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Detective Emmanuel Cooper #2
Let The Dead Lie
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, 1953. Forced to resign from his position of Detective Sergeant and re-classified as 'mixed race' after an incident involving a young black woman, Emmanuel Cooper winds up powerless and alone in the tough coastal city of Durban, mixing labouring with surveillance work for his old boss, Major van Niekerk. Patrolling the freight yards one night, he stumbles upon the body of a young white boy and the detective in him cannot, or will not, walk away. When two more bodies - this time an older English woman and her maid - are discovered at his boarding house, he unwittingly becomes the prime suspect in a triple murder case.
At Major van Niekerk's behest, Cooper is given 48 hours to clear his name and - unofficially - solve the three murders. And so, temporarily back to being a European Detective Sergeant, he descends into Durban's seedy underworld, a viper's nest of prostitution, drugs and violence run by Indian gangsters. To solve the crimes and save his own skin, he must place his trust in a mysterious figure who drives a white DeSoto convertible, a Zion Gospel preacher, and the exquisite yet streetwise Lana, who also happens to be Major van Niekerk's mistress...
At Major van Niekerk's behest, Cooper is given 48 hours to clear his name and - unofficially - solve the three murders. And so, temporarily back to being a European Detective Sergeant, he descends into Durban's seedy underworld, a viper's nest of prostitution, drugs and violence run by Indian gangsters. To solve the crimes and save his own skin, he must place his trust in a mysterious figure who drives a white DeSoto convertible, a Zion Gospel preacher, and the exquisite yet streetwise Lana, who also happens to be Major van Niekerk's mistress...
392 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 2010
40 people are currently reading
712 people want to read
About the author
Malla Nunn
9 books195 followersMalla Nunn grew up in Swaziland before moving with her parents to Perth in the 1970s. She attended university in WA and then in the US. In New York, she worked on film sets, wrote her first screenplay and met her American husband to be, before returning to Australia, where she began writing and directing short films and corporate videos. Fade to White, Sweetbreeze and Servant of the Ancestors have won numerous awards and been shown at international film festivals, from Zanzibar to New York.
Her first novel, A Beautiful Place to Die (2008), was published internationally and won the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Novel by an Australian female author. Malla and her husband live in Sydney with their two children.
Her first novel, A Beautiful Place to Die (2008), was published internationally and won the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Novel by an Australian female author. Malla and her husband live in Sydney with their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 184 reviews
May 29, 2016
I enjoyed this second in Malla Nunn's Emmanuel Cooper series. Not only has Emmanuel had to give up his job as a police detective and moved to Durban but he has been reclassified from white to mixed race. He has had to take a lowly paid job on the Durban docks but is putting in some overtime doing contract surveillance work for his old boss Major van Niekerk. When he comes across a murdered boy down at the docks he is given 48h to find his murderer or be arrested and charged with the crime himself.
This novel takes us to the gritty, seamier side of South Africa during the time of segregation as well showing the moral and political corruption that was rampant in South Africa during the 1950s. Emmanuel stays true to himself, seeking out the truth and refusing to be compromised.
This novel takes us to the gritty, seamier side of South Africa during the time of segregation as well showing the moral and political corruption that was rampant in South Africa during the 1950s. Emmanuel stays true to himself, seeking out the truth and refusing to be compromised.
November 22, 2014
Hidden between two boxcars in the freight yards of Durban Harbour, Emmanuel Cooper could see the lights of a docked cruise ship across the water. The fact that he was doing night surveillance work for his old boss, Major van Niekerk after having to resign his Detective Sergeant position when his previous case went horribly wrong, made him realize how low his life had tumbled. But even though the words of his boss – do not intervene; do not show yourself – rang in his head, when he heard sounds of distress, he found himself moving toward that sound. And what he found caused his life to spiral out of control; the danger to his very existence was immediate …
Suddenly Cooper was caught up in not one but three murders – and the evidence all pointed to him being the killer. Trapped in the cells with the hangman’s noose beckoning, his thoughts were grim. But then, for a reason Cooper couldn’t fathom, he was released into Major van Niekerk’s custody – the police were furious, but there was nothing they could do – not for 48 hours anyway. Then all bets were off…
The race was on for Cooper to find the real killer and save his own life. With no-one to help him – most certainly not the police – he found himself deep in the underworld of Durban; drugs, prostitution and violence – it was all there. But when he met the preacher woman, then the delectable Lana Rose who was cunning and knew the streets inside and out, a strange alliance was formed. Would Cooper be able to find the real killer before the 48 hours was up? Or would he end up languishing in prison, awaiting the noose? Not if he could help it he wouldn’t!
This is the second in the Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper series by Aussie author Malla Nunn and I loved it just as much as the first. An extremely fast paced novel, with twists and turns throughout, the tension and suspense were gripping. As with the first novel, Emmanuel is a great character, and I enjoyed Lana’s character as well. Hopefully we might see more of Lana in the next book (which I will get to soon!) I have no hesitation in recommending Let the Dead Lie highly.
Suddenly Cooper was caught up in not one but three murders – and the evidence all pointed to him being the killer. Trapped in the cells with the hangman’s noose beckoning, his thoughts were grim. But then, for a reason Cooper couldn’t fathom, he was released into Major van Niekerk’s custody – the police were furious, but there was nothing they could do – not for 48 hours anyway. Then all bets were off…
The race was on for Cooper to find the real killer and save his own life. With no-one to help him – most certainly not the police – he found himself deep in the underworld of Durban; drugs, prostitution and violence – it was all there. But when he met the preacher woman, then the delectable Lana Rose who was cunning and knew the streets inside and out, a strange alliance was formed. Would Cooper be able to find the real killer before the 48 hours was up? Or would he end up languishing in prison, awaiting the noose? Not if he could help it he wouldn’t!
This is the second in the Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper series by Aussie author Malla Nunn and I loved it just as much as the first. An extremely fast paced novel, with twists and turns throughout, the tension and suspense were gripping. As with the first novel, Emmanuel is a great character, and I enjoyed Lana’s character as well. Hopefully we might see more of Lana in the next book (which I will get to soon!) I have no hesitation in recommending Let the Dead Lie highly.
September 14, 2021
In the second book of this series, Malia Nunn continues her examination of the nascent codification of apartheid laws in South Africa.Set in 1953, the focus shifts to the psychological effects on individuals, illustrated through the experiences of the protagonist Emmanuel Cooper.
Emmanuel is a half caste who has been able to pass as white and has had a position as a policeman.His racial identity card has allowed him to have a life of privilege and authority.After his controversial role in a recent investigation, he has run afoul of the corrupt political structure.His identity card designating him as white has been reclassified to mixed race and he is forced to leave the police.
Having relocated to Durban,Cooper has found employment as a laborer in the shipyards.One night he comes upon the body of a young white boy on the docks.Two Indian brothers are in the vicinity and are targeted as suspects.Sensitive to the racial intolerance and profiling rampant in South Africa, Cooper starts his own informal investigation.His efforts cause him to become the prime suspect in three murders. His former boss,also demoted to Durban, arranges for Cooper to try to solve the murders within forty eight hours and thus avoid imprisonment. Cooper’s short lived, tense investigation finds him trawling the haunts of petty criminals as well as those higher up who have their own rivalries and hidden agendas.
Cooper’s efforts to remain free highlight the paranoia and uncertainty of living in a society where identity and status can be altered by the configuration of genes and chromosomes.Cooper has gone from a position of authority to one of subservience.His changed status causes him to undergo internal struggles as he comes to terms with the sudden change of a new social position that has altered his sense of self.He misses the power he could exert as a policeman and as a member of white society.He is infuriated by the vagaries of a country where a square plastic identity card can change his whole world.As Cooper navigates society without the levers of privilege, he struggles to maintain his moral compass. He realizes that everyone’s behavior is a product of the amoral government now in power and wonders if the criminals he pursues have greater culpability than the system that produced them.4.5 stars.
Emmanuel is a half caste who has been able to pass as white and has had a position as a policeman.His racial identity card has allowed him to have a life of privilege and authority.After his controversial role in a recent investigation, he has run afoul of the corrupt political structure.His identity card designating him as white has been reclassified to mixed race and he is forced to leave the police.
