Salome Briggs, Folake, Chika) Lightseekers will have you curious to discover the actual killers, and the reasons behind this brutality. Written with a dynamism and a basis of contemporary culture that adds another layer of subtext rendering the novel interesting, this is not your average crime novel. Lightseekers will have you grasped from the first page and keep you until you get well beyond page 400.
Lightseekers is out in paperback 1st July 2022, published by Bloomsbury
