The Constant Gardener

The “constant gardener” is Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Kenya whose wife Tessa has just been murdered by agents of KVH, a pharmaceutical firm that felt threatened by her activism. KVH has introduced a new wonder drug called Dypraxa that was supposed to be the answer to tuberculosis, but in very unethical manners: Using poor Africans as guinea pigs for testing without their learned consent, using money to buy certifications and suppressing negative assessments. While Tessa and a close friend that happened to be a black doctor were busy trying to expose the bad practices of distributors and manufacturers of the drug, her husband was content to be tending their home gardens and flowers, hence the title. But not for long after her death.

Because KVH has promised Britain a factory, the fact that Tessa the wife of a British diplomat was trying to undermine their drug became a sort of embarrassment to the British High Commission in Kenya. When she sent in documentary evidence of the malpractice connected with the drug, including evidence of the death of test cases, this was suppressed by higher authority. Along with Britain’s economic interest being at stake, the owner of ThreeBees, the sole distributor of the drug in Africa, also happened to be British with connections in government. So when Tessa was murdered, official British story was that her black doctor lover was the culprit, especially since the murder occurred while she was supposed to be with him, and he was not to be found afterwards. Police officers drafted to the case were unceremoniously withdrawn when they were getting too close to the real truth.

Justin was sent back to England after the murder, expectedly to recover in silence until the matter had died down. But instead of doing what was expected of him, he sets out to unravel the cause and agents of her death, going from Britain to Italy, Germany, Canada and finally Kenya and Sudan. Unfortunately, after escaping official and unofficial agents who went after him, after the reasons and agents responsible for his wife’s (and friend’s) murder were exposed, he willingly lets himself be killed in the end by the same agents that killed his wife. And the evil KVH went on to establish an office in London, while the owner of ThreeBees went on to be honored with a British lordship.

March 6, 2015. Review initially written in 2004. Novel first published in 2001. Picture source: Yahoo (Images).