Pricing
Paperback $14.95
Description
The year is 1962. Young Lieutenant Tromp Kramer of the Trekkersburg Murder and Robbery Squad has been ordered up to Jafini, a small, dusty town in northern Zululand, to investigate the “hero’s death” of the town’s chief detective, Maaties Kritzinger, an Afrikaner maverick with many secrets. As the investigation proceeds, Kramer fi...
The year is 1962. Young Lieutenant Tromp Kramer of the Trekkersburg Murder and Robbery Squad has been ordered up to Jafini, a small, dusty town in northern Zululand, to investigate the “hero’s death” of the town’s chief detective, Maaties Kritzinger, an Afrikaner maverick with many secrets. As the investigation proceeds, Kramer finds himself increasingly identifying with the victim. Then his path crosses that of Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi, who is trying to locate a serial killer whose summary execution will quiet the spirits of his ancestors. Despite racial differences, the two men sense a kinship—one that might prove dangerous in rural South Africa during the year of Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment.
Media
“This well-plotted, well-written murder mystery is exceptional ... sometimes grim, sometimes sourly comic, always shocking.”
—The Atlantic
“So artfully conceived as to engender cheers.... A memorable mystery.”
—Los Angeles Times
“The pace is fast, the solution ingenious. Above all, however, is the author's extraordinary naturalistic style. He is that rarity—a sensitive writer who can carry his point without forcing.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“[McClure is] a distinguished crime novelist who has created in his Afrikaner Tromp Kramer and Bantu Sergeant Zondi two detectives who are as far from stereotypes as any in the genre. ”