Synopsis

When a brilliant university lecturer is found dead in Room 4 of a Dar es Salaam hotel, the city’s pulse doesn’t skip a beat. But for her sister Zaina, silence is not an option. What begins as a quiet tragedy spirals into a dangerous pursuit of truth. Rehema’s death—unexplained, clean, and eerily peaceful—raises more questions than answers. The man she was last seen with vanishes into the city’s shadows. The authorities, slow and indifferent, are quick to shelve the case. But Zaina refuses to forget. With a sister’s grief and a fire for justice, she begins to dig—through hidden diaries, frightened witnesses, and a web of power that extends far beyond a single hotel room. As Inspector Mwangosi joins the investigation, a haunting pattern emerges: some deaths are meant to disappear.

Death in Room 4 is a gripping literary crime novella woven with suspense, heartbreak, and resistance. Set against the vibrant, volatile backdrop of modern-day Dar es Salaam, it explores what happens when women’s voices refuse to be buried—and how even the quietest room can echo with the demand for justice.

For fans of literary thrillers, African noir, and stories that dare to ask: who gets to walk away, and who pays the price?