- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan Australia; First novel by this author edition (1 Sep 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1405038772
- ISBN-13: 978-1405038775
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,407,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'Page-turning, clever and multi-layered in its portrayal of the people and landscape of Apartheid South Africa. I loved it.' --Minette Walters
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'[Nunn] has written a first crime novel of considerable power.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This novel could be classed as an 'historical detective story' but there is nothing chintzy or twee about it. Malla Nunn mixes the chaotic social situation of post-war South Africa with an intriguing murder investigation.
The story reveals how apartheid affected different classes/colours of people in the decade after WW2, and gave me a whole new insight into the polyglot nature of SA society. But it's not just a history lesson -- the plot, which revolves around the murder of an Afrikaans Police Captain, is intriguing in its own right. The core characters of the tale are interesting too: the protagonist is an isolated detective from Jo-burg, shell-shocked from WW2 and out on a limb against the interests of the security service. The hero has to rely on various locals including a Jewish emigre who has his own share of secrets, and the native population including the dead Captain's 'spiritual brother'. Almost everyone has something to hide -- and almost all of the secrets revolve around the tightening race laws of the time.
The writing is extremely accessible and although many of the plot devices are conventional I didn't find that 'A Beautiful Place To Die' was in any way predictable. I hope Malla Nunn follows it up with more stories set in the same time and place so we can see how some of the characters develop... and her descriptions of the veldt and the township are stunning.
A more than competant debut.
8/10
The story reveals how apartheid affected different classes/colours of people in the decade after WW2, and gave me a whole new insight into the polyglot nature of SA society. But it's not just a history lesson -- the plot, which revolves around the murder of an Afrikaans Police Captain, is intriguing in its own right. The core characters of the tale are interesting too: the protagonist is an isolated detective from Jo-burg, shell-shocked from WW2 and out on a limb against the interests of the security service. The hero has to rely on various locals including a Jewish emigre who has his own share of secrets, and the native population including the dead Captain's 'spiritual brother'. Almost everyone has something to hide -- and almost all of the secrets revolve around the tightening race laws of the time.
The writing is extremely accessible and although many of the plot devices are conventional I didn't find that 'A Beautiful Place To Die' was in any way predictable. I hope Malla Nunn follows it up with more stories set in the same time and place so we can see how some of the characters develop... and her descriptions of the veldt and the township are stunning.
A more than competant debut.
8/10
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Malla Nunn's debut novel "A Beautiful Place To Die" cleverly blends a who-dunnit thriller with life in South Africa during the apartheid. The main strength of the book is the description of Africa in the 1950's and the relationships between all the people in Jacob's Rest at that time, as well as the description of the town itself and surrounding areas.
Although I was intrigued enough in Captain Pretorius' murder to keep reading I felt that the plot jumped around quite a bit and some of the twists were not entirely believable. However the pace quickened towards the ending and the loose ends were tied up into a satisfactory ending.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books set in African history.
Although I was intrigued enough in Captain Pretorius' murder to keep reading I felt that the plot jumped around quite a bit and some of the twists were not entirely believable. However the pace quickened towards the ending and the loose ends were tied up into a satisfactory ending.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books set in African history.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
On the surface `A Beautiful Place To Die' is a fast moving `whodunnit' thriller with a 'good-cop hero' to be admired by readers, and with the added charm of location around a country town in the beautiful veldt of South Africa. However throughout the hero's investigations he is subject to high levels of uncontrollable influence with perhaps an over abundance of hidden secrets to be discovered and with credibility stretched for some of those he encounters. This leads to a few abrupt changes in scenarios as the narrative unfolds, with parts of the plot hardly plausible, characters not fully explained, and outcomes of relationships incomplete. Even so, as a `whodunnit' there is a compelling degree of intrigue, a steady build up of excitement, and a reasonable conclusion - but the book's added special ingredient is a forceful indictment of South Africa's insidious Apartheid system and an exposé of man's inhumanity. Malla Nunn skilfully lays bare political ideology, racism, bigotry, religious mania, injustice, violence etc. via interwoven relationships and personality conflicts. This aspect of `A Beautiful Place To Die' lifts it above the status of a normal thriller and overcomes storyline criticisms - but short of a 5-star rating.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Who-done-it in Africa
This was a reasonable who-done-it style narrative, with enough interest to keep me going to the end but a little thin on the character development and a bit confusing at... Read more
Published 9 months ago by DubaiReader
Good but mostly stereotypical characters
First Sentence: Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper switched off the engine and looked out through the dirty windscreen. Read more
Published 19 months ago by L. J. Roberts
Psychological Schisms Through Racial Lines....
The typical detective franchise is something that has always held a large group of "casual" readers in it's thrall, as they encompass two things; namely they are easy to read, and... Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2010 by Brady Orme
Agreed : readable, but slow
This is a story about the murder of a policeman in South Africa during the 1950's. The protagonist is a British South African policeman (Emmanuel Cooper)who is sent to investigate. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2010 by johnverp
Not bad
I expected this to be very different from the usual crime thriller novel, with the setting and intriguing character introduction. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by B Keeler
Beach Reading
I've not finished reading it totally but I can say that whilst the story is interesting and the flow of the book decent enough it's not a 'must read' and more of a beach, lazy... Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2009 by Agent Smith
Very readable but a little slow
It would be fairly hard to review this book without giving away the plot, were it not for the fact that it is quite long and laid out in a conventional, linear fashion. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2009 by DJ Bez
A very valuable book about life in south africa
OK, it's a murder story but the book is more than that. You will love it if you yearn to learn, understand and empathise with life in south africa. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2009 by Lova
Shows great form... but stumbles at the last hurdle
It's not often that I read crime fiction - I like it but somehow the genre has been sullied by the numerous copycat (!) publications that fill airports & charity shop shelves. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2009 by bomble
A good debut novel albeit perhaps overcomplex
This is the first novel by Malla Nunn, a Swaziland born author who has lived all over the world. It tells the story of Emmanuel Cooper, a Johannesburg-based detective who is... Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2009 by Darren Simons
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