Let the Dead Lie

Publishers Weekly

With this gripping sequel set in South Africa in 1953, Nunn, who is also a screenwriter, proves that her impressive debut novel, A Beautiful Place to Die, was no fluke. A former police detective sergeant, Emmanuel Cooper is now working undercover on the docks of Durban Harbor to document police corruption for his old boss, Major van Niekerk. When Emmanuel comes across the body of a white slum kid, who ran errands in the port area, with his throat slit, he observes that the notebook the 11-year-old boy used to record orders is missing. The authorities regard Emmanuel as the prime suspect in this crime as well as in the subsequent murders of a landlady and her black maid, whose throats are also cut. Van Niekerk manages to get Emmanuel out of jail, but with a strict two-day deadline to find the real killer. Nunn deftly balances suspense and deduction as she offers a revealing glimpse into South African society under the segregation laws promulgated by the ruling National Party. (Apr.)

Kirkus Reviews

Hard-boiled ex-detective Emmanuel Cooper returns to solve the murder of a young boy in 1950s South Africa. Nunn teams Cooper with his former partner, the shrewd and stoical Zulu Shabalala, and with the calm but wounded Dr. Zweigman to confront an international cast of bad guys. The villains are primarily Indian and English, but as in A Beautiful Place to Die (2009), Cooper's ruthless former boss Major van Niekerk calls many of the shots. When the body of ten-year-old Jolly Marks is found in the freight yards of Durban's harbor, several suspects emerge. Unfortunately, one of them is Cooper, who's been working undercover on the docks for five months, trying to ferret out police corruption. Later, two more murders occur. Covertly investigating, Cooper finds a suspicious knife, pockets it, then hides it in the flour bin in his kitchen. When some officious policemen discover the knife, he becomes the most likely suspect in all three murders. Van Niekerk gives Cooper 48 hours to get it sorted out and find the real murderer. Within this tight time frame he unearths a plot involving the search for Col. Nicolai Petrov, a Russian informant now wanted in exchange for another spy. Petrov is terminally ill, and his wife is in her ninth month of pregnancy; Cooper tries to protect them from being caught by the henchman of a mysterious British colonel. Along the way, the ex-cop gets involved with alluring femme fatale Lana, van Niekerk's mistress, and with some Indians involved in Durban's criminal underworld. Casual and institutional racism form a fascinating backdrop for the action, giving readers a feel for how apartheid actually looked and felt to those on both sides of the color line.