An unsettling tale of murder in a country whose dead slaves are shackled with stories that must be heard.
NO ONE DIES YET
by Kobby Ben Ben
Europa Editions UK, Fall 2022
(via Neon Literary)
The Year of Return, linked to the 400th anniversary of slaves landing in the US, memorialised the many who died during the slave trade in Ghana, particularly at Elmina Castle, while encouraging members of the African diaspora to visit. As Black diasporans around the world make the pilgrimage to West Africa, three African-American friends join in the festivities to explore Ghana’s colonial past and its underground queer scene. They are thrust into the hands of two guides, Kobby and Nana, whose intentions aren’t clear, yet they are the narrators we have to trust. Kobby, a modern deviant according to Nana’s traditional and religious principles, offers a more upscale and privileged tour of Ghana and also becomes the friends’ link to Accra’s secret gay culture. Nana’s adherence to his pastor’s teachings against sin makes him hate Kobby enough to want to kill.
NO ONE DIES YET is a shocking and unsettling tale of murder that is at times funny, at times erotic, yet always outspoken and iconoclastic. Kobby Ben Ben proves in this his first novel that he is set to become one of the most prominent new voices to emerge in this decade.
Kobby Ben Ben, born in Ghana, spends his time reviewing books as well as curating books for his African Book Club, Ghana Must Read. His eccentric Instagram book blog, @bookworm_man, has caught the attention of Booker Winner Bernardine Evaristo and other celebrated writers such as Maaza Mengiste and Petina Gappah. When he isn’t writing poetry masked as prose or anticipating Michaela Coel’s next project, he’s most passionate about discovering debut writers of colour whose stories shed light on underrepresented languages and cultures. NO ONE DIES YET is his first novel.
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, 32-year old musician Natalie Fincher plays at a busy London train station piano. Since the death of her husband two years ago, it’s the only time she forgets how lonely she is, and the only place she feels comfortable playing music anymore – where she’s anonymous, and nobody’s really listening. Then sheet music starts being left anonymously in the lid of the piano stool – specific songs she played only for her husband when he was sick. Is someone up there looking down on her? Or has someone down here been listening all along? Natalie is about to find out… 
Jai is a Captive in the Sabine Court – ever since his father Rohan, leader of the Plainsfolk, led an uprising and was put to death by the Emperor who Jai must now serve. The Sabine Empire has a powerful tool, the Gryphon Guard: elite warriors who ride gryphons. Only one thing is more powerful than them: dragons, exclusive to a rival kingdom. When the emperor’s son is betrothed to Princess Erica of the Dansk Kingdom she brings with her a powerful dowry: dragons. These powerful beasts come in several forms, but secrecy surrounds them and only the Dansk Royalty can soul-bond with these magical beasts to draw on their power and strength.
1944. Marguerite Segal, an artist living under a false identity on the Cote d’Azur to escape her criminal past, is blackmailed by British Intelligence into befriending Father Etienne Valade, a local priest suspected of being an Nazi collaborator. Her mission is to persuade him to pass on information from the high ranking German officers who attend his church. Connected by a passion for art, they soon fall in love. As she tries to convince him to pass on information learned in the confessional box, her association with him increasingly puts her in danger of violent reprisals from the local people. At the same time, her covert work, creating false identity cards to camouflage those hiding from the Third Reich, brings her under the scrutiny of the occupying enemy.
Best friends Efe and Sam meet as teenagers in 90s London. Efe is a new arrival in the UK from Ghana, sinking under the weight of her parents’ expectations. Sam is focused and idealistic, taking his first steps towards a career in corporate law. Over the years that follow the best friends become lovers, then marry. But an unplanned pregnancy forces them to confront just how radically different they want their lives to be. Soon Efe is swallowed up by the demands of motherhood, the dreams for her life dangling from a thread. And when she leaves, disappearing one morning and leaving both Sam and their daughter behind, Sam’s illusion of their perfect marriage crumbles. He’s about to discover exactly who he’s married to and the lengths he’ll go to win her back.