A review by marianeedstoread
The Scent of Burnt Flowers , by Blitz Bazawule

3.0

It’s the 1960’s and Alabama is not the place for a black man to get himself in trouble but that’s exactly what happened to Melvin as he inadvertently drags his fiancée Bernadette into this mess. They pack their passports, pretend to be a pastor and his wife, and flee to Ghana where Melvin is sure his old buddy (now the president of Ghana) will offer them asylum. But things aren’t as easy as Melvin thought. Add in an FBI agent who is hot on their trail, a high profile musician who agrees to help but doesn’t like Melvin much and some other shady characters. Oh, and the president isn’t so easy to get to as the country is in political chaos. The race is on as this thriller comes to its conclusion with a surprise of its own.

I enjoyed a lot of this as I didn’t know much about Ghana and it’s politics in the 1960’s. I really didn’t like Melvin at all and felt bad for Bernadette, but I don’t think the reader is supposed to like him. I liked that the characters were not reliable. I did not care for the slight bit of magical realism thrown in, but that’s just a personal preference. This was a short read at just over 200 pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a review e-copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.