INTRODUCTION
Every month, Crime Beat updates the Who’s Who of South African Crime Writing to include new names and titles. Forty writers are now featured on the list. During 2008 a debate conducted ont he blog on whether crime fiction shouldn’t rather be called thrillers or even crime thrillers resulted in a slight bias towards the thriller tag although Crime Beat remains doggedly in favour of calling crime fiction just that, crime fiction.
That said, we decided to expand the Who’s Who to include thriller writers and have also added writers working in other official languages. Among these is an appendix of Sepedi detective stories and a link to a critical assessment of their work. The Golden Age of Sepedi crime fiction seems to have coincided with the later apartheid years as the books by these writers ceased in the early 1990s.
The Who’s Who list remains eccentric as the adventure writers – Wilbur Smith, Geoffrey Jenkins, Alan Scholefield, Siegfried Stander, Jon Burmeister – have been included although not all their titles. The slant is still towards South African settings so this (and the thriller label) have brought Gillian Slovo onto the list with the first of her Kate Baeier series, Morbid Symptons and her two thrillers, Betrayal and Red Dust.
Some of the writers now included are not available in English, namely the Afrikaans contingent – Francois Bloemhof, Dirk Jordaan, Harry Kalmer, Riana Mouton, Chanette Paul, Piet Steyn, Quintus van der Merwe – and the highly prolific Meshack Masondo who is well known to thousands of Zulu readers. A short story of his in English can be found in the anthology Bad Company, as is one by Dirk Jordaan.
The Who’s Who also lists the ‘crimefighters’ who have appeared in those novels more closely associated with the crime genre. Again this is an eccentric selection and open to debate.
THE WRITERS A – Z
Muff ANDERSSON
A Johannesburg journalist, Bite of the Banshee was Andersson’s debut fiction venture although she had written an account of popular South African music, Music in the Mix (1981). At the time there was talk of her writing a crime trilogy with number two, ‘Who is Tapping Dimitri Gallo’s Phones’, expected in 2004 although it has yet to appear.
Novel: Bite of the Banshee (2002)
François BLOEMHOF
The proud human ‘pet’ of three cats, Francois Bloemhof is the author of more than 40 Afrikaans books for adults, teenagers and young readers. He has won several prizes for his work. Bloemhof lives with his cats in Durbanville, Cape Town. Only his crime thrillers are listed.
Novels: Die nag het net een oog (1991), Die duiwel se tuin (1993), Koue soen (1994), Bloedbroer (1995), Storieboek (1996), Nagbesoeker (1997), Hostis (1998), Klipgooi (1999), ’n Tweede asem vir Jan A (2001), Spinnerak (2006), Jagseisoen (2007), Rooi Luiperd (2008), Harde Woorde (2009)
Andrew BROWN
Winner of the prestigious 2006 Sunday Times Literary Award. Brown’s novel could probably best be described as straddling two genres, as it is characterised by some lyrical ‘literary’ writing but also features a cop battling his demons. Andrew Brown, an advocate, lives in Cape Town. In August he published a non-fiction crime work, Street Blues: The Experiences of a Reluctant Policeman about his time as a police reservist.
Novel: Coldsleep Lullaby (2005)
Jon BURMEISTER
One of the Eastern Cape’s most successful writers, Burmeister produced more than a dozen high adventure thrillers from The Edge of the Sky (1968) to The Plekhanov Original (1989). His novel Running Scared was made into a movie, Tigers Don’t Cry, starring Anthony Quinn. In 2001 Burmeister died at the age of 68 in a shooting accident at his home.
Of note: Running Scared (1972)
Brandon CARSTENS
A Cape Town resident, Carstens created his own publishing house to launch his (and South Africa’s) first crime graphic novel.
Novel: Project H (2009)
Peter CHURCH
After two decades in the IT industry, Church took time out to write a book. He set it in his home town, Cape Town, and at his old alma mater, UCT.
Novel: Dark Video (2008)
David DISON
A Johannesburg denizen with a considerable reputation as a defamation and media lawyer. On behalf of the Weekly Mail, Dison fought numerous anti-censorship cases during the 1980s and represented detainees at the Delmas Treason Trial. The protagonist in his novel is also a lawyer, a man trying to find his place in the new country.
Novel: Death in the New Republic (2007)
June DRUMMOND
A veteran of the crime scene, June Drummond has garnered an international reputation for her crime novels over four decades. Although many of her novels were set in Britain, a number dealt with the local scene and cast a jaundiced eye on the apartheid state. Only these are listed. She lives in Durban.
Novels: The Black Unicorn (1959), Welcome, Proud Lady (1964), Farewell Party (1971), Slowly the Poison (1975), The Patriots (1979), I Saw Him Die (1979), Junta (1989), Hidden Agenda (1993), Old Bones Buried Under (2007)
Wessel EBERSOHN
Wessel Ebersohn made a considerable impact when his crime novels were launched onto the local scene in the early 1980s, introducing a character, Yudel Gordon, both eccentric and highly likeable for his dogmatic sense of moral indignation. Ebersohn is the editor and, with his wife, founder of Succeed magazine. He lives in Johannesburg.
Novels: A Lonely Place to Die (1979), The Centurion (1980), Store Up the Anger (1980), Divide the Night (1981), Closed Circle (1990), The October Killings (2009)
Barbara ERASMUS
A nomadic freelance journalist who has decided to grow old in Cape Town with a few of the mountain, Erasmus published two novels, Kaleidoscope and Even with Insects, before turning to crime. Her latest novel, Chameleon, first appeared on Crime Beat as a blook. It was then published using ‘print on demand’ technology through Electric Book Works under the Book SA imprint. She is a founding editor of Crime Beat.
Novel: Chameleon (2008)
Barbara FOLSCHER
A well-known TV reporter in the turbulent years of the 1980s and early 1990s, Folscher now gives workshops on business writing at the London Business School. She and her family live in Oxford, UK.
Novel: Blind Faith, (2007)
Tracy GILPIN
A journalist, Gilpin has worked the beat from townships to parliament and more recently was associated with the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg and the Cape Town museum. She lives in Cape Town.
Novel: Double Cross (2008)
Andrew GRAY
With a background in accounting and a job as a legal advisor to a multi-national European industrial conglomerate, it is hardly surprising that Andrew Gray’s debut novel should focus on blood diamonds. For the Pretoria author it is less about the mean streets and more about the mean corridors of corporate power. The Fence was short listed for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize in 2008
Novel: The Fence (2007)
Joanne HICHENS
A graduate of UCT’s Centre of Creative Writing, a short-story writer, a runner-up in a Sanlam competition for youth literature, and a contributor to newspapers and magazines. She compiled and edited the first ever anthology of South African crime stories, Bad Company (2009), and writes a monthly column, From the Hip, for Crime Beat. Hichens lives in Muizenberg.
Novel: Out to Score (with Mike Nicol) (2006)
Geoffrey JENKINS
A life-long interest in sailing went to fuel many of the plots of Jenkins’ best-selling adventure thrillers which date from A Twist of Sand (1957) to A Daystar of Fear (1994). As a journalist he worked in Britain, South Africa and Zimbabwe and during this time formed a close relationship with Ian Fleming. After Fleming’s death he was commissioned to write a sequel to one of the James Bond books but it was rejected and is believed lost. Jenkins died in 2001 at the age 81.
Of note: A Daystar of Fear (1994)
Dirk JORDAAN
With a fellow journalist and writer as his partner, and a household comprising two cats, three dogs, four guitars and two motorcycles, Jordaan, is among the forerunners in the new Afrikaans crime novel. His debut, Die Jakkalssomer, received high accolades in 2007.
Novel: Die Jakkalssomer (2007)
Sarah LOTZ
Although her first novel, Pompidou Posse, was not a crime novel, Cape Town resident and television script writer Lotz has shifted to the genre with her second novel, for want of a better description, a legal thriller.
Novel: Exhibit A (2009)
Harry KALMER
Better known as a dramatist, short story writer, and novelist, Kalmer has also garnered a reputation (often misunderstood according to his fellow authors) as a thriller writer.
Novels: X-Ray Visagie en die Vingers van God (1993), Kniediep (1998), which appeared in English as Killing Afrikaners (1998), and En die lekkerste deel van dood wees (2008)
Tim KEEGAN
A Cape Town historian turned novelist, he decided to parody a genre that teeters close to the edge of parody anyhow and whacked in with a romp of larger than life characters. More lunacy is scheduled.
Novel: Tromp’s Last Stand (2007)
Richard KUNZMANN
According to the biog notes on his book jackets, Kunzmann has a passion for African myths and mythologies and a degree in criminology. Certainly these obsessions have filtered into his novels with muti killings playing a large part in Blood Harvests. When his first novel was published he was working as a bookseller in London, then moved back to Johannesburg, and is now back in London.
