Entertaining, short, interesting read...

Here's a new review for "Murder @ Work". Ursula Pieper writes: "Entertaining, short, interesting read about South Africa in the late 90s." Read more.

Photos from the book launch of "Murder @ Play"

Murder Mysteries throughout Africa....

For those of you interested in African Murder Mysteries, here is a cool magazine, Mystery Readers' Journal, featuring two articles of mine. You won't be able to view much of the contents online, though of course you're welcome to purchase the PDF or the hard copy.

Kindle!

My paberback, "Murder @ Play", is now available on Kindle!

(Is that a good thing?)

South Africa through the eyes of Invictus

I was very pleased to discover that the movie Invictus is set around the same time as my cozy murder mysteries, "Murder @ Play" and "Murder @ Work". It's a beautiful reflection of what South Africa was going through in mid-nineties, all its fears and prejudices, all stemming from our overwhelming love for that amazing country.

Some trivia from Invictus:

• Did you know that when President Mandela shook the hands of the rugby players for the first time, some people in the audience thought it highly inappropriate... either for the president... or for the players????
• A debate is out whether the president should have used both hands when handing the rugby captain that cup of tea: it's African etiquette to do so (a sign of respect) - the issue is whether Mandela felt respectful. Caveat: Francois Pienaar should definitely have received it with both hands (a sign of gratitude). See links about African etiquette: http://hubpages.com/hub/manners-southern-african-countries and http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/africa.htm.
• What they said in the movie, it really is true about Nelson Mandela's eyes.

South Africa in 1994

South African News Headlines in 1994 (the time in which Murder @ Play is set):

• 10 May Nelson Mandela is sworn in as the first President of South Africa and FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki become joint deputy presidents
• The United Nations lifts its arms embargo on South Africa
• Princess Anne, Princess Royal, visits South Africa
• The African National Congress hold their 49th National Conference in Bloemfontein

"Murder @ Play" is here!

My copies of "Murder @ Play" have finally made it to New Zealand and I'm delighted to see that the cover is actually made up of tiny white bricks (i.e., it's not white the way it looks online) - it just goes to show that, amazing as the Internet is, The Real Thing is sometimes better!

Incidentally, if you read "Murder @ Play", you will notice that while some characters communicate by email, and while the solution relies on the detective's understanding of electronic files, the Internet plays no part in the story and Google is a word not invented yet (the book being set in 1994). Oh, and only affluent businessmen carry cell phones - which weigh more than a brick!

If you think that weird, wait till my next book comes out. That one is set in 1982... no cell phones, no Internet and spoiled rich kids play Atari TV games!!!! :-)