Library Journal - August 8, 2011
"Impossible to put down, this immensely readable third entry from the duo of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip (who write under their combined first names) delivers the goods. Kubu’s painstaking detecting skills make him a sort of Hercule Poirot of the desert. Grimmer than Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe mysteries but not oppressively violent, this series can be recommended to a wide gamut of readers."

Bestsellerworld.com - August 7, 2011
"Death of the Mantis is a wonderful story of two boyhood chums now on different paths of life. Kubu is seeking the truth and hoping to stop further deaths. His childhood friend seems to have his own agenda and not one that Kubu approves of.
This series began with “A Carrion Death” followed by “The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu” and “Death of the Mantis”. Each book can be read as a stand-alone but the reading the entire series is a great experience and the settings in Africa are fascinating."

Publishers Weekly - July 4, 2011
"Alexander McCall Smith fans interested in a different take on modern-day Botswana will find it in the intriguing third mystery from the team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, who write under the Stanley pseudonym (after 2009's The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu). Khumanego, a Bushman, asks his police detective friend, David "Kubu" Bengu, to intervene to prevent an injustice. Three fellow Bushmen have been charged with the bludgeoning murder of game ranger Tawana Monzo, despite the absence of solid evidence against them. Much to Kubu's satisfaction, his discovery of traces of an unknown other at the crime scene leads to the release of the accused Bushmen from custody. But the gourmand sleuth, who's adjusting to new fatherhood, soon feels less satisfied after another man is beaten to death in a similar manner. The cultural conflict between the Bushmen and their fellow countrymen lends color. (Sept.)"

Business Day (SA) – June 21, 2011
‘“The authors have created a solid plot and thrown in enough curved balls to keep you turning the pages. It is an absorbing read, made more enjoyable by a cast of characters you find yourself caring about from the beginning.”
--Lauren de Beer

Cape Times (SA) – June 15, 2011
“I am a sucker for books set in our gorgeous Southern Africa and this easy-to-read thriller brings more than the landscape to life. Most fascinating is that the story surrounds and reveals many of the ancient traditions and current ways of the Bushman in Botswana, as the super sized Detective Kubu Bengu burns up the red Kalahari sand in his quest to find a killer. Nothing is as it seems. Is it greed to find the source of the alluvial diamonds? Is it revenge or fanaticism? Death of a Mantis is written in such a way that you will want to keep reading about the desert and its prey to the very end.”
--Shirley de Kock Gueller

MMEGI Online (SA) – June 10, 2011
“The authors have gone to great pains to achieve verisimilitude in this tale of misadventure in the southwestern Kalahari sands of Botswana. It might be best, if you are interested in the context of the tale, to first read the authors' note and acknowledgements at the back of the book. They give none of the story away, but do demonstrate the efforts they have made to get to know Botswana, its cultures and history…Now with three Detective Kubu, a.k.a Rra David Bengu, crime-fiction thrillers out, a firm foundation has been set for many more. If you have not yet read any of them do go back and find the first two before reading Kubu-3. In Kubu-2 you will find amazing parallels to the Louis Goodwill Nchindo mystery, and the novel was written long before those actual events. Then you will be able to enjoy Kubu-4 when it is out next year.”
-- Sheridan Griswold

ArtSpoken & Reviews (SA) – May, 23, 2011
“The writing duo of Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears has created a fascinating character in Inspector Kubu. Set in Botswana, these mystery novels inform about that interesting nation and its manifold wild life destinations at the same time as telling gripping tales of murder and mayhem. The added simple details about Kubu’s family life make him into the kind of person we all know or wish to know. If you are already a Kubu fan, you will certainly be glad to see a third in the series – with a fourth in the pipeline we are told. If you have not read any of the novels about this giant of a man with a soft heart and a sharp brain you are in for a treat. Deon Meyer calls the series “great African crime fiction.” I would not argue with that.”
-- Bernard Spong