Novels: Bloody Harvests (2005), Salamander Cotton (2006), Dead-End Road (2008)
Jassy MACKENZIE
A contributor to a number of national and international publications on a wide variety of topics, she is a convinced Jozi fan, believing there is no better place for a thriller writer to live. Mackenzie writes a monthly column, Thriller Talk, for Crime Beat.
Novel: Random Violence (2008), My Brother’s Keeper (2009)
Arthur MAIMANE
A journalist who rose to prominence during the 1950s on Drum magazine, Maimane’s short stories brought a Philip Marlowe-like private investigator on to the local scene. Maimane went into exile in the early 1960s. He lived in London and his career included stints at Reuters, the BBC and ITV. In 1990 he returned to South Africa but eleven years later decided that he was more at home in London. He died there in June 2005. His crime short stories published in Drum in the 1950s remain uncollected.
Angela MAKHOLWA
A PR consultant with her own agency, Makholwa lives in Johannesburg with her son and a dog called Napoleon.
Novel: Red Ink (2007)
Rob MARSH
Journalist, broadcaster, author of two true crime books, With Criminal Intent and Famous South African Crimes, Marsh entered the crime fiction scene with a story of murder, robbery and deceit. He lives in Johannesburg.
Novel: The Serpent Under (2003), Birds of Prey (2009)
Meshack MASONDO
Unless you are Zulu you’ve probably not heard of Masondo who has a slew of crime novels to his name. He is much degreed with an MA dissertation on ‘The detective novel in Zulu: Form and theme in C.T. Msimang’s Walivuma Icala’. Currently he works as a publishing manager with Macmillan in Johannesburg.
Novels: Iphisi Nezinyoka (1990), Isigcawu Senkantolo (1990), Ingwe Nengonyama (1994), Ingalo Yomthetho (1994), Kanti Nawe? ( 1995), and Ngaze Ngazenza (1994).
James McCLURE
Without doubt the founder of crime fiction in South Africa and its most internationally respected exponent – although Deon Meyer is rapidly ascending these heights – McClure left the country in the mid-1960s to settle in Oxford where he worked as a journalist. His Kramer and Zondi series remain essential reading for anyone interested in local crime fiction. McClure died in August 2006.
Novels: The Steam Pig (1971), The Caterpillar Cop (1972), The Gooseberry Fool (1974), Snake (1975), The Sunday Hangman (1977), The Blood of an Englishman (1980), The Artful Egg (1984), The Song Dog (1991)
Deon MEYER
A motorbike enthusiast with a liking for open Karoo roads, Deon Meyer’s crime fiction has included a chase thriller that featured motorbikes to great effect but he is more likely to delve into a range of criminal activities that extend from rape and serial killings, to prostitution, paedophilia and drugs. His characters are flawed but empathetic cops and the version of his home town, Cape Town, that haunts many of his novels is as alive and often as damaged as his antiheroes.
Novels: Dead Before Dying (1999), Dead At Daybreak (2000), Heart of the Hunter (2004), Devil’s Peak (2007), Blood Safari (2008)
Riana MOUTON
Heralded as one of the pioneering female crime fiction writers of recent times, Mouton is a fulltime author who recently spent some months in New Zealand researching her next novel.
Novel: Reuk van die Dood (2008)
Mike NICOL
A journalist, author of a number of novels and works of non-fiction, he lives down the Cape peninsula in the windy Glencairn Heights.
Novels: Out to Score (with Joanne Hichens) (2006), Payback (2008), Killer Country (2010)
Malla NUNN
With a reputation as a director of three short films preceding her, Nunn, now living in Australia hit the international scene with her first crime novel set in 1950s South Africa. She was born in Swaziland.
Novel: A Beautiful Place to Die (2009)
Margie ORFORD
Journalist, sometime filmmaker, editor, writer of children’s fiction and books of non-fiction, Orford brought her journalist and part-time police profiler Clare Hart onto a Cape Town scene stacking up with serial killings. The second book is set largely in Namibia where Orford grew up. She lives in Cape Town’s city bowl.
Novels: Like Clockwork (2006), Blood Rose (2007), Daddy’s Girl (2009)
A L PATTERSON
From Johannesburg, Amanda Patterson, heads up the successful writing school, The Write Company, where she also teaches various courses.
Novel: I See the Moon (2003)
Chanette PAUL
In her 13-year writing career that has produced 31 books, Chanette Paul has experimented with a number of genres while writing romances to keep the pot boiling. Recently she found her true niche, romantic suspense – albeit a quirky interpretation of the genre. She lives in a cottage on the banks of the Kleine River, Stanford. She is Crime Beat’s Afrikaans editor.
