Twist,turns and the damaged goods by Michael Olatunbosun A critical review of Damaged goods

In this novel set in highbrow Lagos, Efe the cleaner is given the task of cleaning the swimming pool area during his night shift at the Henderson Hotel. His hysteric scream causes panic, and the hotel manager and two other staff run to the poolside. They see the cause of Efe’s alarm. An accident has happened. They spot a female figure drowning in the swimming pool. Nnamdi, the hotel manager, retrieves the body, but all efforts to resuscitate her are futile. It is now confirmed that she is a guest. But the incident is already slipping out of control as lodgers are now trooping out of the hotel, even though it is in the middle of the night.

The police arrive and interrogate the husband of Onono. Jerry says he and his wife had checked in to the hotel earlier in the day. He says she went swimming while he slept in the room.

But as it turns out, Efe and Onono had been friends, secondary school mates nine years before. He sees her as she arrives to meet her husband on the fourth floor of the hotel.

In this thriller, a police investigator, DSP Oladimeji, has a handful on his hands. His interrogation assumes a multi-level complexity, as he is torn between Jerry, Onono’s husband, and Efe, her former school mate and cleaner at Henderson Hotel. The hotel’s CCTV cameras are helpful in capturing some of the critical moments. But only some; the moment before Onono’s death and drowning remains a mystery. Jerry is the prime suspect, but the image of Efe looms in the shadows. Yet Oladimeji is confronted with other details – Glory the hotel receptionist and her tryst with her lodger-boyfriend and tangle with Nnamdi. All in one day, and some minutes apart!

The work is predicated on infidelity as one of its key themes. Jerry is sterile but Onono is carrying a pregnancy. This is the crux of the matter, and a strong reason for their heated disagreement upon lodging at the Henderson Hotel. Onono storms out of the room later that day, and she is reported dead afterwards. Soon after we see Jerry and Efe rekindle their almost a decade long hostility. As a Youth Corps member, Jerry had been a teacher in the secondary school in Cross River State, where Efe and Onono had been friends. As it happens, Efe and Jerry meet again, and they engage in a brawl.

The thriller, Damaged Goods, is cast in the prose tradition described as “whodonit” and it is a testament to the author’s dexterity and storytelling prowess. So in this work, the moment DSP Oladimeji thinks he has unlocked the crime, there is another twist in the plot. Now he suspects everyone, but no one in particular.

The work also plays on trust or breach of trust. There is a multi-layered strand of breach of trust between Jerry and Onono, between Nnamdi and Glory and between some of the suspects and the investigating police officer. At every stage, new facts emerge and point in another direction. Now Glory takes the centre of attention. It happens that Nelson, her boyfriend, has a connection with the whole drama. Nelson’s choice of the fourth floor of the hotel seems deliberate. Now Glory holds the clue to closing this murder case.

But will Glory be able to deliver the goods? Where is the place of Nelson in the whole chain of investigation and intrigues in this work?

Who is the real mastermind of Onono’s death and why? These questions and more are intricately weaved into this storytelling masterpiece.

It is a work set out in 12 chapters laced with a large dose of suspense locked into each of the 94 pages of racy narration and Akin Akingbogun’s deep mastery of the English language. This is one for all lovers of thrillers.