Bloody Harvests - Softcover

Richard Kunzmann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1405041013 ISBN 13: 9781405041010

Publisher: Macmillan, 2005

Synopsis

After a child’s mutilated body is discovered in a ditch, detective Harry Mason needs to discover whether this gruesome death is the work of a serial murderer or a muti killer butchering children to make powerful ‘medicine’ from their body parts. His police partner Jacob is forced to reconsider his beliefs as both a tribesman and a cop, while becoming increasingly convinced that this time they are dealing with a genuine witch – whose power is sufficient to subvert the whole investigation.

Meanwhile, conducting her own investigation into slave-trafficking, British reporter Nina Reading has put herself in deadly danger. Their discoveries unite and lead them ever deeper into an awesome underworld in the slums of Hillbrow, where criminal money and fear reign supreme. And their enemies will stop at nothing – including the kidnapping of Harry’s own child.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Kunzmann is a native South African whose passion has always been African myths and mythologies, and their associated occultism. He majored in criminology, and has worked as a bookseller in London.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* This debut thriller integrates ancient South African mythology into a contemporary serial-killer story. Someone is killing and mutilating young children. Detective Harry Mason and his partner, Jacob Tshabalala, must try to figure out whether it's the work of a run-of-the-mill serial killer (as Jacob believes) or whether it's something altogether more sinister. To solve the mystery, the partners plunge deep into the tribal underworld, where sorting out fact from superstition can be a deadly proposition. This very atmospheric novel is sharply written and, in places, quite eerily unsettling. Kunzmann writes like an old pro, drawing his characters with a combination of bold strokes and sharply observed details. A native of South Africa, he knows his setting and its people intimately, and it shows in the novel's depth and visual flavor. The author also stays away from the typical mismatched-partners, "buddy picture" sort of cliches, preferring instead to take a more realistic and dramatic approach to character development. Readers familiar with John Connolly's Charlie Parker mysteries, which incorporate supernatural elements into detective fiction, will naturally want to give this novel a look-see, although they should be warned that it is an altogether original and far more visceral story. A remarkable achievement. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1405041013
• ISBN 13: 9781405041010
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352