He may be modest, but he radiates intelligence and certainly won't be getting on his knees before those in power. But Detective Cooper isn't interested in political expediency and has never been one for making friends. When Detective Emmanuel Cooper, an Englishman, begins investigating the murder, his mission is preempted by the powerful police Security Branch, who are dedicated to their campaign to flush out black communist radicals. Tensions simmer as the fault line between the oppressed and the oppressors cuts deeper, but it's not until an Afrikaner police officer is found dead that emotions more dangerous than anyone thought possible boil to the surface.

It is 1952, and new apartheid laws have recently gone into effect, dividing a nation into black and white while supposedly healing the political rifts between the Afrikaners and the English. In a morally complex tale rich with authenticity, Nunn takes readers to Jacob's Rest, a tiny town on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. This exceptional novel received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which says 'Nunn's stellar debut explores a divided society through the frame of a classic murder mystery.' Accomplished narrator Saul Reichlin vividly intones the characters, making for an audio production no mystery lover will want to miss.⚠️ This book will unfortunately be removed from the service on the 14th of May.Īward-winning screenwriter Malla Nunn delivers a stunning and darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper - a man caught up in a time and place where racial tensions and the raw hunger for power make life very dangerous indeed. But trouble comes when another of the deceased's sons-a member of the feared Special Branch-arrives. Facing resistance, Cooper nevertheless begins his investigation. Three of the Afrikaner's sons are present at the scene and they demand to know why only one investigator has come when there ought to be a whole division. Arriving at Old Voster's farm, he finds white police captain Pretorius dead, face down in a creek.

Police detective Emmanuel Cooper is dispatched from Johannesburg to Jacob's Rest, a remote town deep in the bush, to look into a murder report he suspects is a hoax. Unfolding in 1952 South Africa, this riveting crime novel has been compared to the work of Graham Greene and Raymond Chandler. Acclaimed Australian filmmaker Malla Nunn makes her debut as an author with A Beautiful Place to Die.

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn