A Beautiful Place to Die

Acclaimed Australian filmmaker Malla Nunn makes her debut as an author with A Beautiful Place to Die. Unfolding in 1952 South Africa, this riveting crime novel has been compared to the work of Graham Greene and Raymond Chandler.

Police detective Emmanuel Cooper is dispatched from Johannesburg to Jacob’s Rest, a remote town deep in the bush, to look into a murder report he suspects is a hoax. Arriving at Old Voster’s farm, he finds white police captain Pretorius dead, face down in a creek. Three of the Afrikaner’s sons are present at the scene and they demand to know why only one investigator has come when there ought to be a whole division. Facing resistance, Cooper nevertheless begins his investigation. But trouble comes when another of the deceased’s sons—a member of the feared Special Branch—arrives.

This exceptional novel received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which says “Nunn’s stellar debut explores a divided society through the frame of a classic murder mystery.” Accomplished narrator Saul Reichlin vividly intones the characters, making for an audio production no mystery lover will want to miss.