Richard Crompton Books In Order

Publication Order of Detective Mollel Books

Richard Crompton is a reputed British novelist, who likes to write crime fiction, suspense, detective fiction, and mystery novels. He is particularly famous for writing the Detective Mollel series featuring a Massai detective named Mollel based in Nairobi, Kenya. Crompton is also a renowned journalist and has formerly worked for the BBC. He relocated to Nairobi with his wife and three children in 2005 and has been living there since then. Crompton’s wife works as a lawyer for human rights and she decided to move to Nairobi to accept a job offer in which she researched on the Rwandan genocide and worked to prosecute its perpetrators. In 2007, Crompton worked as a journalist for CNBC and covered the violence that erupted in Kenya after the elections. He won the 2010 Daily Telegraph competition of ghost stories. He had participated in this competition with his short story called Friends, which was inspired by the background story of Facebook.

Crompton entered the field of writing in 2013 with his first book called The Honey Guide. This book was first published in the United Kingdom/Commonwealth and was then in the United States/Canada under the new title of Hour of the Red God. It was also the first novel to introduce Detective Mollel as a police detective of the Maasai origin working for the Kenyan CID. So far, Crompton has written three Detective Mollel novels and one other standalone novel. He looks forward to writing many more exciting books for his fans in the coming years. Author Crompton was born in Manchester and currently resides in Nairobi with his loving family. Many critics have praised Crompton for capturing Nairobi in his books. His depiction and description have been appreciated by the people of Kenya as well as his other fans spread across the globe. Crompton claims that many Kenyans meet him and tell him that he has done a great job of telling the story of their city.

Over the years, Crompton’s novels have been translated into multiple languages and have been enjoyed by readers in all corners of the world. Crompton says that after he won The Telegraph competition in 2010, he was approached by a literary agent and asked if he had anything else. Immediately, he offered the first draft of his debut novel, which he was working on for some time. Initially, Crompton had intended to describe politics and tribalism in Nairobi in his first manuscript. The agent was so impressed after reading his manuscript that he agreed to help him get it published. After going through a few changes and editings, the book was finally released in February 2013. The story is set around the 2007 Nairobi elections and the violence that followed with connection to a gripping crime. At the core of the novel is a guide to the beautiful city of Nairobi. Mollel is introduced as a determined detective and a struggling father. He vows to unearth the reality of the corrupt elite of his country and help make it a peaceful place to live.

Detective Mollel appears to be an unlikely hero. He is a tribesman and loses all contacts with his community after he moves to the city. Crompton explained the reason behind depicting a tribesman as the hero of his novel as he did not want to tell a story in which a white savior flies into Nairobi and puts everything in order. He thinks that Nairobi is an incredible city and has a lot of diversity in it. During his stay in the city, he has seen individual tribes sitting comfortably sometimes and rather uncomfortably some other times. Numerous critics saw the story as an ambitious topic to describe in a debut book. They were even surprised to find that it came from a writer who is a complete newcomer in Nairobi.

The success of his debut novel gave a huge boost to Crompton and motivated him to continue writing such stories. He was particularly impressed by the praise he received from the Kenyan writers. Many of them told him that they were initially doubtful of the novel’s success as it came from a white man, but after reading the story they felt guilty that it did not come from one of their own. Crompton believes that Kenya has a large pool of talent, but there is a lack of awareness. They need to be groomed to understand their real worth and make themselves and their country proud in the field of literature.

The Detective Mollel series written by author Richard Crompton is comprised of three books in total, released between 2013 and 2018. Each of the books of this series features the lead protagonist in the role of a crime-solving Maasai warrior and detective from Nairobi named Mollel. The debut book of the series is entitled ‘The Honey Guide’. It was published by the Weidenfeld & Nicholson publication in 2013. The setting takes place in Nairobi in 2007. Initially, it is mentioned that a small group of elites in the sprawling megacity of Africa hold power over the restless, impoverished majority. Exploitation, ethnic rivalry, and corruption take place on an everyday basis. There are speculations of fraud and vote-rigging in the upcoming presidential elections and people fear that it could set the city ablaze.

In such a chaotic state, Mollel comes to know about the case of a murdered prostitute. Mollel shows a keen interest in investigating the case because the prostitute was a Maasai like him. The investigation takes Mollel to slums, skyscrapers, sewers, and suburbs, and makes him realize that there is a lot at stake than he thought. Before he ends up finding the killer, Mollel gets confronted by the turbulent days of his past that make him doubtful of his Maasai warrior instincts. In the end, Mollel determination enables him to catch the killer and provide justice to the innocent girl.

The second book of this series is called ‘Hell’s Gate’. It was published in 2014 by Sarah Crichton Books. This book opens by showing that Mollel begins to feel he has taken the wrong decision of moving to a small town and taking up the job of a detective. His colleagues remain among themselves and feel uncomfortable in including in their close-knit group. Mollel suspects that they might be involved in bribery and extortion that has plagued the force. Later, he learns about the discovery of a dead body from a nearby lake. The victim turns out to be a local flower worker, whom Mollel had seen with his colleagues many times. He wonders if his colleagues are involved in something as sinister as committing a murder. Mollel is tested for his beliefs and his Maasai heritage of fighting for the truth at all costs. He doesn’t back down and moves ahead to fight for what is right.