bgg616's review against another edition
3.0
This is 3 and a half for me due to a few of the details in the plot that I found unnecessary, superfluous, and detracking from the story. But the details of life in South Africa of the time were interesting, and the main character Emmanuel Cooper, sufficiently interesting to read further books by this author.
dlmoldovan's review
3.0
This book offers mystery upon layer of mystery, and a haunted lead character that's still recovering from WWII while trying to solve the case. Throw in racial, religious and societal differences, and a little communism and torture and that'll add some spice to the mystery. Yes, I found the story dragging on in a couple of places, but once I started reading I couldn't put it down. The author also did a good job of introducing the beginning of apartheid in the South African society. The characters needed some more development, but they were entertaining nonetheless. I will probably pick up the next on in the series.
kchisholm's review
4.0
Book Title: A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE
Author: Malla Nunn
Publisher: Pan MacMillan Australia
Copyright: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4050-3877-5
No of Pages: 399
Book Synopsis:
In 1950s South Africa, the colour of a killer's skin matters more than justice.
When Captain Willem Pretorius, an Afrikaner police officer, is brutally murdered in the tiny backwater of Jacob's Rest, Detective Emmanuel Cooper is sent to investigate.
The local Afrikaners and the dead man's prominent family view Cooper, an 'English' South African, with suspicion. Soon, the powerful police Security Branch take over the investigation. But Cooper isn't interested in political expediency, or making friends in high places - he just wants the killer behind bars. As he pursues his own inquiry, he discovers the violence, secrets and desire behind the picture-perfect facade of Jacob's Rest.
Book Review:
One thing that will strike readers of A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE firmly between the eyes is how an apartheid society is so incredibly foreign from the ways in which others of us live. That's not to say that there is an overtly "political" agenda in this book, rather the book does not take a step backwards in depicting South Africa under Racial Segregation laws. It also starkly draws a picture of the various societies within that - the 'English' South African's, the Afrikaner South African's and the native South African's. It is not a particularly pretty picture, and it's delivered vividly.
Jacob's Rest is a very small town in the South African veldt. The prejudice, petty jealousy, intrigues, secrets and isolation of small town living are overlaid by the racial situation - the kaffir path that runs behind the town's houses is the only way around for the towns coloured population, and it's that situation that allows it to be used for more sinister purposes. Captain Pretorius and his family of big, strong sons, have stood sway over Jacob's Rest with a born to rule superiority that can only come from an unwavering belief that their way is the only way. So when the Captain is found in a river with a bullet in his head, his sons are convinced that the coloured community holds the key. Detective Cooper gets the case mostly by accident and he has been placed in a dangerous and difficult position, particularly when the very heavy handed (and overtly political) Security Branch muscle in. Cooper finds himself relegated to investigating previous claims of a peeping tom using the kaffir path, whilst he tries to keep out of the way of the thuggish Security Branch (and the sons of the dead man).
Nearly all of the observations and viewpoints in this book come from the young Detective Emmanuel Cooper. He is a man who is not comfortable with Racial Segregation and he's not at all comfortable with the way that life is divided up in Jacob's Rest. His natural inclination is towards time spent with Constable Shabalala - the part-Zulu man who was an offsider of the dead Captain Pretorius, and Zweigman, the German Jewish shopkeeper - who is really a doctor but part of the secondary class of society. It is these three who are the key to the unwinding of a long tale of secrets and misuse of influence, and to hefty doses of corruption and cover-up.
More than a message book, A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE is really an extremely good thriller, with lots of twists and turns in the story, which happens to be set in a society totally foreign to this reader at least. Having said that, there are elements which are familiar - the locked room (closed in village); elements of police procedure, albeit somewhat strained by the remoteness of the location and so on. The underlying message of the book is heavy handed, but it is done in an illustrative way - rather than a smack over the head job. The way that the investigation has to proceed within the society structure is profoundly shocking. The revelations of the way that the Security Branch operates; the secrets in families throughout the town - which aren't really all that shocking or dreadful, but nonetheless need to be secrets is profoundly discomforting; and the way that people's lives were so fundamentally affected by something as minor as the colour of their skin is really very sobering indeed.
The ending is undoubtedly a tiny bit sentimental, but after the previous hammering that the characters have endured, it's forgivable. In fact that's probably the only small criticism I could come up with, the book could easily have finished with no need for the gentle let down, I'd have fretted over Constable Cooper just as happily. I do hope, however, that the ending is hinting at another book beginning though.
Author: Malla Nunn
Publisher: Pan MacMillan Australia
Copyright: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4050-3877-5
No of Pages: 399
Book Synopsis:
In 1950s South Africa, the colour of a killer's skin matters more than justice.
When Captain Willem Pretorius, an Afrikaner police officer, is brutally murdered in the tiny backwater of Jacob's Rest, Detective Emmanuel Cooper is sent to investigate.
The local Afrikaners and the dead man's prominent family view Cooper, an 'English' South African, with suspicion. Soon, the powerful police Security Branch take over the investigation. But Cooper isn't interested in political expediency, or making friends in high places - he just wants the killer behind bars. As he pursues his own inquiry, he discovers the violence, secrets and desire behind the picture-perfect facade of Jacob's Rest.
Book Review:
One thing that will strike readers of A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE firmly between the eyes is how an apartheid society is so incredibly foreign from the ways in which others of us live. That's not to say that there is an overtly "political" agenda in this book, rather the book does not take a step backwards in depicting South Africa under Racial Segregation laws. It also starkly draws a picture of the various societies within that - the 'English' South African's, the Afrikaner South African's and the native South African's. It is not a particularly pretty picture, and it's delivered vividly.