Having relocated to Durban,Cooper has found employment as a laborer in the shipyards.One night he comes upon the body of a young white boy on the docks.Two Indian brothers are in the vicinity and are targeted as suspects.Sensitive to the racial intolerance and profiling rampant in South Africa, Cooper starts his own informal investigation.His efforts cause him to become the prime suspect in three murders. His former boss,also demoted to Durban, arranges for Cooper to try to solve the murders within forty eight hours and thus avoid imprisonment. Cooper’s short lived, tense investigation finds him trawling the haunts of petty criminals as well as those higher up who have their own rivalries and hidden agendas.
Cooper’s efforts to remain free highlight the paranoia and uncertainty of living in a society where identity and status can be altered by the configuration of genes and chromosomes.Cooper has gone from a position of authority to one of subservience.His changed status causes him to undergo internal struggles as he comes to terms with the sudden change of a new social position that has altered his sense of self.He misses the power he could exert as a policeman and as a member of white society.He is infuriated by the vagaries of a country where a square plastic identity card can change his whole world.As Cooper navigates society without the levers of privilege, he struggles to maintain his moral compass. He realizes that everyone’s behavior is a product of the amoral government now in power and wonders if the criminals he pursues have greater culpability than the system that produced them.4.5 stars.
January 22, 2012
Let the Dead Lie, by Malla Nunn, is set in 1953 in Durban, South Africa, with World War 2 as a bleak backdrop. I’ve always had a fascination with Africa as a whole and have devoured stories by Wilbur Smith, Beverly Harper, Tony Parks, Katherine Scholes and a recent find, Margie Orford so I was predisposed to like it.
From the back cover : ‘In Let the Dead Lie, Cooper is a changed man. Forced to resign from his position of Detective Sergeant and re-classified as mixed race, he winds up powerless and alone in the tough coastal city of Durban, mixing labouring with a bit of surveillance work for his old boss, Major van Niekerk.
Patrolling the freight yards one night, Cooper stumbles upon the body of a young white boy and, the detective in him can not, or will not, walk away. When two more bodies – this time black women – are discovered at his boarding house, he unwittingly becomes the prime suspect in a triple murder case.
At van Niekerk’s behest, Cooper’s given 48 hours to clear his name and – unofficially – solve the three murders. And so, temporarily back to being a European Detective Sergeant, he launches headlong into Durban’s seedy underworld, a viper’s nest of prostitution, drug running and violence run by a colourful cast of characters including wannabe Indian gangsters; a mysterious figure who drives a white De Soto convertible; a Zion Gospel preacher, and the exquisite yet streetwise Lana, who also happens to be van Niekerk’s mistress…’
I wish I’d read ‘A Beautiful Place to Die’ first simply because I prefer to read series in order, but I didn’t feel that I lost anything for reading ‘Let the Dead Lie’ as a stand alone.
From the opening scene, Ms Nunn took me to a seedy, segregated world where white was right and anyone else was fair game. Ex-detective Cooper is the sort of hero I love – a man broken because he has integrity and now on the wrong side of the law, but still incapable of total moral decay.
The book is peopled with characters Ms Nunn finely crafts with the deftest of touches. ‘A flash of hot pink sari crossed Emmanuel’s eye-line and a dozen glass bracelets chimed. An India woman in her fifties with sinewy greyhound limbs grabbed Parthiv’s ear and twisted until his knees buckled.’ That image of the Indian matriarch stayed with me for the story.
The plot is convoluted, turning back on itself in dead-ends and empty promises, but time ticks on relentlessly leaving Emmanuel Cooper with a diminishing number of options. Lana is not a traditional heroine and I was left feeling as though her story is yet to come. She is street-wise and cunning, but courageous with skills beyond her years. Her vulnerability shows through just enough to make me cheer for her (and wish for an impossible happy ending…)
Durban was a character all of its own with the setting being more than just another waterfront town with a transient population. The palpable fear, but edgy defiance from so many characters, and even the buildings, added to the desperation in a town where no-one was what they first appeared to be.
Let the Dead Lie is good, gritty crime-fiction with compelling characters and a fascinating setting.
My rating – 4.5 Stars
From the back cover : ‘In Let the Dead Lie, Cooper is a changed man. Forced to resign from his position of Detective Sergeant and re-classified as mixed race, he winds up powerless and alone in the tough coastal city of Durban, mixing labouring with a bit of surveillance work for his old boss, Major van Niekerk.
Patrolling the freight yards one night, Cooper stumbles upon the body of a young white boy and, the detective in him can not, or will not, walk away. When two more bodies – this time black women – are discovered at his boarding house, he unwittingly becomes the prime suspect in a triple murder case.
At van Niekerk’s behest, Cooper’s given 48 hours to clear his name and – unofficially – solve the three murders. And so, temporarily back to being a European Detective Sergeant, he launches headlong into Durban’s seedy underworld, a viper’s nest of prostitution, drug running and violence run by a colourful cast of characters including wannabe Indian gangsters; a mysterious figure who drives a white De Soto convertible; a Zion Gospel preacher, and the exquisite yet streetwise Lana, who also happens to be van Niekerk’s mistress…’
I wish I’d read ‘A Beautiful Place to Die’ first simply because I prefer to read series in order, but I didn’t feel that I lost anything for reading ‘Let the Dead Lie’ as a stand alone.
From the opening scene, Ms Nunn took me to a seedy, segregated world where white was right and anyone else was fair game. Ex-detective Cooper is the sort of hero I love – a man broken because he has integrity and now on the wrong side of the law, but still incapable of total moral decay.
The book is peopled with characters Ms Nunn finely crafts with the deftest of touches. ‘A flash of hot pink sari crossed Emmanuel’s eye-line and a dozen glass bracelets chimed. An India woman in her fifties with sinewy greyhound limbs grabbed Parthiv’s ear and twisted until his knees buckled.’ That image of the Indian matriarch stayed with me for the story.
The plot is convoluted, turning back on itself in dead-ends and empty promises, but time ticks on relentlessly leaving Emmanuel Cooper with a diminishing number of options. Lana is not a traditional heroine and I was left feeling as though her story is yet to come. She is street-wise and cunning, but courageous with skills beyond her years. Her vulnerability shows through just enough to make me cheer for her (and wish for an impossible happy ending…)
Durban was a character all of its own with the setting being more than just another waterfront town with a transient population. The palpable fear, but edgy defiance from so many characters, and even the buildings, added to the desperation in a town where no-one was what they first appeared to be.
Let the Dead Lie is good, gritty crime-fiction with compelling characters and a fascinating setting.
My rating – 4.5 Stars
January 26, 2014
Malla Nunn has created a fast-past exciting crime story set in Durban, South Africa. This is the 2nd in a series (there are now 4) featuring Inspector Emmanuel Cooper struggling in the early stages of an emerging apartheid world. Nunn handles a multiplicity of characters deftly, without confusing the reader, and her ability to sustain an action sequence is impressive. Many of the characters could be (and probably are) continued in subsequent novels.
Nunn's questions for discussion and her own interview at the back of the book reflect her seriousness about South African issues which she seamlessly integrates into her novel without a smidgeon of preachiness.
My wife and I met Malla last week at the Key West Literary Seminar and she is personally outgoing and charming. She is a bright new light in the genre of historical crime fiction.
See ... http://www.amazon.com/Malla-Nunn/e/B0...
Nunn's questions for discussion and her own interview at the back of the book reflect her seriousness about South African issues which she seamlessly integrates into her novel without a smidgeon of preachiness.
My wife and I met Malla last week at the Key West Literary Seminar and she is personally outgoing and charming. She is a bright new light in the genre of historical crime fiction.
See ... http://www.amazon.com/Malla-Nunn/e/B0...
July 8, 2021
I’m so chuffed I made the decision to listen to the audio version in lieu of reading my copy of Let the Dead Lie as I can’t get enough of listening to Humphrey Bower, his narration is impeccable and it’s seriously astounding how he effortlessly gives each character their own distinct voice.
The second book in the detective Emmanuel Cooper series set in 1950s, Durban, South Africa during the apartheid was another terrific tale.
No longer a detective but one of the good guys in this tale he is working undercover as he is a suspect in a couple of murders and is given 48 hours to find the real murderer. Cooper’s two sidekicks Zweigman and Shabalala from A Beautiful Place to Die are always fun to read about, they help Cooper solve the murder and protect a Russian couple.
Again Malla Nunn delivers a solid novel I recommend for crime fiction lovers or for anyone who loves a great story. (I’d recommend reading book 1 first though)
The second book in the detective Emmanuel Cooper series set in 1950s, Durban, South Africa during the apartheid was another terrific tale.
No longer a detective but one of the good guys in this tale he is working undercover as he is a suspect in a couple of murders and is given 48 hours to find the real murderer. Cooper’s two sidekicks Zweigman and Shabalala from A Beautiful Place to Die are always fun to read about, they help Cooper solve the murder and protect a Russian couple.
Again Malla Nunn delivers a solid novel I recommend for crime fiction lovers or for anyone who loves a great story. (I’d recommend reading book 1 first though)
February 25, 2022
Great series.Cooper has traces of Reacher and Marlowe (tongue in cheek).
August 21, 2024
Following the events in the first book ‘Detective’ Emmanuel Cooper has actually lost his job with the police and also his status of “European” in Apartheid South Africa. Happening on the murder of a young boy, he first gets suspected, but, by a twist of fate - or at least, a highly clandestine motivation of his old boss (who is, secretly, also his current employer) - he’s given a ‘chance’ - find the killer in 48 hours, or go down for the murder.
Did that sound a bit convoluted? This is only the beginning. The plot is again complicated until it starts to unravel. It’s not a bad thing and anyway, the setting of South Africa of 1953 and the characters are the best features of this story.
It started out really strong and I thought it would rise far above the preceding book. In the end, it didn’t (for me), but I can’t really point to exactly what I’m (very mildly) objecting to. I’d say, it is different, but on par with the first and they are both well recommended reads.
Did that sound a bit convoluted? This is only the beginning. The plot is again complicated until it starts to unravel. It’s not a bad thing and anyway, the setting of South Africa of 1953 and the characters are the best features of this story.
It started out really strong and I thought it would rise far above the preceding book. In the end, it didn’t (for me), but I can’t really point to exactly what I’m (very mildly) objecting to. I’d say, it is different, but on par with the first and they are both well recommended reads.
May 8, 2012
Let the Dead Lie is the exciting second novel from Malla Nunn featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper series, following on from A Beautiful Place To Die. This crime series, set in Southern Africa in the 1950's, has a gritty, dark realism that explores the political and social system of the period.
Detective Emmanuel Cooper is working on the docks in the port city of Durban having been forced to resign his position and accept a reclassification as 'mixed race' after the events in Jacob's Rest. Despite his status, he has been recruited by Major van Niekerk to surveil criminal activity at the dock, which leads him to discover the body of a young boy with his throat slit. Emmanuel doesn't have any faith that the police will solve the murder and begins his own unsanctioned investigation but his curiosity turns him into a prime suspect after his landlady and his maid are murdered. Emmanuel has just 48 hours to solve the crimes or be arrested and charged with the triple homicide. Unraveling the mystery sees Emmanuel face international intrigue, police corruption, turf wars, smugglers, and his own ghosts.
In Let The Dead Lie, Emmanuel struggles against himself as much as he does the corruption and crime of Southern Africa. The body of the dead boy affects him so strongly partly because Emmanuel was once a child of the slums, struggling to survive poverty and violence. Emmanuel is not the type of man to ignore a brutal murder, even when it is in his best interests. Led by his conscience, with a moral compass that chafes against the restrictions of 1950's South African society, Emmanuel is determined to find justice for the murdered boy, no matter the personal cost. Even with just 48 hours to exonerate himself his focus remains on finding the murderer responsible for the child's death, rather than the man who could set him free. It's a subtle distinction but an important one because of what it tells you about Emmanuel's character. Emmanuel would likely do as he pleased and damn the consequences if it wasn't for the fact that others would be the ones to pay the price for his behaviour. Emmanuel believes himself to be irredeemably flawed and seems to court punishment, which he feels he deserves because of his failure to save his mother and his experiences during the war. He is constantly surprised by the loyalty of Constable Shabalala and Doctor Zwiegman. He doesn't recognise the positive traits within himself that the men respond to with respect.
The action in Let The Dead Lie is fast paced with the bulk of the action taking place within the 48 hour window Emmanuel has to solve the crimes. Suspects are considered, some dismissed quickly, others studied for longer, but as the case grows more complicated the tension mounts. Investigating the boy's murder leads Emmanuel into the middle of a turf war between Indian drug smugglers and an Underworld boss, and a Secret Police search for Russian traitors while staying ahead of the police who want their pound of flesh. Emmanuel is convinced the connections are there but can't figure out how everything fits together. The plot is multilayered and complex but the links resolve into a satisfying conclusion.
The urban setting for Let The Dead Lie is as vivid as the stark country side of Jacob's Rest, from the bustling, seedy port, to the Durban slums to the gated houses of the white aristocracy. The cultural framework of the novel though is what really sets this series apart from other crime novels. The tenants of apartheid makes my skin crawl and Nunn accurately and honestly portrays the disturbing racism and inequality of Southern Africa at the time. The characters that populate her novels are very much the products of such a twisted regime. Having experienced life with status and without, Emmanuel is more sensitive than most to the unfairness of the social system that determines every aspect of life by the colour of a person's skin.
Once I had started Let The Dead Lie I found it difficult to put it down, engrossed in the thrilling action, strong characters and fascinating setting. This is a terrific, fast paced read that I highly recommend for readers of crime fiction. Personally I was so eager to prolong the experience I dived straight into the third installment, Silent Valley and wasn't disappointed.
Detective Emmanuel Cooper is working on the docks in the port city of Durban having been forced to resign his position and accept a reclassification as 'mixed race' after the events in Jacob's Rest. Despite his status, he has been recruited by Major van Niekerk to surveil criminal activity at the dock, which leads him to discover the body of a young boy with his throat slit. Emmanuel doesn't have any faith that the police will solve the murder and begins his own unsanctioned investigation but his curiosity turns him into a prime suspect after his landlady and his maid are murdered. Emmanuel has just 48 hours to solve the crimes or be arrested and charged with the triple homicide. Unraveling the mystery sees Emmanuel face international intrigue, police corruption, turf wars, smugglers, and his own ghosts.
In Let The Dead Lie, Emmanuel struggles against himself as much as he does the corruption and crime of Southern Africa. The body of the dead boy affects him so strongly partly because Emmanuel was once a child of the slums, struggling to survive poverty and violence. Emmanuel is not the type of man to ignore a brutal murder, even when it is in his best interests. Led by his conscience, with a moral compass that chafes against the restrictions of 1950's South African society, Emmanuel is determined to find justice for the murdered boy, no matter the personal cost. Even with just 48 hours to exonerate himself his focus remains on finding the murderer responsible for the child's death, rather than the man who could set him free. It's a subtle distinction but an important one because of what it tells you about Emmanuel's character. Emmanuel would likely do as he pleased and damn the consequences if it wasn't for the fact that others would be the ones to pay the price for his behaviour. Emmanuel believes himself to be irredeemably flawed and seems to court punishment, which he feels he deserves because of his failure to save his mother and his experiences during the war. He is constantly surprised by the loyalty of Constable Shabalala and Doctor Zwiegman. He doesn't recognise the positive traits within himself that the men respond to with respect.
The action in Let The Dead Lie is fast paced with the bulk of the action taking place within the 48 hour window Emmanuel has to solve the crimes. Suspects are considered, some dismissed quickly, others studied for longer, but as the case grows more complicated the tension mounts. Investigating the boy's murder leads Emmanuel into the middle of a turf war between Indian drug smugglers and an Underworld boss, and a Secret Police search for Russian traitors while staying ahead of the police who want their pound of flesh. Emmanuel is convinced the connections are there but can't figure out how everything fits together. The plot is multilayered and complex but the links resolve into a satisfying conclusion.
The urban setting for Let The Dead Lie is as vivid as the stark country side of Jacob's Rest, from the bustling, seedy port, to the Durban slums to the gated houses of the white aristocracy. The cultural framework of the novel though is what really sets this series apart from other crime novels. The tenants of apartheid makes my skin crawl and Nunn accurately and honestly portrays the disturbing racism and inequality of Southern Africa at the time. The characters that populate her novels are very much the products of such a twisted regime. Having experienced life with status and without, Emmanuel is more sensitive than most to the unfairness of the social system that determines every aspect of life by the colour of a person's skin.
