A Beautiful Place to Die: An Emmanuel Cooper Mystery (Detective Emmanuel Cooper Book 1)

Award-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. 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. 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. 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. 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. But Detective Cooper isn't interested in political expediency and has never been one for making friends. He may be modest, but he radiates intelligence and certainly won't be getting on his knees before those in power. Instead, he strikes out on his own, following a trail of clues that lead him to uncover a shocking forbidden love and the imperfect life of Captain Pretorius, a man whose relationships with the black and coloured residents of the town he ruled were more complicated and more human than anyone could have imagined. The first in her Detective Emmanuel Cooper series, A Beautiful Place to Die marks the debut of a talented writer who reads like a brilliant combination of Raymond Chandler and Graham Greene. It is a tale of murder, passion, corruption, and the corrosive double standard that defined an apartheid nation. I 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. In a morally complex tale rich with authenticity, Nunn takes readers to Jacobś Rest, a tiny town on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. 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. Tensions simmer as the fault line between the oppressed and the oppressors cuts deeper, but itś not until an Afrikaner police officer is found dead that emotions more dangerous than anyone thought possible boil to the surface. 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. But Detective Cooper isńt interested in political expediency and has never been one for making friends. He may be modest, but he radiates intelligence and certainly wońt be getting on his knees before those in power. Instead, he strikes out on his own, following a trail of clues that lead him to uncover a shocking forbidden love and the imperfect life of Captain Pretorius, a man whose relationships with the black and coloured residents of the town he ruled were more complicated and more human than anyone could have imagined Jacob's Rest, A Tiny Town On The Border Between South Africa And Mozambique, 1952. An Afrikaner Police Officer Is Found Dead. Detective Emmanuel Cooper, An Englishman, Begins Investigating The Murder Following A Trail Of Clues That Lead Him To Uncover A Shocking Forbidden Love And The Imperfect Life Of One Captain Pretorius. In 1950s South Africa, The Colour Of A Killer's Skin Matters More Than Justice. In This Captivating Debut Novel, Brilliant Newcomer Malla Nunn Explores The Layers Of Racial Divides In A Small South African Country Town As Detective Emmanuel Cooper Tracks The Killer Of An Afrikaan's Police Captain. While Cooper Navigates His Way Through The Towns Labyrinthine Partitions Of Race And Class, His Position Becomes More Dangerous And His Life Is Put At Risk As He Confronts The Ever Harsher Realities Of South Africa Under The New Apartheid Regime. Malla Nunn Combines A Thrilling, Action-oriented Plot With A Thoughtful And Complex Portrayal Of A Particular Time And Place And The Human Desires That Drive Us All, Regardless Of Race, Colour Or Creed. -- Provided By Publisher. Malla Nunn. Cooper is dispatched to Jacob's Rest, a remote town deep in the bush, to look into a murder report. Arriving at Old Voster's farm, he finds the white police captain dead face down in a creek. Three of the Afrikaner's sons are present at the scene. Trouble comes when another son, a member of the feared Special Branch, arrives. In 1952 South Africa, as apartheid laws are going into effect, English detective Emmanuel Cooper's investigation into an Afrikaans police officer's murder is hampered by the Afrikaner Secret Police's campaign to capture black communist radicals