Jacob's Rest is a very small town in the South African veldt. The prejudice, petty jealousy, intrigues, secrets and isolation of small town living are overlaid by the racial situation - the kaffir path that runs behind the town's houses is the only way around for the towns coloured population, and it's that situation that allows it to be used for more sinister purposes. Captain Pretorius and his family of big, strong sons, have stood sway over Jacob's Rest with a born to rule superiority that can only come from an unwavering belief that their way is the only way. So when the Captain is found in a river with a bullet in his head, his sons are convinced that the coloured community holds the key. Detective Cooper gets the case mostly by accident and he has been placed in a dangerous and difficult position, particularly when the very heavy handed (and overtly political) Security Branch muscle in. Cooper finds himself relegated to investigating previous claims of a peeping tom using the kaffir path, whilst he tries to keep out of the way of the thuggish Security Branch (and the sons of the dead man).
Nearly all of the observations and viewpoints in this book come from the young Detective Emmanuel Cooper. He is a man who is not comfortable with Racial Segregation and he's not at all comfortable with the way that life is divided up in Jacob's Rest. His natural inclination is towards time spent with Constable Shabalala - the part-Zulu man who was an offsider of the dead Captain Pretorius, and Zweigman, the German Jewish shopkeeper - who is really a doctor but part of the secondary class of society. It is these three who are the key to the unwinding of a long tale of secrets and misuse of influence, and to hefty doses of corruption and cover-up.
More than a message book, A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE is really an extremely good thriller, with lots of twists and turns in the story, which happens to be set in a society totally foreign to this reader at least. Having said that, there are elements which are familiar - the locked room (closed in village); elements of police procedure, albeit somewhat strained by the remoteness of the location and so on. The underlying message of the book is heavy handed, but it is done in an illustrative way - rather than a smack over the head job. The way that the investigation has to proceed within the society structure is profoundly shocking. The revelations of the way that the Security Branch operates; the secrets in families throughout the town - which aren't really all that shocking or dreadful, but nonetheless need to be secrets is profoundly discomforting; and the way that people's lives were so fundamentally affected by something as minor as the colour of their skin is really very sobering indeed.
The ending is undoubtedly a tiny bit sentimental, but after the previous hammering that the characters have endured, it's forgivable. In fact that's probably the only small criticism I could come up with, the book could easily have finished with no need for the gentle let down, I'd have fretted over Constable Cooper just as happily. I do hope, however, that the ending is hinting at another book beginning though.
gawronma's review
3.0
3.5 stars. The one thing I really liked about this book was the sense of being in South Africa. Nunn really brought out the place and the political culture. Cooper is an extremely complex character. The mystery was satisfying too.
velmaw_thedrip's review
5.0
I read this book as a teenager and it really had a profound impact on me. I plan on rereading it and leaving a better review but even after 15ish years the book truly stands out in my mind from the 1000s of books I’ve read in my lifetime.
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A Beautiful Place To Die is a mystery/thriller set in South Africa in 1952 right after the Boer government came to power and instituted laws that restricted relationships between racial groups. Emmanuel Cooper, an English detective, is sent to Jacob’s Nest, a small town near the border of Mozambique where the chief of police, Captain Pretorius, has murdered. Cooper is tasked with investigating the crime but runs up against roadblocks galore. First, Pretorius was not just the police chief, he dominated the town. He was a prominent landowner, he and his family owned or controlled most of the businesses, he felt free to do what he wanted. He was also a model Afrikaaner. Then, the Security Branch arrives, determined to find the killer but to be sure that it’s a killer that suits their needs, effectively pushing Cooper out of the official investigation. Of course, like any good detective, Cooper continues his search.
The mystery itself is well done, with a variety of suspects, motives, and clues. It’s suspenseful, violent, at times graphic, and full of surprises. Jacob’s Rest is not a safe place. Where the book really shines, though, is in the characters and its setting. The author creates a chilling picture of xenophobia, corruption, and misguided foundational myths set within the picturesque South African landscape. We can feel the heat and see the veld stretching out, hear the hymns and smell the food. The characters blend together to create a picture of misguided privilege, suppressed desire, illicit liaisons, and religious fervor. It’s an absorbing read and I’m looking forward to the next in the series.
devy_ka's review
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation and Racism
turophile's review
3.0
Not sure how to rate this one. The author recreated the world of South Africa as apartheid was beginning. South Africa’s history with is something I’m aware of, but like so many other eras of history I don’t know nearly as much as I should. The book immerses the reader in what it was like for people of different races at that time in a way that simply reading dry fiction would not. The prose also painted the countryside, the climate, the people in a way that you could visualize everything, but without diving into flowery language.
The mystery also unfolded well. I did not suspect who committed the murder, but I didn’t feel like the author had somehow cheated me by not giving me the facts.
* Spoilerish comment*
What I didn’t like is that the mystery and other aspects of the story tied back to sexual violence. It’s just not something I need to read about. Yes, it happens. But there are other ways to build a story and I’d rather read stories built in other ways.
This is why I am waffling in my rating. I really enjoyed the author's writing, but I dislike that line of storytelling. 4 for writing, 3 for story.
The mystery also unfolded well. I did not suspect who committed the murder, but I didn’t feel like the author had somehow cheated me by not giving me the facts.
* Spoilerish comment*
What I didn’t like is that the mystery and other aspects of the story tied back to sexual violence. It’s just not something I need to read about. Yes, it happens. But there are other ways to build a story and I’d rather read stories built in other ways.
This is why I am waffling in my rating. I really enjoyed the author's writing, but I dislike that line of storytelling. 4 for writing, 3 for story.