DEATH IN THE RAINY SEASON follows the experiences of an innocent and idealistic young American woman assigned to a post at the U.S. Embassy in Zaire and her passionate love affair with a handsome Belgian businessman, born and brought up in Africa and deeply committed to Zaire. A sensuously rendered sense of place firmly roots the novel in the complexities of Africa and brings to life the dissolute life of Westerners living in Third World countries where easy living and dangerous intrigue blend together in a deceptive haze. Like the characters in THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, the expatriates live in a privileged world where they drink, flirt, and gossip about who is sleeping with whom, but we still sense through all of this petty activity that important business is getting done. Information is being gathered. Big power plays are being made. As a plot to overthrow the dictator Mobutu gains momentum, power, corruption, and sexual jealousy shatter the idyllic love affair between the two idealistic protagonists