Meet the world’s best safari detective.

Instantly plunge deep into the African wilderness with Detective Inspector Jabulani Sibanda.

“When CM Elliott’s first novel (Sibanda and the Rainbird) landed on my desk, I nearly shouted out loud. At last! A krimi novel from Zimbabwe. But this was no ordinary novel. Here we were in the Matabeleland bush with characters emerging through the dense bush fully formed. Detective-Inspector Jabulani Sibanda, lovelorn, austere and mad about the bush, and his altogether marvellous sidekick Sergeant Thadeus Ncube, whose stomach rumbling equals that of a conversational elephant. What a delight those two are, with the bush and a recalcitrant Land Rover both playing significant roles in the series. I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with the characters who appear in the Sibanda series. A TV series? I’d queue to watch it!”

 Jenny Crwys-Williams – Media Personality.

CM Elliott Sibanda and the death's head moth

Welcome to the world of Inspector Sibanda

CM ELLIOTT

Detective Inspector Jabulani Sibanda, a hard-bodied, bush loving, instinctive crime fighter, is the focus of this series.

He is based in a village on the borders of a national park in Zimbabwe but no one quiet understands why such a rising star in the Zimbabwe police force has been banished to a rural backwater. The detective doesn’t object to the posting as it gives him the opportunity to pursue his passion for elephants, birds, trees, all things wild, and the love of his life, Berry Barton.

The series also features his sidekick, Sergeant Thadeus Ncube, an overweight, bumbling, multi-married policeman with a delicate digestive system who adores food, fishing and matters mechanical. he is both more astute than his physical presence might imply and a discerning judge of character.

It helps that the sergeant loves motors because the third in this triumvirate of law enforcers is Miss Daisy, an ancient, battered and truculent Land Rover that huffs and puffs through the bush, steams with indignation and breaks down at the most inappropriate moments. She is the bane of Sibanda’s life and the love of Ncube’s. 

“Crime writing steeped in the African bush that will keep you guessing and laughing in turns.”

Sibanda and the Rainbird

5/5

CM Elliott

When a gruesomely mutilated corpse is found in the bush, DI Sibanda, Sgt Ncube and the truculent Land Rover, Miss Daisy are on the case. The detective and his sergeant investigate mysterious clues found at the scene: a knife inscribed with the letter ‘B’ and a sliver of blue metallic paint, but they must conquer the challenges of the wild African Savannah and corrupt politicians to solve the crime.


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Sibanda & The Death’s Head Moth

4.6/5

CM Elliott

Two bodies have been discovered one struck by lightning, one half eaten by a crocodile on the banks of the Zambezi.  The deaths appear disconnected, but DI Sibanda makes the link.  Sibanda and Ncube are forced to traverse rough and remote terrain full of ivory poachers, ancient weapons, and wild and dangerous adventure.  


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Black Sparrow Hawk

Sibanda & The Black Sparrow Hawk

5/5

CM Elliott

A skinned body is discovered on the side of a railway line deep in the Matabele bush.  More girls go missing and more bones are discovered by the tracks.  DI Sibanda and Sgt Ncube soon understand they are on the trail of an elusive serial killer.  Sibanda uses a risky strategy to trap the murderer.  Can he pull it off? Once again, the trio are plunged into the wildlife world that Miss Daisy tolerates, Sibanda revels in and Ncube fears.


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Author CM Elliott

“The humour is deadpan; the plot gloriously unpredictable; and the setting pure Africa.”

Christine Elliott and her game ranger husband Alan opened a tourism business in Hwange National Park shortly after Zimbabwe’s Independence. They lived in the park for twenty years, “in an assortment of tents, treehouses and bush dwellings, dodging a hodgepodge of charging elephants, rhino, buffalo and a rather angry spitting cobra” according to her recent interview with Michael Sears on The Big Thrill website.

Having sold their Hwange business in 1997, Christine and her family now live in Bulawayo. They visit Hwange regularly and keep in touch with wildlife developments. She is currently working on the fourth book in the Detective Sibanda series, having published “Sibanda and the Death’s Head Moth” and “Sibanda and the Black Sparrowhawk”.

In an exciting development, all three books have recently been optioned by Videovision Entertainment for possible adaptation into a television series.

A new no1 Detective
CM ELLIOTT

CM Elliott Interviewed by Classic FM

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Press Release

Stay tuned for all the latest updates and news

The Sibanda TV series is still in development and the option has been renewed until December 2021. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for DI Jabu Sibanda to stride across our screens. 


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‘It’s a crime series rich in bushcraft as well as all the usual crime conventions of fine writing, an absorbing plot and stunning locations. In short, this series is like taking a safari in a book and it will make us fall in love with Africa all over again.’
Krystyna GreenPublishing Director at Constable
‘Fans of Alexander McCall Smith will love C.M Elliott’s Sibanda series’
Sunday Times (SA) Sunday Review
“If you’ve not yet dipped into the Sibanda series, you have an experience to kill for“
Sue Grant Marshall Journalist and radio presenter Classic FM
“ I can’t imagine anyone not falling in love with the characters who appear in the Sibanda series. A TV series? I’d queue to watch it!”
Jenny Crwys Williams Journalist and radio presenter Kaya FM
“This is a fantastic read, complex and exciting to the very end. I would urge everyone to read and enjoy this atmospheric thriller.”
Mike Fitzjames Fine Music Radio
“Exquisitely poetic”
Gorry Bowes TaylorFine Music Radio
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5/5

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This series will steep you in the African bush and Matabele culture and keep you guessing and laughing by turns. But murder in any environment, particularly the African wilderness, is a dangerous and often gruesome business. Together, our trio put their lives at risk as they investigate unique crimes and plumb the depths of Africa’s worst depravities.

Sibanda and the Rainbird

5/5

CM Elliott


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Sibanda & The Death’s Head Moth

4.6/5

CM Elliott


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Black Sparrow Hawk

Sibanda & The Black Sparrow Hawk

5/5

CM Elliott


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What other reader’s had to say

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