Once I had started Let The Dead Lie I found it difficult to put it down, engrossed in the thrilling action, strong characters and fascinating setting. This is a terrific, fast paced read that I highly recommend for readers of crime fiction. Personally I was so eager to prolong the experience I dived straight into the third installment, Silent Valley and wasn't disappointed.
June 22, 2017
I got a bit tired of the constant reminder that Cooper had been in WWII, that he kept bumping into the right/wrong people at the right/wrong times and that a happy ending was inevitable.
I did enjoy the insight into life in Durban at the start of the apartheid era and how people seem to work around the artificial barriers being implemented by the Government.
I did enjoy the insight into life in Durban at the start of the apartheid era and how people seem to work around the artificial barriers being implemented by the Government.
January 19, 2016
Let the Dead Lie is set in 1950s port town of Durban, South Africa where former Detective Emmanuel Cooper is dealing with the aftermath of inflaming the Security Branch in A Beautiful Place to Die. With no police badge and a different race identification card, Cooper now works undercover in the Victory Shipyards doing surveillance for his former boss, Colonel Van Niekerk.
When Emmanuel discovers the dead body of a ten-year old white errand boy, he cannot let the crime go even though he know it will cause him serious problems. As he becomes a suspect in the crime he's given 48 hours to solve it or end up in jail as the murderer. Several complications and interwoven connections expose layers of corruption and danger. The plot takes so many twists and turns that it isn't possible to guess the outcome. The story gets more and more intriguing as the real facts of the boy's killing are exposed with countless characters, policemen and spies. The boy's killing is only a small part of this story.
This suspenseful novel is taut, well written and tightly paced. The reader is immersed into the culture and the atmospherics of the unjust and complex color dynamics of South Africa. Throughout the novel, we are confronted with the race laws and the cruel realities of living at a time where identity is granted only through being officially white. This book develops the series with a more intimate look at Emmanuel Cooper and moves the series forward in a new and interesting plot twist. The insights into his character become even more fascinating here as past and present combine to create one of the most fascinating literary characters I've ever read about. Sometimes an author's work will just 1Cgrab 1D you. This has been my experience so I can't recommend this series enough.
When Emmanuel discovers the dead body of a ten-year old white errand boy, he cannot let the crime go even though he know it will cause him serious problems. As he becomes a suspect in the crime he's given 48 hours to solve it or end up in jail as the murderer. Several complications and interwoven connections expose layers of corruption and danger. The plot takes so many twists and turns that it isn't possible to guess the outcome. The story gets more and more intriguing as the real facts of the boy's killing are exposed with countless characters, policemen and spies. The boy's killing is only a small part of this story.
This suspenseful novel is taut, well written and tightly paced. The reader is immersed into the culture and the atmospherics of the unjust and complex color dynamics of South Africa. Throughout the novel, we are confronted with the race laws and the cruel realities of living at a time where identity is granted only through being officially white. This book develops the series with a more intimate look at Emmanuel Cooper and moves the series forward in a new and interesting plot twist. The insights into his character become even more fascinating here as past and present combine to create one of the most fascinating literary characters I've ever read about. Sometimes an author's work will just 1Cgrab 1D you. This has been my experience so I can't recommend this series enough.
May 16, 2014
Malla Nunn is my new literary crush. While not perfect, this second Emmanuel Cooper novel delivers. Nunn is great on place: now I have to go to Durban. And she so well describes the darkness and chaos that must be part of any city's underground, and Cooper is the perfect noir hero. Nunn is the scribe of sadness and loss. In this venture Cooper has lost his detective card and is working under cover in Durban, South Africa investigating police officers for the morally ambiguous Major van Neikerk. The murder of a street child sets off Cooper's moral compass, and the investigation leads to more murders and more colorful characters including an amazing femme fatale.
February 11, 2012
Detective Emmanuel Cooper has lost his job, but not his passion. Working ostesibly as a nightwatchman at the Durban docks in South Africa, he is moonlighting for his former boss, Major von Niekirk when a young slumdweller/gofer dies from a slashed throat. Befriending a working girl, with a myriad of underworld contacts, Cooper is arrested for the murder and then released for 48 hours to solve the crime and bring those responsible to justice.
June 12, 2020
Sometimes, bias (and nostalgia) tacks on an extra star at the end. I spent the entire experience of re-reading this book feeling one way, and talking to my friend made me see it another way.
I love detective thrillers with atypical main characters, especially ones that shine a light on a gilded-over part of history. There was Blood & Sugar (soldier of the British Empire forced to confront how sugar barons made their money) and The Way of All Flesh (budding med student during the time of popularisation of anaesthesia), and of course, the Bernie Rhodenbarr series (which has nothing to do with anything, except that it’s about a burglar who gets framed for murders and has to keep solving them).
Emmanuel Cooper, hero of a series that I put off reading for actual years and then voraciously exhausted cover to cover, is a former soldier and former policeman with too much privilege and investment in justice in apartheid era South Africa. If I went back and re-read the other books, I’m not sure how I would feel about them now. Today.
In Let the Dead Lie, he’s lost everything he had in the first book (A Beautiful Place to Die): He’s working in the docks, and doing undercover work for an old superior, spying on corrupt cops in Durban (which is all of them everywhere in the country), when he gets caught up in a murder.
True to the series, he’s got to dodge other pigs who care about scapegoats and not answers, and he’s given a deadline before the wrong person is named as the murderer. This time, it’s going to be him. (And if these books have a plus point, it’s that there are several very creative euphemisms for capital punishment, and all of them give me nightmares.) The plot is not convoluted, and it’s a great example of how real life investigations are less Poirot and more like chasing dead ends and leads that take you to other leads. It’s gumshoe PI work, and I love it as much as a classic whodunit.
Another strength of the series is the no-holds-barred tackling of both race and class relations. The line that will stick with me because of its very specific phrasing:
This book has Emmanuel experiencing all the hardships of his past without the brief cover of privilege and protection he once enjoyed. Doing anything, going anywhere, or even sitting down makes him a criminal. We get long glimpses into his past, his childhood as a biracial kid in an all-white boarding school, some more of his time at war. More compellingly, we get to see more of South African urban society, where Emmanuel runs into the Indian community.
This is kind of where it starts to unravel. One lot, the Duttas, are great. There’s a matriarch who’s both sensible and a criminal hustler, a dumb wannabe gangster, a dumb younger son, and their muscle. They’re not perfect specimens, but they’re three-dimensional. Their enemy, the Bigger Bad, is a Mr. Khan, and his only redeeming quality is that he’s successful. He’s a bigger, better gangster than the Duttas, but he’s also vile. And if he was Hindu or the Duttas were Muslim, I’d be all for it. Grey versus grey morality? Bring it on! The series does that perfectly. In this instance, and I am almost sure it was one of those unhappy cases of Unfortunate Implications, the only Muslim character being a moustache-twirling villain felt awful. It’s right up there with how the only black characters we spend time with in this book are successful criminals or policemen. (There’s Emmanuel, but he’s a different story.) The intent is there. I can feel it. But I can only see it through frosted glass.
Another case of Unfortunate Implications is Emmanuel’s constant longing to have his old life back. I mean, I get it. This guy has always had the short end of the stick. When his white-passing privilege got him classified as a white on his identity papers, it changed his life. And he knows it sucks. There are a thousand good scenes across all four books, hammering home the message that Emmanuel Cooper is an antihero. For example, when one of the aforesaid old friends shows up in Durban during his hour of need:
(And this is not even one of the more unsubtle moments where he’s realising he’s turning into exactly the people he hates. He continues because he tells himself there’s no other way out. I, the reader, differ.)
Emmanuel knows he’s gaming the system when other people can’t and are suffering from it. He fights to be a good ally to them, and uses his privilege For Justice. Except he spends this whole book wishing he was a detective sergeant again because while literally every other cop is corrupt, he knows his own motives are good. There’s even a part where he’s watching a raid, and thinking how the foot police enforce the very laws that he hates, but the detective branch is about justice.
BRUH, NO, THE DETECTIVE BRANCH IS FRAMING INNOCENT PEOPLE FOR MURDER, BEATING THEM UP AT HOME AND IN POLICE CUSTODY, AND APPEASING WHITE PEOPLE. YOU LITERALLY SAW IT HAPPEN TO OTHER PEOPLE AND TO YOURSELF. IT KEEPS HAPPENING TO YOU ACROSS FOUR WHOLE BOOKS.
I’m just unsure whether to see Emmanuel as an unreliable narrator, as my friend suggests, who you’re not supposed to root for. Her theory is that the true voice of conscience is Emmanuel’s friend, Dr. Daniel Zweigman. And Dr. Zweigman is an excellent example of how this author writes nuance well. His backstory is . Dr. Zweigman doesn’t spend two seconds wishing for his old life back. Dr. Zweigman wants to use his skills for good. Learn from Dr. Zweigman, Emmanuel! I mean, I’d say that was the whole point of this book, if he didn’t get his old job back at the end of it. I think nostalgia suckered me into reading copaganda.
It’s not all downhill, though. Every single character is written with incredible empathy, and the pigs are three-dimensional villains. By which I mean they’re both smart and realistic, so they’re twice as dangerous. Women drive the story this time, including the Dutta women who are all no-nonsense and pragmatic and truly deserve to run the family business and relegate the men to errand boys. There’s Lana Rose (whattaname) who’s gorgeous (especially in men’s trousers), knows it, self-confident, and lets herself be some guy’s mistress because she’s fleecing him for the money she needs for her independence. And she knows guns and cars, which she learnt because her father wanted a boy, and Emmanuel gets a hard-on from all these facts because that’s the kind of guy he is.
Unreliable narrator, I chant in my head as I read these passages. I do not think of the “Men Writing Women” starter pack.
Bottom line: I understand the meaning of the Goodreads term “3.5 stars”. I’m on the fence about this book. It’s deeply immersive and so well-written (except its little love affair with improbable epithets). It’s an unflinching look at South Africa, but that also means looking at the main character and the book itself through the same lens. Is this how formerly untroubled fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine feel?
I love detective thrillers with atypical main characters, especially ones that shine a light on a gilded-over part of history. There was Blood & Sugar (soldier of the British Empire forced to confront how sugar barons made their money) and The Way of All Flesh (budding med student during the time of popularisation of anaesthesia), and of course, the Bernie Rhodenbarr series (which has nothing to do with anything, except that it’s about a burglar who gets framed for murders and has to keep solving them).
Emmanuel Cooper, hero of a series that I put off reading for actual years and then voraciously exhausted cover to cover, is a former soldier and former policeman with too much privilege and investment in justice in apartheid era South Africa. If I went back and re-read the other books, I’m not sure how I would feel about them now. Today.
In Let the Dead Lie, he’s lost everything he had in the first book (A Beautiful Place to Die): He’s working in the docks, and doing undercover work for an old superior, spying on corrupt cops in Durban (which is all of them everywhere in the country), when he gets caught up in a murder.
True to the series, he’s got to dodge other pigs who care about scapegoats and not answers, and he’s given a deadline before the wrong person is named as the murderer. This time, it’s going to be him. (And if these books have a plus point, it’s that there are several very creative euphemisms for capital punishment, and all of them give me nightmares.) The plot is not convoluted, and it’s a great example of how real life investigations are less Poirot and more like chasing dead ends and leads that take you to other leads. It’s gumshoe PI work, and I love it as much as a classic whodunit.
Another strength of the series is the no-holds-barred tackling of both race and class relations. The line that will stick with me because of its very specific phrasing:
How elemental and comforting to believe that wrongdoing could be identified by a physical trait.
This book has Emmanuel experiencing all the hardships of his past without the brief cover of privilege and protection he once enjoyed. Doing anything, going anywhere, or even sitting down makes him a criminal. We get long glimpses into his past, his childhood as a biracial kid in an all-white boarding school, some more of his time at war. More compellingly, we get to see more of South African urban society, where Emmanuel runs into the Indian community.
This is kind of where it starts to unravel. One lot, the Duttas, are great. There’s a matriarch who’s both sensible and a criminal hustler, a dumb wannabe gangster, a dumb younger son, and their muscle. They’re not perfect specimens, but they’re three-dimensional. Their enemy, the Bigger Bad, is a Mr. Khan, and his only redeeming quality is that he’s successful. He’s a bigger, better gangster than the Duttas, but he’s also vile. And if he was Hindu or the Duttas were Muslim, I’d be all for it. Grey versus grey morality? Bring it on! The series does that perfectly. In this instance, and I am almost sure it was one of those unhappy cases of Unfortunate Implications, the only Muslim character being a moustache-twirling villain felt awful. It’s right up there with how the only black characters we spend time with in this book are successful criminals or policemen. (There’s Emmanuel, but he’s a different story.) The intent is there. I can feel it. But I can only see it through frosted glass.
Another case of Unfortunate Implications is Emmanuel’s constant longing to have his old life back. I mean, I get it. This guy has always had the short end of the stick. When his white-passing privilege got him classified as a white on his identity papers, it changed his life. And he knows it sucks. There are a thousand good scenes across all four books, hammering home the message that Emmanuel Cooper is an antihero. For example, when one of the aforesaid old friends shows up in Durban during his hour of need:
It would have taken Shabalala and his wife two days of hard travel on ailing public buses with cornbread and boiled eggs wrapped in cloth for sustenance on the journey. Emmanuel pushed away the feeling of shame. The Valley of a Thousand Hills was an easy two-hour drive from Stamford Hill.
(And this is not even one of the more unsubtle moments where he’s realising he’s turning into exactly the people he hates. He continues because he tells himself there’s no other way out. I, the reader, differ.)
Emmanuel knows he’s gaming the system when other people can’t and are suffering from it. He fights to be a good ally to them, and uses his privilege For Justice. Except he spends this whole book wishing he was a detective sergeant again because while literally every other cop is corrupt, he knows his own motives are good. There’s even a part where he’s watching a raid, and thinking how the foot police enforce the very laws that he hates, but the detective branch is about justice.
BRUH, NO, THE DETECTIVE BRANCH IS FRAMING INNOCENT PEOPLE FOR MURDER, BEATING THEM UP AT HOME AND IN POLICE CUSTODY, AND APPEASING WHITE PEOPLE. YOU LITERALLY SAW IT HAPPEN TO OTHER PEOPLE AND TO YOURSELF. IT KEEPS HAPPENING TO YOU ACROSS FOUR WHOLE BOOKS.
I’m just unsure whether to see Emmanuel as an unreliable narrator, as my friend suggests, who you’re not supposed to root for. Her theory is that the true voice of conscience is Emmanuel’s friend, Dr. Daniel Zweigman. And Dr. Zweigman is an excellent example of how this author writes nuance well. His backstory is . Dr. Zweigman doesn’t spend two seconds wishing for his old life back. Dr. Zweigman wants to use his skills for good. Learn from Dr. Zweigman, Emmanuel! I mean, I’d say that was the whole point of this book, if he didn’t get his old job back at the end of it. I think nostalgia suckered me into reading copaganda.
It’s not all downhill, though. Every single character is written with incredible empathy, and the pigs are three-dimensional villains. By which I mean they’re both smart and realistic, so they’re twice as dangerous. Women drive the story this time, including the Dutta women who are all no-nonsense and pragmatic and truly deserve to run the family business and relegate the men to errand boys. There’s Lana Rose (whattaname) who’s gorgeous (especially in men’s trousers), knows it, self-confident, and lets herself be some guy’s mistress because she’s fleecing him for the money she needs for her independence. And she knows guns and cars, which she learnt because her father wanted a boy, and Emmanuel gets a hard-on from all these facts because that’s the kind of guy he is.
Unreliable narrator, I chant in my head as I read these passages. I do not think of the “Men Writing Women” starter pack.
Bottom line: I understand the meaning of the Goodreads term “3.5 stars”. I’m on the fence about this book. It’s deeply immersive and so well-written (except its little love affair with improbable epithets). It’s an unflinching look at South Africa, but that also means looking at the main character and the book itself through the same lens. Is this how formerly untroubled fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine feel?
