Kwei Quartey

{{Infobox writer

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| name = Kwei Quartey

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| birth_name = Kwei Quartey

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| birth_place = Accra, Ghana

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| occupation = {{unbulleted|Physician|Writer}}

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| alma_mater = {{unbulleted|Accra Academy|University of Ghana|Howard University|University of California Los Angeles}}

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| genre = Detective fiction

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| notableworks = Wife of the Gods (2009)

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| website = {{URL|https://www.kweiquartey.com}}

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Kwei Jones Quartey is a Ghanaian–American detective fiction novelist and retired physician. For about 20 years, while practising medicine, he also worked as a writer. He balanced both activities by writing in the early mornings before going to his clinic.{{cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2785744.Kwei_Quartey |title=Kwei Quartey |publisher=Good Reads |accessdate=29 January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://sohopress.com/authors/kwei-quartey/ |title=Kwei Quartey |publisher=SOHO |accessdate=29 January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Kwei+Quartey |title=Kwei Quartey |publisher=African American Literature Book Club |accessdate=29 January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/q/kwei-quartey/ |title=Kwei Quartey |publisher=Fantastic Fiction |accessdate=29 January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/1740/kwei-quartey |title=Kwei Quartey |publisher=Book Browse |accessdate=29 January 2020}}

Quartey studied medicine at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He began practising in 1990 with HealthCare Partners in California. While working at the facility as an urgent care physician, he founded the facility's wound care center.

As a writer, he made the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List in 2009 for his book Wife of the Gods. A year later, he was awarded Best Male Author by the G.O.G. National Book Club. He is also a top 100 African American Literature Book Club bestselling author, making the list four times. Kwei Quartey has published a number of novels, and is a member of the Los Angeles branch of Sisters in Crime, a fiction writers' organization. His 2020 novel, The Missing American,{{cite web|url=https://www.kweiquartey.com/product-page/the-missing-american|title=The Missing American|website=Kwei Jones Quartey}} was shortlisted for the Edgar Allan Poe Best Novel Award.{{cite web|url=http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html|title=2021 Edgar® Awards nominees announced|website=TheEdgars.com|access-date=2021-01-27|archive-date=2012-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307172053/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html|url-status=dead}}

Early life and education

Quartey was born in Accra, Ghana, to a Ghanaian father and an African-American mother, both of whom were lecturers at the University of Ghana.{{cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/83749/kwei-quartey |title=Kwei Quartey |publisher=Penguin Random House |accessdate=29 January 2020}} He drew his writing inspiration from the many books that filled his house at a very young age, and wrote his first novel when he was about eight or nine years old.{{cite web|url=https://kweiquartey.com/kwei-quartey-biography/ |title=Kwei Quartey Biography |accessdate=18 February 2020}} As a teenager, his passion shifted to medicine, and he began to pursue his dream of becoming a physician. He studied at Achimota School and the Accra Academy{{cite web|url=https://kweiquartey.com/accra-academy-love-story/ |title=Accra Academy: a love story |accessdate=18 February 2020}} prior to entering the University of Ghana Medical School for his training. His studies at the University of Ghana came to an abrupt end when his mother decided to return to the United States with the family following the death of his father. Quartey subsequently gained admission to Howard University, where he trained to as a medical doctor. After graduating, and residency training in Internal Medicine, Kwei joined the University of California, Los Angeles, where he took an extension course in creative writing.

Awards

class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Work !Award !Category !Result !Ref
2021 \|The Missing American \|Edgar Awards \|Novel \|{{Sho}} \|–

class="wikitable sortable"

!Year

!Work

!Award

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2021

|The Missing American

|Edgar Awards

|Novel

|{{Sho}}

|–

Bibliography

= Standalone novels =

{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Death at the Voyager Hotel |publisher=Afram Publications |year=2014 |isbn=978-9964705220 |edition=paperback |pages=1–166 |author-mask=2}}

= Darko Dawson series =

{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Wife of the Gods |publisher=Random House |year=2009 |isbn=978-1400067596 |edition=hardcover |pages=1–317 |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Children of the Street |publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks |year=2011 |isbn=978-0812981674 |edition=paperback |pages=1–334 |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Murder at Cape Three Points |publisher=Soho Crime |year=2014 |isbn=978-1616953898 |edition=hardcover |pages=1–336 |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Gold of Our Fathers |publisher=Soho Crime |year=2016 |isbn=978-1616956301 |edition=hardcover |pages=1–368 |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Death by His Grace |publisher=Soho Crime |year=2017 |isbn=978-1616957087 |edition=hardcover 1st |pages=1–272 |author-mask=2}}

= Emma Djan series =

{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=The Missing American |publisher=Soho Crime |year=2020 |isbn=978-1641290708 |edition=hardcover 1st |pages=1–421 |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Sleep Well, My Lady |publisher=Soho Crime |year=2021 |isbn=978-1641292078 |edition=hardcover 1st |pages=1–336 |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=Last Seen in Lapaz |publisher=Soho Crime |year=2023 |isbn=978-1641293396 |edition=hardcover 1st |pages=1–330 |author-mask=2}}
{{Cite book |last=Quartey |first=Kwei Jones |title=The Whitewashed Tombs |publisher=Soho Crime |year=2024 |isbn= 978-1641295888 |edition=hardcover 1st |pages=1–336 |author-mask=2}}