Tangled Web UK Review January 2010
A Beautiful Place to Die by
Malla Nunn
hbk out March 09
Published by Picador
at £12.99
South Africa in 1952 and ‘English’ detective Emmanuel Cooper is investigating the murder of an Afrikaner Cop, Captain Willem Pretorius in a town deep in the country. Cooper’s job is hampered by the victim’s prominent family who want revenge – and quickly – and also by the machinations of the army’s security force eager to blame black agitators. Cooper discovers that Pretorius was living a double life and uncovers deadly secrets in the divided small town.
Nunn’s description of South Africa in the early days of the apartheid regime when the impact of the introduction of legislation to enshrine inequality is hitting home is fascinating to read. The landscape and customs of the time are finely drawn, the dialogue convincing. This is a powerful first novel and Cooper’s battles with all those around him, his efforts to tread an honourable path while carrying his own hidden burden makes him a winning and sympathetic protagonist.
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries and the series creator of TV Blue Murder)
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