Girl Number 8

By: Janice Okoh

In a bustling and class-divided Nigerian state, a strong-willed female detective is called to the mansion of a wealthy politician to investigate the disappearance of a house girl’s daughter.

Olori’s four-year-old daughter, Frieda, has vanished. Working as a house girl for wealthy politician Samson Buzugbe, Olori suspects his wife knows more than she’s saying. But no one—certainly not the police—listens to domestic workers. And Olori has so much regret when it comes to her girl.

What begins as a missing child case takes a sinister turn when Detective Sola Adeyemi, head of the police’s Department of Ritualistic Murders and Human Sacrifice, is called to investigate. Frieda is the eighth child to disappear in the lead-up to an important election day. And for the superstitious in Nigeria, the girl’s light green eyes put her in particular danger.

As the election looms and Sola’s personal life unravels, she discovers the crime may just reach the highest levels of power. It’s up to her to find Frieda. But proving ritualistic involvement won’t be easy.

Fans of Tana French and Oyinkan Braithwaite will be captivated by this electrifying exploration of maternal guilt, systemic corruption, and the deadly price of superstition.

Critic reviews

Praise for Girl Number 8

"If Tana French Was Nigerian."
—People