In 2016, Cassava Republic Press published Nigerian writer Leye Adenle’s crime novel Easy Motion Tourist, a thriller that serves up Lagos in its heat and that became the perfect introduction to the world of Naija Noir. The book, which has since been translated into French and Spanish and won Le Prix Marianne at the Salon du Polar du Pau in 2016, was praised by Publishers Weekly (“This relentlessly paced tale of people at cross-purposes and uncertain loyalties provides a searing look at how power corrupts”), The Guardian (“Fast and furious, told from a kaleidoscope of different points of view. . . a rollercoaster ride through a world of extremes”), and The Crime Review (“Gritty, gripping, and hard to put down. . . with a narrative structure that feels fresh. . . a welcome twist on the contemporary thriller”). And now the sequel to Easy Motion Tourist is here.

Forthcoming globally on 25 September 2018 and in the U.S. on 3 April 2019, When Trouble Sleeps is a thrilling plunge—with a complex, intriguing female character in Amaka—into a world of sex workers, greed, political intrigue, blackmail and murder, moving at a relentless pace full of twists. The courageous, determined Amaka continues her one-woman-crusade—begun in Easy Motion Tourist—to protect sex workers and other vulnerable women while seeking out ways to bring justice to abusers and corrupt politicians.

Coming less than a year before Nigeria’s 2019 general election, When Trouble Sleeps offers a foretaste of the drama, intrigue and corruption that often characterize Nigeria’s elections since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999.

The popularity of crime fiction is at an all-time high. In April, Nielsen Bookscan data announced that crime novels outsold general and literary fiction in the UK for the first time since they began keeping data. It is our hope that When Trouble Sleeps, with the unique Nigerian flair it brings, will appeal to both dedicated fans of the genre and newcomers.

Leye Adenle. Photo credit: Cassava Republic.

Leye Adenle is the author of the award-winning Easy Motion Tourist and a contributor to Lagos Noir (Akashic Books, 2018) and Sunshine Noir (White Sun Books, 2016). His short story, “The Assassin,” was shortlisted for the 2017 CWA Short Story Dagger. Leye is from a family of writers, the most famous of whom was his grandfather, Oba Adeleye Adenle I, a former king of Oshogbo in South West Nigeria. Leye lives in London. He has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s “Open Book” and is a regular panelist at literary and crime festivals.

This is yet another big splash by Cassava Republic, who this year published She Called Me Woman: Nigeria’s Queer Women Speak, the first anthology of LGBTQ+ women in Nigeria, and will be releasing in October Emmanuel Iduma’s innovative nonfiction-memoir-travelogue A Stranger’s Pose. The publishing company, co-founded in 2006 by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, was this year named winner of the Independent Publishers Group’s and London Book Fair’s Excellence Awards. In 2016, it became Africa’s first publisher to open an office in the UK. Among its many award-winning books are: Yemisi Aribisala’s Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Budswinner of the prestigious John Avery 2016 award at the Andre Simon Food and Drink Book Awards; Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s Season of Crimson Blossoms, winner of the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature 2016; Sarah Ladipo Manyika’s Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, shortlisted for the 2016 Goldsmiths Prize; and Elnathan John’s Born on a Tuesday, shortlisted for the inaugural Republic of Consciousness Prize in 2017.

For media enquiries about Leye Adenle’s When Trouble Sleeps and interview requests, please contact Lynette Lisk at Cassava Republic Press via [email protected].