Writer: Kevin Jared Hosein
Ages: 14 years and up

The Beast of Kukuyo

For the second time in her life, 15-year-old Rune Mathura comes face-to-face with a brutal murder when her classmate Dumpling Heera goes missing and is eventually found dead. Dumpling’s murder drags the small, rural village of Kukuyo into the national spotlight, revealing a darkness curdling in the town. But Rune knows that the memories of the villagers and police are short. Inspired by her love of detective television shows, she launches her own investigation.
Yet, Rune soon learns that real life is not the same as television and neither justice nor evil appear in black and white. Her journey takes her along a bloody trail of chicken feathers, down a muddy ravine and into a grimy den where she encounters dark secrets and a terror that is very, very real. This gripping mystery comes from the pen of one of the Caribbean’s most potent new voices. Kevin Jared Hosein is a 2018 winner of a Commonwealth Short Story prize. He has previously published The Repenters and Littletown Secrets. The
Beast of Kukuyo was one of the winners of the 2017 Burt Award for Caribbean Literature.