Salamander Cotton

Starred review from September 3, 2007
South African author Kunzmann clearly establishes himself as a major league talent with his second book (after 2006's Bloody Harvests
) to feature Johannesburg DI Jacob Tshabalala. Investigating the savage murder of Bernard Klamm, an elderly mining boss with an extensive collection of child pornography, Tshabalala quickly learns that Klamm is survived by his long-estranged ex-wife, Henrietta Campbell, and that the couple lost their daughter decades earlier to another killer. When Campbell asks the inspector to recommend a private investigator to delve into that old crime, Tshabalala taps a retired officer and friend, Harry Mason. Mason soon becomes the book's central focus as he travels to the isolated site of Klamm's asbestos mines to uncover the solution of both murders. With surprising ease, Kunzmann evokes South Africa of both the 1960s and the early 2000s while building a richly textured police procedural around a twisty but plausible whodunit. Not many authors, let alone new ones, have succeeded as Kunzmann has in creating a three-dimensional world, peopled with memorable characters.

November 1, 2007
Detective Inspector Jacob Tshabalala finds himself with few clues and no one who will talk to him about the murder of a wealthy man burned to death in his reading room. The victim's widow wants a detective to find her daughter, who has been missing for over 30 years. Jacob calls on his former partner, Harry Mason, who has suffered a life crisis following the events of "Bloody Harvests", which was nominated for the CWA 2005 Creasey Memorial Dagger. Once again, Kunzmann brings South Africa to life as Mason is drawn to a farm on the Northern Cape, where vicious men hold sway, people are little valued, and life is brutal for all. A bumpy ride through a part of the world that few see, this gritty and tense police thriller promises readers an excellent series. Kunzmann lives in South Africa.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2007
Kunzmann, a South African resident with a background in criminology, follows up his excellent debut, Bloody Harvests (2006), with this equally successful thriller. A man is horribly murdered (and that isnt just a catchy phrasethe method really was quite horrible), and his wife is convinced the crime has something to do with the disappearance of the victims daughter, three decades ago. Feeling hes a little out of his depth, South African police detective Jacob Tshabalala asks his former partner, Harry Mason, to lend a hand. Soon Harry is thrust once again into a mixed-up world where superstition isnt mere fiction, and the supernatural is very much a reality. Kunzmann proves that his first effort wasnt a fluke: this one is at least as strongly written as its predecessor, avoiding the usual odd couple clich's and rendering its setting and characters with the kind of clarity that comes from years of familiarity with the subject. Not just a worthy follow-up to a fine debut, but a fine crime novel in its own rightand confirmation that this series is a keeper.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)