Women Authors Whose Work I've Enjoyed - Malla Nunn

A bit of a fractious night last night as we tried to get Bonnie settled. The poor thing is getting so much medication it's hard to coordinate the timings and doses. But she finally settled and had a good sleep. Today we took her to the groomer for a nice bath and haircut. She's home now and tired out. I hope she feels better though. Jo is sleeping as well, recovering from a cold and lack of sleep due to worrying about the pup. It's definitely nice to see Bonnie relaxed. Clyde is also asleep beside me on the couch. All good. When I dropped Bonnie off this morning I got Jo and I some treats from Big Foot Donut and a new place we discovered, Frankie Jo's Bakery Café. All good stuff.

Last night when I did my reading update I also mentioned I've got to get back to my thread on Women Author's whose work I've been enjoying. Today's author is Malla Nunn.

Women Authors Whose Work I've Enjoyed - Malla Nunn

Malla Nunn

Malla Nunn was born in Swaziland and moved to Australia with her parents in the 1970's. She has had 7 books published since 2007, including her crime series featuring South African detective Emmanuel Cooper. So far I've read the first book in the series and enjoyed very much.

1. A Beautiful Place to Die (Cooper #1 / 2008).

"I picked this book by chance while looking through my local book store. The synopsis looked interesting and I hadn't read many mysteries set in Africa. I'm so glad I took a chance on it as I enjoyed the story immensely, right from the first few paragraphs. The story is set during apartheid and the plot revolves around the shooting death of an Afrikaner police captain in a small village. An English police detective is sent form Johannesburg to work the crime. He suddenly finds himself in the midst of tension with the Security services who want to find a Communist threat as the cause for the murder and also from the Police Captain's sons, hard core Afrikaners who provide a constant threat to Sgt Emmanuel Coopers well-being. The story moves along so very nicely and highlights the tensions implicit in the apartheid system; from the ruling white Afrikaners through the mixed - race peoples (the colored's) to the blacks (the Zulu races. The characters are well-crafted, I particularly liked Emmanuel Cooper and the Zulu constable, Shabalala (excuse any spelling mistakes) and the Jewish doctor, Schneider (once again apologies for any errors in spelling). Cooper and the story itself remind me of Arcady Renko in the Martin Cruz Smith books set in Russia. Cooper also is a man in the middle, a police officer trying to solve a murder but having to deal with the tensions caused by apartheid, and the constant threats from the Security Services, even the threat of physical violence to his person. Malla Nunn has crafted an excellent story, creating tension and making you want to keep reading. My only slight dissatisfaction and the reason I gave it a 4 (actually a 4.5) was the ending. While I was satisfied with it overall, it was a bit pat. However, if you want a tense, well-written mystery story, you have to give this a try. I will move on to the next book."

2. Let the Dead Lie (Cooper #2 / 2010).

"DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, 1953. Forced to resign from his position of Detective Sergeant and re-classified as 'mixed race' after an incident involving a young black woman, Emmanuel Cooper winds up powerless and alone in the tough coastal city of Durban, mixing laboring with surveillance work for his old boss, Major van Nickerk. Patrolling the freight yards one night, he stumbles upon the body of a young white boy and the detective in him cannot, or will not, walk away. When two more bodies - this time an older English woman and her maid - are discovered at his boarding house, he unwittingly becomes the prime suspect in a triple murder case."

3. Blessed are the Dead (Cooper #3 / 2012).

"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."

4. Present Darkness (Cooper #4 / 2014).

"Five days before Christmas, Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper sits at his desk at the Johannesburg major crimes squad, ready for his holiday in Mozambique. A call comes in: a respectable, white couple has been assaulted and left for dead in their bedroom. The couple’s teenage daughter identifies the attacker as Aaron Shabalala—the youngest son of Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala—Cooper’s best friend and a man to whom he owes his life.

The Detective Branch isn’t interested in evidence that might contradict their star witness’s story, especially so close to the holidays. Determined to ensure justice for Aaron, Cooper, Shabalala, and their trusted friend, Dr. Daniel Zweigman hunt down the truth. Their investigation uncovers a violent world of Sophiatown gangs, thieves, and corrupt government officials who will do anything to keep their dark world intact."

The complete listing of Nunn's books can be found at this link. Enjoy checking out these books.