A Jade de Jong Investigation Series

“A page turner of a story, intriguing characters—Jade is particularly memorable—and a wealth of South African color . . . At once brutal and beautiful” (Richmond Times-Dispatch).   In Johannesburg, prosperous whites live in gated communities; when they exit their cars to open the gates, car-jackings are common. But seldom is the victim killed, much less shot twice, like Annette Botha. The husband of the wealthy woman is the primary suspect in his wife’s murder.   PI Jade de Jong fled South Africa ten years ago after her father was killed. Now back in town, she offers to help her father’s former assistant, Supt. David Patel, with his investigation of this case. Under apartheid, Patel, of Indian descent, could never have attained his present position. But he is feeling pressure from his “old line” boss with respect to this investigation and fears lingering prejudice is at work.   As Jade probes into this and other recent car-jacking cases, a pattern begins to emerge, a pattern that goes back to her father’s murder and that involves a vast and intricate series of crimes for profit.   “Jade de Jong kicks ass.” —NPR   “[A] triumphant debut . . . The plot has more than its fair share of nice twists, and Mackenzie does a superb job of making the reader care for her gutsy lead while offering a glimpse at life in South Africa after apartheid.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)   “Hard-edged . . . [A] remarkable new sleuth.” —The New York Times Book Review

A “gripping” crime thriller set in modern-day South Africa, by the New York Times–bestselling coauthor of Private: Gold (Publishers Weekly).   At first, the case appears to be one of simple misadventure. Sonet van Rensburg, a base jumper, falls to her death while attempting to parachute off a newly built sixty-five-story Johannesburg skyscraper. But Sonet’s jumping partner insists that this was no accident—and he hires private investigator Jade de Jong to uncover the truth.   Welcoming the distraction from her conflicted and seemingly doomed relationship with police superintendent David Patel, Jade immerses herself in the case. She discovers that Sonet worked for a charity that helped impoverished communities become self-supporting farming units. Sonet’s ex-husband, though, has nothing good to say about his wife or the work she has done. He tells Jade that Sonet’s efforts were a useless waste of money and that the farming projects were not sustainable. When Jade travels out to the Siyabonga community’s farm in Limpopo, hoping to prove him wrong, she finds it not just abandoned, but razed to the ground. Digging deeper for answers about where the residents went and why they left their fertile valley, Jade begins to uncover a complex and twisted truth . . .  

A South African PI chases down a vicious ring of criminals in this mystery by an author who “captures Johannesburg’s ‘crazy boomtown energy’” (The New York Times).   When wealthy Pamela Jordaan hires PI Jade de Jong as a bodyguard after her husband Terrance disappears, Jade thinks keeping an eye on this anxious wife will be an easy way to earn some cash. But when a determined shooter nearly kills them both and Jade finds Terrance horrifically tortured and barely alive, she realizes that she has been drawn into a wicked game.   At the same time, her relationship with police superintendent David Patel is on the rocks, and things only get more complicated when his son is kidnapped and his wife is blackmailed. It soon becomes clear that the kidnapping and the attempted killings of Pamela and her husband are tied to a human trafficking ring that stretches from Johannesburg to London.   From the New York Times–bestselling coauthor of Private: Gold, who “does a superb job of making the reader care for her gutsy lead while offering a glimpse at life in South Africa after apartheid,” this is a gritty, gripping work of international crime fiction (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

A South African private investigator takes a vacation in the tropics, but murder soon follows in this “white-knuckle thriller” (Tess Gerritsen, bestselling author of Playing with Fire).   When PI Jade de Jong invites Supt. David Patel on a scuba diving holiday in Saint Lucia, she hopes the time away will rebuild their conflicted relationship. Jade’s dreams of a romantic Caribbean getaway are soon shattered, however, when David calls off their affair. Jade finds herself in the arms of an environmental activist—but personal concerns must be set aside when a diving instructor is found brutally stabbed to death.   Amanda is a most unlikely candidate for murder—a quiet and intelligent woman who, until a few months ago, pursued a high-powered career as an air traffic controller. She had few acquaintances and no lovers. The only loose end is a postcard in her room from Johannesburg-based Themba Msamaya, asking how she is doing “after 813.” Despite their recent breakup, Jade and David will have to put their differences aside to find out the full story.