April 7, 2019
I quite enjoyed this one :)
September 6, 2019
Det. Emmanual Cooper has been bounced out of the police force, his life turned upside down and even who he is has been changed from white to mixed race in the official records of 1950s South Africa where apartheid is very much alive.
He is now working undercover on the docks of Durban Harbor, supposedly documenting police corruption for Maj. van Niekerk. But everything changes when he comes across the body of a white slum child who ran errands and picked up things for others. The boy's notebook is missing.
Suspicion runs high with just that murder but later, Cooper returns to his apartment to find his landlady and her maid murdered as well and he becomes the prime suspect in all three cases. And now he is in a race against time and the whims of the police force as well as the city's criminals, trying to track down the real murderer and the reasons why.
A very interesting read and a window into a world few of us who have never stepped into South Africa have experienced. I enjoy Nunn's writing a lot.
He is now working undercover on the docks of Durban Harbor, supposedly documenting police corruption for Maj. van Niekerk. But everything changes when he comes across the body of a white slum child who ran errands and picked up things for others. The boy's notebook is missing.
Suspicion runs high with just that murder but later, Cooper returns to his apartment to find his landlady and her maid murdered as well and he becomes the prime suspect in all three cases. And now he is in a race against time and the whims of the police force as well as the city's criminals, trying to track down the real murderer and the reasons why.
A very interesting read and a window into a world few of us who have never stepped into South Africa have experienced. I enjoy Nunn's writing a lot.
May 4, 2010
The second Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper book LET THE DEAD LIE has now been released, following on the from highly praised A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE.
LET THE DEAD LIE takes Cooper into different physical circumstances, working in a very bleak city, doing menial labour and nightly surveillance work, there's a sense of loss and depression surrounding him. This rapidly changes to desperation as he is implicated in further murders and has a limited time, and difficult circumstances in which to clear his own name.
Readers of the first of the Cooper books will be aware that this series is based within apartheid South Africa in the early 1950's. That's a very bleak, uncomfortable and disturbing location and timeframe for readers to be pushed into. It's made even more discomforting with the move to the urban setting - somehow there's a loss of a sense of some beauty, probably because there's less of the natural world. The vast majority of people that Cooper encounters in this book are down-trodden or controlled totally by their "racial situation". There are some rare exceptions to that of course, and there's certainly some signs of people making the best of an appalling situation - but sadly there are also signs of depravity and prejudice and tensions within racial groups. Somehow this makes the whole apartheid situation, and the nature of South Africa in that time darker, more depressing, more disheartening.
Cooper himself remains an interesting, challenging character. Not quite an unreliable narrator, he's certainly a flawed human being. Which is something that really appeals to this reader - central characters that engage, make you think, wince or even dislike on occasions. Especially as Cooper has a good streak - his motivations are good, perhaps his methods less clear and sometimes his own relationships are at best hamfisted or at worst manipulative. But it's that sense of manipulation that is strongest in this book - from the "State" manipulating people's rights and opportunities based on a mindlessly arbitrary classification of "race"; through people within those race groups manipulating their own situation, and those around them; to the way that the race groups do (or do not) co-operate or respect each other as well.
Where the circumstances of the setting of the book are so overwhelming, it can sometimes be that the narrative can get a little lost in the crowd. It's an interesting thing that in LET THE DEAD LIE, there is sufficient description and background to the world in which Cooper is operating to give a clear indication of what it must have been like, without losing too much impetus in the investigation. That investigation also twists and turns nicely and quite realistically giving the reader a sneaking suspicion that whilst some things are obvious, others may not be as they seem.
Undoubtedly reading these stories isn't a particularly easy or pleasant task. The world is unpalatable, the society confrontational and profoundly shocking. Cooper himself isn't a knight in shining armour. He is, however, a great survivor and let's hope this series survives with him.
LET THE DEAD LIE takes Cooper into different physical circumstances, working in a very bleak city, doing menial labour and nightly surveillance work, there's a sense of loss and depression surrounding him. This rapidly changes to desperation as he is implicated in further murders and has a limited time, and difficult circumstances in which to clear his own name.
Readers of the first of the Cooper books will be aware that this series is based within apartheid South Africa in the early 1950's. That's a very bleak, uncomfortable and disturbing location and timeframe for readers to be pushed into. It's made even more discomforting with the move to the urban setting - somehow there's a loss of a sense of some beauty, probably because there's less of the natural world. The vast majority of people that Cooper encounters in this book are down-trodden or controlled totally by their "racial situation". There are some rare exceptions to that of course, and there's certainly some signs of people making the best of an appalling situation - but sadly there are also signs of depravity and prejudice and tensions within racial groups. Somehow this makes the whole apartheid situation, and the nature of South Africa in that time darker, more depressing, more disheartening.
Cooper himself remains an interesting, challenging character. Not quite an unreliable narrator, he's certainly a flawed human being. Which is something that really appeals to this reader - central characters that engage, make you think, wince or even dislike on occasions. Especially as Cooper has a good streak - his motivations are good, perhaps his methods less clear and sometimes his own relationships are at best hamfisted or at worst manipulative. But it's that sense of manipulation that is strongest in this book - from the "State" manipulating people's rights and opportunities based on a mindlessly arbitrary classification of "race"; through people within those race groups manipulating their own situation, and those around them; to the way that the race groups do (or do not) co-operate or respect each other as well.
Where the circumstances of the setting of the book are so overwhelming, it can sometimes be that the narrative can get a little lost in the crowd. It's an interesting thing that in LET THE DEAD LIE, there is sufficient description and background to the world in which Cooper is operating to give a clear indication of what it must have been like, without losing too much impetus in the investigation. That investigation also twists and turns nicely and quite realistically giving the reader a sneaking suspicion that whilst some things are obvious, others may not be as they seem.
Undoubtedly reading these stories isn't a particularly easy or pleasant task. The world is unpalatable, the society confrontational and profoundly shocking. Cooper himself isn't a knight in shining armour. He is, however, a great survivor and let's hope this series survives with him.
December 17, 2010
This suspenseful novel from award-winning author Malla Nunn is taut and tightly paced. Set in 1953 in South Africa, a country that surrounds Nunn’s country of birth, Swaziland, the detective novel masterfully blends all elements that are required in such a text. Whether it is read as a sequel to Nunn’s impressive debut novel, A Beautiful Place to Die, or by itself matters little, but that it is most definitely worth reading by anyone interested in the detective genre is a cert.
The action in Let the Dead Lie centers around the deductive work of a former detective sergeant, Emmanuel Cooper. Emmanuel was earlier forced to buy his release from the police force on pain of otherwise being dishonorably discharged for an action that, under a more just system than the reigning apartheid regime, would not have been necessary. Within 48 hours, Emmanuel has to solve a crime without the backup of the resources that would have been available to him as a matter of course if he had been part of the conventional police force. Not only does Emmanuel have to cope with the thugs and criminals that formed part of the underworld of the time, but he also finds himself up against those who would, prior to his disgrace, have been his colleagues. With the threat of a jail sentence hanging over his head if he does not solve the crime, involving the murder of a young white boy, which rapidly escalates into the murder of three victims, in time, Emmanuel has no time to waste. Each page is more gripping than the first, as Emmanuel’s deadline looms ever closer.
In addition to those striving to outwit or outrun him, Emmanuel also has his own inner demons with which to contend. As a demobbed soldier who has survived the burned out battlefields of Western Europe, Emmanuel is constantly besieged by ever-present imaginary figures, such as a brutal and callous Scottish sergeant major, who appear to him in the form of pounding migraines, from whom he can only escape by resorting to taking whatever drugs are at hand.
The description of the low-life types that frequent the Durban docklands are fascinating, as are the range of prostitutes that tread these pages. The social inequalities of the time, which were entrenched in the National Party’s legislative approach to the governance of multiracial South Africa, are revealed in full. The use of such a background is an effective means of keeping alive the memory of the horrendous deeds that were perpetrated by the apartheid state. However, at no stage does Nunn dictate what the response of the reader should be to such inequity and violation of basic human rights. Her primary intent is to tell a first rate story, peopled by three dimensional, credible characters, and this she achieves to the full.
