‘Esperance’ by Adam Oyebanji

Published by Arcadia Books,
22 May 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-52943-709-6 (PBO)

Present day, and Ethan Krol of the Chicago PD is arriving at the scene of crime, in a luxury apartment block. Two people are dead, a man and a little boy, drowned in sea water, when the nearest ocean is a thousand miles away. The man’s wife is unconscious in the bedroom, knocked out with a mysterious unknown neurotoxin, and there’s a dead barracuda on the floor beside the bodies.

Strange as that is, things are going to get stranger... halfway round the world, in Bristol, Abidemi Eniola has arrived in Bristol, and her gangster style clothes and accent are raising eyebrows – especially when she tries to sell the diamonds she carries in a pouch in her pocket.

This dazzlingly original novel races on from there. Ethan is a conventional cop in many ways: divorced because of the demands of the job, and having friction with his daughter, but he also has problems of his own, which are gradually revealed to the reader. In the meantime, he’s determined to track down the killer, and when there’s another case in Rhode Island, he hopes he’s got a lead at last. Back in Bristol, Abi teams up with streetwise Hollie to help her on her quest for an eighteenth century ship, Endurance, and the relationship between them is beautifully crafted (Oyebanji must have had so much fun getting Abi’s English wrong!). I don’t want to say any more about the plot, because it was wonderfully clever and I’m scared of hinting spoilers, but the novel also reflects on questions of justice, guilt and reparation. I wasn’t sure how SF and modern crime might mix, but the science was convincingly done, the dilemmas and motivation of the characters came out as achingly human, and the ending was satisfying and moving.

A cleverly-crafted mystery, great characters, fast action, humour in the writing and serious considerations under the fun. The cover quote calls Esperance a ‘tour de force’, and I heartily agree – I enjoyed it hugely.
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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

Adam Oyebanji was born in Coatbridge, in the West of Scotland, and is now in Edinburgh, by way of Birmingham, London, Lagos, Nigeria, Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York. After graduating from Birmingham University and Harvard Law School, he worked as a barrister, before moving to New York to work in counter-terrorist financing in Wall Street, helping to choke off the money supply that builds weapons of mass destruction, narcotics empires and human trafficking networks.  

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  She lives with her husband and two Shetland ponies.

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk