Title: Blessed Are The Dead
Author: MallaNunn
Review : I really loved this book. As an avid reader of police procedurals I am always on the lookout for a great series and Malla Nunn has really delivered with Blessed are the Dead. A beautiful Zulu girl has been found dead in the remote farming country of 1950’s apartheid South Africa and our troubled white police detective, with his native partner in tow, has been sent to dig in to the case.
The crime scene offers up
very few clues, but just enough information for our team to start asking
questions. Questions lead to more clues,
more suspects, and so on until our wide circle slowly begins to tighten down on
a few good possibilities. Nunn manages
to keep the conclusion at a distance but allows you the reader to arrive at it
simultaneously with the police. There
are no jumps of logic or giant clues just falling in their path; they get to
their killer one step at a time bringing you along for the ride. That is the hallmark of a masterful police
procedural.
The book also offers up an
indirect commentary on apartheid and racism in general, not only as it relates
to blacks (natives) and whites, but the whole range of society and where each
person fits into it. The different
ranking order of the Dutch Afrikaners versus the British born farmers versus
the Jewish Doctor was something I did not understand previously. Nunn opens this 1950’s world in a way that
makes it seem more real as opposed to the blanket statements to be found in
history texts.
But well written crime
doesn’t come down to over the top killers or plots, rather it is firmly settled
in the human flaws that have been with us since the beginning of time; Greed,
Love, Jealousy, etc. At the end of the
day most horrific acts are performed for the most commonplace reasons. Blessed are the Dead is a terrific look into
these basest of emotions. Nunn has
created a timeless mystery, a crime that could happen in 1950’s South Africa,
or on your block tomorrow. This is definitely an author I will read their
backlist and in turn keep on reading for as many books as they care to write.
Publisher:
Emily Bestler Books
ISBN:
978-1-4516-1692-7
Copyright:
2012
Pages: 309
Quick Review:
5 stars out of 5
Why I Read It:
Many years ago when I first began keeping track of all the books I read I soon
learned 80% of what I read was written by white North American Men. Wanting to change and expand my horizons a
little I began actively seeking out books by foreign and/or nonwhite and/or
female authors. I have really discovered
some great books over the years and Blessed Are the Dead manages to hit all
three criteria; plus it is in my favorite genre of all, police procedural.
Where I Obtained the Book: Sent to me by the publisher for review
Synopsis: Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper returns in this
powerful, atmospheric novel about two communities forced to confront each other
after a murder that exposes their secret ties and forbidden desires in
apartheid South Africa, by award-winning author Malla Nunn.
The body of a beautiful
seventeen-year-old Zulu girl, Amahle, is found covered in wildflowers on a
hillside in the Drakensberg Mountains, halfway between her father’s compound
and the enormous white-owned farm where she worked. Detective Sergeant Cooper
and Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala are sent to the desolate landscape to
investigate. They soon discover that Amahle’s life was woven into both the
black and white communities in ways they could never have imagined. Cooper and
Shabalala must enter the guarded worlds of a traditional Zulu clan and a
divided white farming community to gather up the secrets she left behind and
bring her murderer to justice.
In a country deeply divided
by apartheid, where the law is bent as often as it is broken, Emmanuel Cooper
fights against all odds to deliver justice and bring together two seemingly
disparate and irreconcilable worlds despite the danger that is arising.
Author Biography: Currently resides
in Sydney, Australia. Her motto: We are people through other people.
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