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    The Woman in the Blue Cloak
    The Woman in the Blue Cloak
    The Woman in the Blue Cloak
    Ebook147 pages

    The Woman in the Blue Cloak

    By Deon Meyer

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    A death in South Africa may be tied to a centuries-old painting: “Is it O.K. to call a murder mystery ‘lovely’? That’s the word that comes to mind.”―Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
     
    Early on a May morning in the depth of South Africa’s winter, a woman’s naked body, washed in bleach, is discovered on a stone wall beside a highway some thirty-five miles from Cape Town. The local investigation stalls, so the case is referred to Captains Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido of the Hawks—the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations.
     
    The woman is an American named Alicia Lewis, an expert in old Dutch Masters paintings specializing in the recovery of valuable lost art. Discovering the two men she had contacted before coming to South Africa reveals what she was seeking—a rare painting by Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s finest student, not seen since it disappeared from Delft in 1654. But how Lewis died, why, and at whose hand shocks even the two veteran detectives, in this compact jewel of a thriller from a multiple award-winning author.
     
    “Just the thing for a one-sitting read.”—Kirkus Reviews
     
    “Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel series is one of the high points of contemporary crime fiction.”―Guardian 
     
    “A serious writer who richly deserves the international reputation he has built.”―The Washington Post
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMay 7, 2019
    ISBN9780802147240
    Author

    Deon Meyer

    Internasionaal bekende skrywer Deon Meyer woon op Stellenbosch. Sy publikasies sluit in dertien misdaadromans (onder meer Spoor, 2010, 7 Dae, 2011, Kobra, 2013, Ikarus, 2015, Koors, 2016, Prooi, 2018, en Donkerdrif, 2020). Orion, Proteus en Infanta is met die ATKV-prosaprys bekroon en Prooi met die ATKV-prys vir Spanningsfiksie.

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    Reviews for The Woman in the Blue Cloak

    3.5/5

    53 ratings4 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This mystery was only so-so. It was a short book and a quick read; sometimes it's tougher for the author to craft a good story in fewer words. In this case, the mystery just wasn't very engaging, nor was the investigation, and the characters were not well developed. The resolution was a fairly satisfying surprise, but there was no tension leading up to it. Part of the problem is that the translation from Afrikaans was not very well done. There were moments of awkward vocabulary use that interrupted the flow because I had to stop and re-read, trying to figure out what the translator was trying to say. The English translation seemed to be a mix of British English, South African English, and American English, which made for awkward reading. I have a feeling that this story would read much better in its original Afrikaans.
    • 5/5
      Thanks to Grove Atlantic Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this eBook. The comments about it are my own.This is a clever and colourful police procedural murder mystery novella set in the South African city of Cape Town. It introduced me to Benny Griessel, a captain in an elite branch of the South African police known as The Hawks. He and his quirky partner Vaughn Cupido make an unlikely pair of detectives, which helps make the story interesting to read.The murder mystery involves a woman's naked body found without any identification in a rural area on the city's outskirts. The police investigation is hampered by the body having been rinsed in bleach. The press dubs the case the Bleached Body Homicide. Bernie and Cupido follow a trail which eventually leads them to a mysterious art expert, a retired history professor, a reclusive farming family and an unsavoury ex-cop turned private detective. In due course, there's a satisfying conclusion to the mystery. Benny is as interesting as the murder mystery. He's a recovering alcoholic getting a fresh start, which includes losing weight, taking up cycling and entering a second marriage with another recovering alcoholic. He needs to find money to buy an engagement ring for his fiance and there's an amusing sidebar about him applying for a bank loan.This story can easily be read as a standalone novel, even though there are several books in the Bernie Griessel series. It has been translated into English from Afrikaans without any loss of readability. Recommended
    • 4/5
      This novella is a little gem that's slow to take off but once the woman's identity is established, it's hard to stop turning the pages. It was just as good to see Benny on the wagon and not craving alcohol as it was to see him working together with Cupido. There's a nice little twist for the whodunit, although it may not be totally unexpected for the more seasoned readers of crime.
    • 5/5
      law-enforcement, murder-investigation, procedural, detective, South Africa ***** Fascinating story! A woman's body is found in strange circumstances and turns out to be an American working in England as an expert in a particular style of paintings. The special detectives are assigned the case which takes many twists, blind alleys, and red herrings. Excellent! It appears that this is one in a series led by Detective Benny Griessel and his partner Detective Vaughn Cupido of the Priority Crime Investigations. I know that I will be looking for more of these!I requested and received a free ebook copy from Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press via Netgalley. Thank you!

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