This image is the cover for the book Devil in the Bush, Dr. Mary Finney

Devil in the Bush, Dr. Mary Finney

A missionary doctor is on the hunt for a killer in the Belgian Congo in this 1945 mystery series debut exploring WWII-era Colonial Africa.

World War II is raging, but in this dusty backwater of the Belgian Congo, the biggest problem is finding a cold beer. That’s the case, at least, for Hooper Taliaferro, a U.S. government gofer sent to Africa on a vague errand related to the war effort. What he finds at the failing Congo-Ruizi plantation won’t help the Allies much. Like colonialism itself, the owner is dying of a slow poison, and not even his wife—let alone his staff—can muster the energy to care.

Good thing Hooper isn’t showing up alone. With him is Dr. Mary Finney, a medical missionary who knows a homicide when she sees one. Middle-aged and unassuming, Mary is used to being underestimated. But with her quick mind and blunt manners, she doesn’t suffer fools—or murderers—lightly.

Matthew Head

Matthew Head is the pseudonym of John Edwin Canaday (1907-1985), an art critic and writer. Canaday was a New York Times art critic for seventeen years and authored several monographs of visual art scholarship. Late in life he wrote restaurant reviews for theTimes. Under the Matthew Head pen name he wrote seven mystery novels, three of which are set in the Congo and based on his experiences traveling there as a French translator in 1943. Canaday was born in Fort Scott, KS; his series sleuth, Dr. Mary Finney is said to be from Fort Scott as well.

FELONY & MAYHEM PRESS