Let the Dead Lie is a well rounded, believable novel that should gain a wide audience, as well as being a work in which contemporary historians and those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder should take an interest. [Reviewer for BookPleasures.com]
The action in Let the Dead Lie centers around the deductive work of a former detective sergeant, Emmanuel Cooper. Emmanuel was earlier forced to buy his release from the police force on pain of otherwise being dishonorably discharged for an action that, under a more just system than the reigning apartheid regime, would not have been necessary. Within 48 hours, Emmanuel has to solve a crime without the backup of the resources that would have been available to him as a matter of course if he had been part of the conventional police force. Not only does Emmanuel have to cope with the thugs and criminals that formed part of the underworld of the time, but he also finds himself up against those who would, prior to his disgrace, have been his colleagues. With the threat of a jail sentence hanging over his head if he does not solve the crime, involving the murder of a young white boy, which rapidly escalates into the murder of three victims, in time, Emmanuel has no time to waste. Each page is more gripping than the first, as Emmanuel’s deadline looms ever closer.
In addition to those striving to outwit or outrun him, Emmanuel also has his own inner demons with which to contend. As a demobbed soldier who has survived the burned out battlefields of Western Europe, Emmanuel is constantly besieged by ever-present imaginary figures, such as a brutal and callous Scottish sergeant major, who appear to him in the form of pounding migraines, from whom he can only escape by resorting to taking whatever drugs are at hand.
The description of the low-life types that frequent the Durban docklands are fascinating, as are the range of prostitutes that tread these pages. The social inequalities of the time, which were entrenched in the National Party’s legislative approach to the governance of multiracial South Africa, are revealed in full. The use of such a background is an effective means of keeping alive the memory of the horrendous deeds that were perpetrated by the apartheid state. However, at no stage does Nunn dictate what the response of the reader should be to such inequity and violation of basic human rights. Her primary intent is to tell a first rate story, peopled by three dimensional, credible characters, and this she achieves to the full.
Let the Dead Lie is a well rounded, believable novel that should gain a wide audience, as well as being a work in which contemporary historians and those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder should take an interest. [Reviewer for BookPleasures.com]
July 17, 2012
"Let the Dead Lie: A Novel","Malla Nunn"
"This book was a sequel to A Beautiful Place to Die, which was one of my favorite books this year. It continues the adventures of Emmanuel Cooper. In the first book he was investigating a murder of a police chief in a small settlement in 1952. That book got into the hearts and minds of the various ethnic and cultural groups at the beginning of apartheid.
Now Cooper has been dismissed from his job as police detective and has lost his status as a white man . His identity card is now stamped Coloured. He is working at a manual job on the Durban docks. He stumbles upon a murder of a young boy and soon finds himself charged with this murder and 2 more murders which closely follow. His former chief gives him three days to solve the murders or go to prison and probably he will be hanged. He begins a hurried investigation and finds himself involved in an international conspiracy and very much in danger. Although I did not care for the plot as much as the first novel, I am looking forward to reading more books about Cooper's crime solving adventures."
"This book was a sequel to A Beautiful Place to Die, which was one of my favorite books this year. It continues the adventures of Emmanuel Cooper. In the first book he was investigating a murder of a police chief in a small settlement in 1952. That book got into the hearts and minds of the various ethnic and cultural groups at the beginning of apartheid.
Now Cooper has been dismissed from his job as police detective and has lost his status as a white man . His identity card is now stamped Coloured. He is working at a manual job on the Durban docks. He stumbles upon a murder of a young boy and soon finds himself charged with this murder and 2 more murders which closely follow. His former chief gives him three days to solve the murders or go to prison and probably he will be hanged. He begins a hurried investigation and finds himself involved in an international conspiracy and very much in danger. Although I did not care for the plot as much as the first novel, I am looking forward to reading more books about Cooper's crime solving adventures."
May 3, 2010
Very compelling mystery starting with the murder of a 10 year old boy in South Africa and ending with an international cast of post World War ll intelligence services chasing a former Soviet official.
Interesting point of view, set at a time when the laws were recently changed to separate the races. Our hero lost his standing as a white man when he lost his job as a police detective. He tries to get both back while solving the boy's murder.
This very exciting story would make an excellent movie with the limited time he has to solve the crime or be arrested as the murderer himself, and the tension added by all the players in the shadows. Oh, yes, there are also two others he's accused of killing, too.
I have to go back and read the author's other novels now. Since she was born and raised in Swaziland, this is an area she knows.
Interesting point of view, set at a time when the laws were recently changed to separate the races. Our hero lost his standing as a white man when he lost his job as a police detective. He tries to get both back while solving the boy's murder.
This very exciting story would make an excellent movie with the limited time he has to solve the crime or be arrested as the murderer himself, and the tension added by all the players in the shadows. Oh, yes, there are also two others he's accused of killing, too.
I have to go back and read the author's other novels now. Since she was born and raised in Swaziland, this is an area she knows.
May 18, 2010
Having thoroughly enjoyed the first novel by the same author, I was looking forward to this one, and I wasn't disappointed. As a matter of fact, this one was easier to read because I had already learned so much about the race classifications for this era in South Africa from the first novel. The main character, Emmanuel, is wonderful, and such a good guy that it is easy to get caught up in the solving of the mystery. The plot takes so many twists and turns that it isn't possible to guess the outcome, even though it makes perfect sense. I love that the ending alluded to another novel to come, where we may learn more of the background on Emmanuel, who is still surrounded by much mystery himself.
July 20, 2016
I listened to this as an audiobook and it’s always enjoyable to listen to Humphrey Bower. It was also good to read more of Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper’s story. Unfortunately I was a bit distracted when I was listening at the end, so although I got the idea of what happened, the details are a bit sketchy, but I wasn’t worried enough to go back and listen to the last half hour or so again, and that is all entirely my fault and not the author’s!! 3.5★
October 28, 2019
Not great like the others..
April 28, 2014
I enjoyed this second novel of Malla Nunn. It is very interesting to see a glimpse of what life was life in an aphartheid era. Detective Emmanuel Cooper is a complex character, very easy to like. His character has continued on from the debut novel "A Beautiful Place to Die".
December 3, 2017
The second in this series of crime novels set in South Africa in the 1950's.Great detective work, fast moving plot, set again the political & social issues of that time.Once again read beautifully by the talented Humphrey Bower.
May 19, 2018
This suspenseful novel from award-winning author Malla Nunn is taut and tightly paced. Set in 1953 in South Africa, a country that surrounds Nunn’s country of birth, Swaziland, the detective novel masterfully blends all elements that are required in such a text. Whether it is read as a sequel to Nunn’s impressive debut novel, A Beautiful Place to Die, or by itself matters little, but that it is most definitely worth reading by anyone interested in the detective genre is a cert.
The action in Let the Dead Lie centers around the deductive work of a former detective sergeant, Emmanuel Cooper. Emmanuel was earlier forced to buy his release from the police force on pain of otherwise being dishonorably discharged for an action that, under a more just system than the reigning apartheid regime, would not have been necessary. Within 48 hours, Emmanuel has to solve a crime without the backup of the resources that would have been available to him as a matter of course if he had been part of the conventional police force. Not only does Emmanuel have to cope with the thugs and criminals that formed part of the underworld of the time, but he also finds himself up against those who would, prior to his disgrace, have been his colleagues. With the threat of a jail sentence hanging over his head if he does not solve the crime, involving the murder of a young white boy, which rapidly escalates into the murder of three victims, in time, Emmanuel has no time to waste. Each page is more gripping than the first, as Emmanuel’s deadline looms ever closer.
In addition to those striving to outwit or outrun him, Emmanuel also has his own inner demons with which to contend. As a demobbed soldier who has survived the burned-out battlefields of Western Europe, Emmanuel is constantly besieged by ever-present imaginary figures, such as a brutal and callous Scottish sergeant major, who appear to him in the form of pounding migraines, from whom he can only escape by resorting to taking whatever drugs are at hand.
The description of the low-life types that frequent the Durban docklands are fascinating, as are the range of prostitutes that tread these pages. The social inequalities of the time, which were entrenched in the National Party’s legislative approach to the governance of multiracial South Africa, are revealed in full. The use of such a background is an effective means of keeping alive the memory of the horrendous deeds that were perpetrated by the apartheid state. However, at no stage does Nunn dictate what the response of the reader should be to such inequity and violation of basic human rights. Her primary intent is to tell a first-rate story, peopled by three-dimensional, credible characters, and this she achieves to the full.
