Zimbabwean wins Inaugural Cordite Books manuscript prize

For her effort, Musariri claims the $1000 prize and a publishing deal with Cordite Books, a new crime and spy fiction imprint of Lagos based Parresia Publishers.Runner up,  Demola Adeniran with “Descent of the Hills” takes $250 while third placed  David Oritogun with “The World is Your Oyster” takes home $200 for his troubles.Their works […]

For her effort, Musariri claims the $1000 prize and a publishing deal with Cordite Books, a new crime and spy fiction imprint of Lagos based Parresia Publishers.
Runner up,  Demola Adeniran with “Descent of the Hills” takes $250 while third placed  David Oritogun with “The World is Your Oyster” takes home $200 for his troubles.
Their works were chosen from over 70 manuscripts entered for the prize from all over the continent since submissions opened in 2013.
Helon Habila, award winning author and editor of Cordite Books, describes the winning story as “Intelligent and well written. A hardcore detective story in the tradition of No 1 Ladies Detective Agency – but totally original in its own way. The protagonist is a 25 year old, plucky, ambitious, girl with an interesting back story.”
Musariri already has some publications under her belt with four children titles, two of which have won national awards in Zimbabwe. Her short stories and poems have also been published
in various international anthologies and online magazines. Blessing had originally thought to be a lawyer but her prolific and overactive imagination took over after being called to the English Bar in 1997, leading her to a more varied, fulfilling life in the world of arts and culture. She holds a Masters degree in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Westminster.
Her manuscript is Set in Zimbabwe in 1995 and follows Otillia Mandimutsa who having fled from her abusive cousin, is beaten and left for dead. She is found by an elderly teacher, who, takes her in and gives her a fairly normal life.
With  no memory of her life prior to the attack, Otillia escapes into the complicated art of solving mysteries as a constable in the Criminal Investigations Department of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. Her dream is to become a full fledged detective and she focuses all her efforts towards that objective. Her obsessive desire to solve mysteries is an avoidance of the real issue of her own life, of which she has no recollection beyond the last ten years and occasional flashbacks.
After being implicated in the escape of a suspect from custody, Otillia decides to go undercover to clear her name. But a confrontation with criminals leaves her hospitalised and this is when she begins to have recollections of her past life. Troubled, she sets out to retrace her life and discover who she really is and what this now means to her in her current life.
“I was interested in the concept of the past, the present and the future not being what we believe it to be. In this story, Otillia discovers that it all exists at the same time. I wanted to create a really gutsy character who takes no prisoners in the way she lives her life and also create a mystery that will unravel as Otillia solves three major cases that earn her accolades as a detective,” Musariri is quoted on the Cordite website as saying. Otillia discovers that it all exists at the same time. I wanted to create a really gutsy character who takes no prisoners in the way she lives her life and also create a mystery that will unravel as Otillia solves three major cases that earn her accolades as a detective,” Musariri is quoted on the Cordite website as saying.