One morning the beautiful Ichrak is found murdered in a street in Casablanca. All the men feared her as much as they desired her . . . . In a city buffeted by the Chergui, a violent wind emanating from the Sahara, the investigation becomes a prism through which a group portrait of a working-class district emerges.

In Casablanca Story, In Koli Jean Bofane trains his razor-sharp observations of a bitter reality and his mordant humor on corruption among the powerful, shady property deals, and the vulnerable situation of migrants and male sexual desire, and he succeeds in transforming a desperate contemporary reality into engrossing and entertaining fiction.

Following on from Congo Inc., In Koli Jean Bofane shifts his geographical focus to outline a vision that encompasses both north and sub-Saharan Africans: Africa is moving forward and is the equal of the other continents or, to put it another way, Africa is no better than they are.

Casablanca Story was named in the Brittle Paper 100 Notable African Books of 2022 list.

Casablanca Story illustrates, in a beautiful way, a moment of life at the crossroads of globalization and unique destinies.

In Koli Jean Bofane shows a reality that we do not know how to see. Or, maybe, that we don't want to see.

The best noir fiction can be a means to capture the complexities and inequalities of an entire city, a lens for social critique, and still a damn good mystery. In Koli Jean Bofane's Casablanca Story is all three—and a prescient warning about climate change, as the hot desert winds buffet the working-class neighborhoods of Casablanca that make up the book's setting.

In Koli Jean Bofane was born in 1954 in the northern region of what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo and currently resides in Belgium. His novels have received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix littéraire de l'Afrique noire, the Grand Prix du Roman Métis, and the Prix des Cinq continents de la Francophonie. He is the author of Congo, Inc.