Let the Dead Lie is a well-rounded, believable novel that should gain a wide audience, as well as being a work in which contemporary historians and those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder should take an interest.
The action in Let the Dead Lie centers around the deductive work of a former detective sergeant, Emmanuel Cooper. Emmanuel was earlier forced to buy his release from the police force on pain of otherwise being dishonorably discharged for an action that, under a more just system than the reigning apartheid regime, would not have been necessary. Within 48 hours, Emmanuel has to solve a crime without the backup of the resources that would have been available to him as a matter of course if he had been part of the conventional police force. Not only does Emmanuel have to cope with the thugs and criminals that formed part of the underworld of the time, but he also finds himself up against those who would, prior to his disgrace, have been his colleagues. With the threat of a jail sentence hanging over his head if he does not solve the crime, involving the murder of a young white boy, which rapidly escalates into the murder of three victims, in time, Emmanuel has no time to waste. Each page is more gripping than the first, as Emmanuel’s deadline looms ever closer.
In addition to those striving to outwit or outrun him, Emmanuel also has his own inner demons with which to contend. As a demobbed soldier who has survived the burned-out battlefields of Western Europe, Emmanuel is constantly besieged by ever-present imaginary figures, such as a brutal and callous Scottish sergeant major, who appear to him in the form of pounding migraines, from whom he can only escape by resorting to taking whatever drugs are at hand.
The description of the low-life types that frequent the Durban docklands are fascinating, as are the range of prostitutes that tread these pages. The social inequalities of the time, which were entrenched in the National Party’s legislative approach to the governance of multiracial South Africa, are revealed in full. The use of such a background is an effective means of keeping alive the memory of the horrendous deeds that were perpetrated by the apartheid state. However, at no stage does Nunn dictate what the response of the reader should be to such inequity and violation of basic human rights. Her primary intent is to tell a first-rate story, peopled by three-dimensional, credible characters, and this she achieves to the full.
Let the Dead Lie is a well-rounded, believable novel that should gain a wide audience, as well as being a work in which contemporary historians and those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder should take an interest.
November 17, 2025
So we are back in the newly segregated apartheid version of South Africa, as formed in the 1950s. Detective Emmanuel Cooper has had to revert from his former status as WWII vet and (most importantly) white person, to mixed race instead. But Major van Niekerk (white Afrikaner) has a need for him and his partner and friend, the Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala, tracker extraordinaire. A poor young white boy, Jolly Marks, had been found in the port town of Durban, South Africa, near the train tracks with his throat slit. White he might be, but of no importance to anyone as far as Cooper can see. So why the urgent need to find his killer? Then when an elderly woman and her maid, both residents of the same boarding house Cooper is temporarily living in, are murdered as well, the need to find the killer is now closer to home. Not to mention that if he plays this right, the Major may be in a position to restore his white race card and his former job as Detective Inspector.
But there was that night he spent with the Major’s fiancé. Just a one shot, but one they both thoroughly enjoyed. His profane inner Scottish drill master is not pleased. That is the voice in his head in times of danger, helping him as he did in real life to get him through the War.
Okay, I know I’m only supposed to front up when the blood sprays the walls. . . But we’ve got to talk about the dead boy”. Inner drill master is right. He always is.
But there was that night he spent with the Major’s fiancé. Just a one shot, but one they both thoroughly enjoyed. His profane inner Scottish drill master is not pleased. That is the voice in his head in times of danger, helping him as he did in real life to get him through the War.
Okay, I know I’m only supposed to front up when the blood sprays the walls. . . But we’ve got to talk about the dead boy”. Inner drill master is right. He always is.
March 20, 2020
I read this book as part of my quest to read a book written by an author from every country in the world. The author of this book is from Swaziland. In 2018, King Mswati III of Swaziland renamed this country to eSwatini. This is a small, landlocked country that borders South Africa to the north.
This is the second of 2 books in a series, the first being, 'A Beautiful Place to Die'. The story takes place in Durban, South Africa, during the beginning of apartheid in 1954. Emmanuel Cooper is a veteran of WWII who has lost his role as a detective. He is now working on the docks in the South African port of Durban.
Cooper finds the body of a young white boy lying outside a warehouse. His neck has been slit from 'ear to ear'. Although he is no longer a detective, Cooper sets out to determine who killed the young boy. He investigates the crime, becoming involved with many dangerous men who live in the underground world of Durban.
This story taught me a lot about apartheid - I didn't realize that South Africa is comprised of many different races - not just black and white. There are many Dutch descendants, whites, native South Africans, Portuguese, and Indians to name a few. Each falls within a 'hierarchy' of the races, dictating who can drive, live, or work in which areas.
This is the second of 2 books in a series, the first being, 'A Beautiful Place to Die'. The story takes place in Durban, South Africa, during the beginning of apartheid in 1954. Emmanuel Cooper is a veteran of WWII who has lost his role as a detective. He is now working on the docks in the South African port of Durban.
Cooper finds the body of a young white boy lying outside a warehouse. His neck has been slit from 'ear to ear'. Although he is no longer a detective, Cooper sets out to determine who killed the young boy. He investigates the crime, becoming involved with many dangerous men who live in the underground world of Durban.
This story taught me a lot about apartheid - I didn't realize that South Africa is comprised of many different races - not just black and white. There are many Dutch descendants, whites, native South Africans, Portuguese, and Indians to name a few. Each falls within a 'hierarchy' of the races, dictating who can drive, live, or work in which areas.
November 13, 2020
3.82 I mostly read mysteries that are less plot driven than character and atmosphere driven. Malla Nunn satisfies all of those criteria in the first two Detective Cooper novels set in apartheid South Africa. I am already sorry that there are only four and it seems she has stopped writing them. This is a story that "shows" rather than "tells" and is so much more effective as a result. We witness what life is like in this racially oppressive and lawless country in the early 50's, and even though we learned about apartheid in history classes, we now see it played out in the lives of characters we have come to know. Very chilling. Our protagonist hints at a back story of poverty, abuse and misfeasance but we don't know the details- we see only see the scars. It is very well done. I have one problem with the two books. I am a giant fan of the Charles Todd Ian Rutledge series in which the new scotland yard detective is tortured by the voice in his head of a Scottish soldier disobeying a direct order that he executed in the trenches of WWI.
In the two Malla Nunn books, our protagonist also has a voice in his head of a Scottish officer. It is either a bizarre coincidence or a homage or Nunn didn't remember that she didn't make this up first. Fortunately the voice intrudes rarely but it is a big distraction to me.
In the two Malla Nunn books, our protagonist also has a voice in his head of a Scottish officer. It is either a bizarre coincidence or a homage or Nunn didn't remember that she didn't make this up first. Fortunately the voice intrudes rarely but it is a big distraction to me.
August 7, 2021
Harsh, gritty, dark; Durban South Africa in the 50's at the start of apartheid. The second in the series. These books are very well written but so dark I waited a few years to immerse myself again.
Full of atmosphere, it feels very authentic. I wish I remembered more about the first book, although there are many references to help understand where Emmanuel Cooper was, and is now. And some of the characters reappear.
The plot is complex and develops rapidly as Cooper struggles to solve a mystery in a short time, or be convicted of the murders himself. Characters appear and reappear. Meanwhile I'm asking myself - what is a "trademan"? WHo is the albino? And what about these Russians? And, can he trust anyone? You have to pay attention.
This would make a wonderful film noir, a la Chinatown with Jack Nicolson. The author has a background in screenwriting. She is a skillful writer.
Full of atmosphere, it feels very authentic. I wish I remembered more about the first book, although there are many references to help understand where Emmanuel Cooper was, and is now. And some of the characters reappear.
The plot is complex and develops rapidly as Cooper struggles to solve a mystery in a short time, or be convicted of the murders himself. Characters appear and reappear. Meanwhile I'm asking myself - what is a "trademan"? WHo is the albino? And what about these Russians? And, can he trust anyone? You have to pay attention.
This would make a wonderful film noir, a la Chinatown with Jack Nicolson. The author has a background in screenwriting. She is a skillful writer.
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