Durban, 1953. L'inspecteur Cooper est suspecté du meurtre sauvage d'un jeune garçon. Obligé de se cacher de la police et de mener sa propre enquête alors que deux assassinats semblables sont commis, il plonge dans la pègre de Durban où se côtoient gangsters, prostituées et maquereaux, pour comprendre le véritable enjeu politique de l'affaire. Sous la pression des nouvelles lois ségrégationnistes, l'inspecteur se bat pour rendre justice.
1952.
Un homme blanc est retrouvé mort dans le veldt sud- africain, à la limite de la frontière avec le Mozambique. Tout juste arrivé de Johannesburg, l'inspecteur Cooper doit se frayer un chemin dans le labyrinthe des clivages raciaux qui divisent la communauté. La victime étant issue d'une éminente famille d'Afrikaners, l'enquête est récupérée par la Security Branch, qui fait régner la terreur blanche...
Une affaire qui révèle que la couleur de peau compte bien plus que la justice.
B>From Los Angeles Times Book Prize Award winner and Edgar Award nominee Malla Nunn comes a stunning portrait of a family divided and a powerful story of how friendship saves and heals. Now in paperback./b>br>br>Fifteen-year-old Amandlas mother has always been strange. For starters, shes a white woman living in Sugar Town, one of South Africas infamous shanty towns. She wont tell anyone, not even Amandla, about her past. And she has visions, including ones that promise the return of Amandla''s father--as if he were a prince in a fairy tale. But their difficult (even in the best of times) life in Sugar Town is no fairy tale and Amandla knows the truth--her;father is long gone. Hes just another mystery and missing piece of her mothers past and one of the many reasons people in Sugar Town give them strange looks--that and the fact that Amandla is Black and her mother is not.br>;br>Lately her mother has been acting even more strangely, so when Amandla finds a mysterious address at the bottom of her mothers purse along with a large amount of cash, she decides its finally time to get answers. As she confronts devastating family secrets and even the devil himself, shell need her best friends at her side, her fellow Sugar Town Queens, if she hopes to help heal a pain that has lasted a generation.
When an Afrikaans police captain is murdered in a small South African country town, Detective Emmanuel Cooper must navigate his way through the labyrinthine racial and social divisions that split the community. And as the National Party introduces the laws to support the system of apartheid, Emmanuel struggles – much like Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko – to remain a good man in the face of astonishing power. In a considered but very commercial novel, Malla Nunn combines a compelling plot with a thoughtful and complex portrayal of a fascinating period of history, illustrating the human desires that drive us all, regardless of race, colour or creed. A Beautiful Place To Die is the first of a planned series of novels featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper. ‘A terrific page-turning debut. Clever and multi-layered in its portrayal of the people and landscape of apartheid South Africa. I loved it’ Minette Walters ‘Remarkable’ Literary Review 'A first crime novel of considerable power ' Sydney Morning Herald
