The next book to be featured on the Zoe Ball Radio 2 Book Club will be Gaslight, the smart new crime thriller from Femi Kayode. The book was released on 9 November and Femi will be on the show with Zoe on 5 December.
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We have an exclusive extract available for you to read.
Gaslight
Bishop Jeremiah Dawodu, pastor of a Nigerian megachurch, has been arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, Folasade, the ‘First Lady’ of the church. The arrest was public, humiliating and sensational – sending shockwaves through Lagos – but throughout it all, Bishop Dawodu maintains his innocence.
Philip Taiwo, an acclaimed investigative psychologist, is asked by his sister, a member of the church’s congregation, to clear the pastor’s name. With no actual body, it looks to be a simple case and despite Philip’s dislike of organised religion, he agrees to take it on as a favour to his sister. Then the First Lady’s body is found in a nearby lake just as Philip’s beloved family come under attack from someone warning him off the case, and he realises that nothing to do with this investigation will be straightforward.
Was it murder or suicide? Is someone framing the Bishop or the First Lady?
Selection panel review
The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Gaslight – here are some of their comments:
“Dr Philip Taiwo is a criminal psychologist, has made his temporary home in Nigeria, teaching at the local university. Gone are the days working for police and solving murders, it’s a quiet life he hankers for. Enter his sister Kenny congregation member of the Grace Church, reminiscent of the American Evangelist churches, its first lady Sade, wife of its erstwhile leader, Bishop Dawodu has disappeared, and Taiwo is the only person who can find her. Taiwo takes much persuading before accepting and being thrown headlong into an organisation, rich from its benefactors, where religion is money and a distinct undercurrent of something that Taiwo couldn’t quite out his finger on. Taiwo decided old friend Chica would make the perfect sidekick and indeed Kayode made an excellent job of teaming the two together. Taiwo was that slightly naïve Nigerian, police corruption maybe happened, and the chances of someone having the audacity to pull a gun on you was bad manners. Chica was his opposite, cynical, convinced all were guilty and kept a stash of various guns in his car. They were a perfect match! It wasn’t simply about Sade’s disappearance, it was about greed, the invincibility a love and belief in God and religion can give an individual, the hold they can have over their congregation. But it cannot last forever and Taiwo was a master at digging that much further, nudging individuals to relinquish their secrets. I thoroughly enjoyed Gaslight and it would transfer brilliantly into a drama series.”
“This is a mystery set in Nigeria about a corrupt evangelical ‘super’ church. It is action packed with lots of plot twists and turns. It is an interesting read about Nigerian society and the way it works, particularly highlighting how corrupt the police are. I don’t think you needed to have read the first of the series although some of the characters are obviously connected, it tells you all you need to know.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed Gaslight, which has a strong story, plenty of twists, action packed scenes and a clever plot where nothing is quite as it seems. I have not read the previous novel in the series (something I intend to remedy) so I was excited to try a new series and I feel well rewarded by the experience as I found it a difficult book to put down. A crime novel set in Nigeria, it doesn’t have the warm and fuzzy feel of cosy crime, it was a lot more gritty and there were some hard and emotional scenes. A series that I think would go down well in libraries and book clubs.”
“From the first page I found this book to be gripping. Once I had started reading, I felt I had to know how it concluded. There was a period of adjusting to a new cultural lens, having not read fiction set in Nigeria before. But the author compares things to the main character’s previous time in America which makes it more accessible. I also didn’t feel like I was missing too much having not read the previous book of this series. Any characters were introduced or reintroduced to a level where I didn’t feel I was lacking information that I needed on any of the dynamics. The plot escalated quite rapidly at points in a way that felt possibly amplified for effect rather than feeling realistic, but that can come under artistic license, and it didn’t stop me from wanting to read on.”
“I absolutely loved this novel. The plot had so many twists and turns and although the ending was obvious the journey was cleverly constructed. This covered so many topics such as race, power, power between men and women and religion, that have sadly been current for so many decades. I found out a lot about Nigeria and the culture and the intricacies of the society and how Philip has to navigate it to find out the truth. Philip Taiwo, the investigative psychologist’s family was extremely interesting and the impact of moving to Nigeria where they are though they would be accepted as they were within their ‘own kind’ was enlightening. One scene between Phillip and his daughter was heart-breaking but completely relatable and sadly understandable that it reduced me to tears. This is a must read and definitely my fist choice without a doubt.”
“I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. The second in a series, this book follows Philip Taiwo as he investigates the disappearance of the wife of the leader one of Nigeria’s largest mega-churches. The crux of the novel focuses around determining if the Bishop’s wife has been murdered, or if he has been framed. The main character is intelligent and likeable, a family man who shows dedication to his task despite his criticisms of organised religion. The novel is set in Nigeria with majority non-white cast, an important deviation from the Euro/American-centric crime novels on the market currently. I really enjoyed the action and suspense in this novel, particularly the inclusion of an unknown speaker’s interludes, heightening my anticipation until the end. The church plays a large role in the novel, looking at the ways in which mega-churches have captured the religious fascination of thousands of people, affecting every aspect of their lives and creating communities that aim to separate followers from the outside world. This book delves into how harmful those types of environments can be, especially for those who do not prescribe unquestioningly. Indeed, in reference to the title, gaslighting is a major topic of discussion in this book. I found this an enjoyable, well-written read despite the weighty topics discussed. I was invested from the first chapters. I haven’t read the first one but I want to now!”
About the author
Femi Kayode trained as a clinical psychologist in Nigeria, before starting a career in advertising. He has created and written several prime-time TV shows. His debut novel, Lightseekers, was selected as a Best Crime Novel of the Month by The Times, Sunday Times, Independent, Guardian, Observer, Financial Times and Irish Times, was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award and was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. He lives in Windhoek, Namibia with his family.
A word from Femi
“What an honour to be part of this grand tradition of bringing communities of readers together. This is the second book in the series that follows the investigations of Dr Philip Taiwo in my home country, Nigeria. I never expected that he would be so quickly welcomed into the hearts and minds of readers from across the world. I am humbled and pleased that lovers of books from diverse backgrounds will engage in discussions about Nigeria at a deeper level beyond the persistent one-dimensional narrative in mainstream media.
I am also curious to experience how readers respond to the universal themes of family, friendship and faith, which I explored in this novel. I hope my attempt at taking readers on a journey through the eyes of Dr Taiwo will achieve that most magical role of books, which is to show that much more connects us as humans than separates us.
Thank you for selecting Gaslight and I can’t wait to engage with the readers’ clubs that celebrate all things books and storytelling.”
Get involved
Tune in to the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show to hear the Book Club live. You can also listen to the full-length interview on BBC Sounds.
Have you read Gaslight or Lightseekers? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #R2BookClub.
You can also follow Femi.
Planning to buy Gaslight for your group? Buy books from Hive or from Bookshop.org and support The Reading Agency and local bookshops at no extra cost to you.
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