Maggie's encounter with Michael Othaya, the young heir to a multi-billion-shilling fashion empire, marked the beginning of a cataclysmic cycle of events that would involve sex, manipulation, conspiracy...and first-degree murder.

To be sure, the Sultans of Fashion had had their fair share of scandals and intrigues in the past. Overly ambitious and genetically predisposed towards greed, the rich and famous Othayas were no strangers to controversy. But it wasn't until Michael and Maggie - a ghetto princess - started romancing that the feuding family's civil war reached its climax...

Easily digested and written with a handle on humour, When the Whirlwind Passes is doubtless one of the best crime novels to ever come out of Africa.

'Alex Nderitu is one of a handful of young, brilliant writers to come off the Kenyan terrain in the recent past. His books (hoping there will be many more)...are pure commercial escapism, and brilliantly written at that.'
- Daily Nation