Novels: Wip van die droomvanger (1999), Springgety (2007), Fortuin (2008), Boheem (2009)
Margaret PENROSE
Margaret Penrose (pseudonym for Margaret Errington) made a brief entry into the crime scene through the UK publisher John Long but after two books put away her pen and paper. Her characters are amateur sleuths who get drawn into the fallout from dastardly deeds. She lives in Pinelands.
Novels: Death on the File (1961), The Fatal Fifth (1963)
Sue RABIE
A senior school librarian at St Charles College, she came to thriller fiction after a publisher told her that there was a market for such books. She lives in Pietermaritzburg.
Novel: The Boston Snowplough (2008), Blood at Bay (2010)
Alan SCHOLEFIELD
One of Queens College’s more illustrious students, Alan Scholefield now lives in England where he started his prolific career as a writer in 1951. He has produced over 30 thrillers, the most famous of which revolve around the activities of the British Metropolitan Police. Dirty Washing was the first in the series of five which feature the tough uncompromising Detective Superintendent Gordon Macrae and his suave, intellectual sidekick Leopold Silver. An earlier thriller, Venom was released as a movie in 1981.
Of note: Dirty Washing (1990)
Gillian SLOVO
She’s a South African by birth but has lived in the UK since 1964, and has a long list of novels to her credit, only a few of which have South African settings. In 1984 she produced the first of her Kate Baeier series, a London-based PI with Portuguese roots. In the first book, Morbid Symptoms, the political background concerns apartheid’s reach into England. She has also written two SA-based political thrillers, one of which, Red Dust, was made into a movie with the same title.
Novels: Morbid Symptons (1984), The Betrayal (1991), Red Dust (2000)
Roger SMITH
Johannesburg by birth and now settled in the crime fiction capital, Cape Town, Smith has written, produced and directed film and TV. His credits as a screenwriter are numerous and his work is seen regularly on African television.
Novel: Mixed Blood (2009)
Wilbur SMITH
Winner of the prestigious British Book Life Achievement Award in 1996, Smith has always drawn on his African roots while establishing himself as a top international best-selling author. He has written over 30 novels, most of which are family sagas spread across Africa from colonial Rhodesia to the dynasties of Egypt. His novels included successful stand-alone thrillers such as Shout at the Devil (1968) and Cry Wolf (1976) which have translated well into block-busters on the big screen.
Of note: When the Lion Feeds (1964)
Siegfried STANDER
Growing up in a dorp didn’t prevent Stander from writing on a range of subjects, including political thrillers such as Into the Winter and The Fortress, which deal with tensions arising from colonialism. He is also noted for his collaborations with heart surgeon Chris Barnard which include Night Season and The Unwanted.
Of note: Flight from the Hunter (1977)
Michael STANLEY
Actually the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, two retired academics – Sears a mathematician, Trollip an educational psychologist – with a love of Botswana where their first Inspector Kubu novel is set.
Novel: A Carrion Death (2008), A Deadly Trade (2009)
Piet STEYN
Among his careers, Steyn lists navigator, miner, mathematics teacher, rugby coach and school principal. When asked how he actually became a writer, he replies: ‘I think it was the times I tried to teach in England that made me think of murder stories.’
Novel: Snoeisker (2008), Bottelnek (2009)
Jane TAYLOR
An academic and collaborator with William Kentridge and writer of the script for Ubu and the Truth Commission and the libretto for The Confessions of Zeno. She peopled her debut crime plot with academics, chiefs, corrupt businessmen, sangomas, ex-security policemen and car guards. She lives in Murdoch Valley outside Simon’s Town.
Novel: Of Wild Dogs (2005)
Diale TLHOLWE
After his legal studies were interrupted during the turbulent 1980s, he worked as a clerk in a metal company, then as a teacher, joined the Argus cadet school but later became a client and local government liaison officer for a consultancy company. He lives in Spruitview, Ekurhuleni.
Novel: Ancient Rites (2008)
Quintus VAN DER MERWE
Once a diplomat in various west African countries, Van der Merwe now works for the Western Cape Provincial government and lives in Cape Town. A newcomer to the thriller scene, currently at work on his second novel.
Novel: Die Blou van ons Hemel (2007)
THE CRIMEFIGHTERS
Georgie ALLEN (lawyer) created by Sarah Lotz and appears in Exhibit A
Kate BAEIER (private investigator) created by Gillian Slovo appears in Morbid Symptoms
David ‘Kubu’ BENGU (cop) created by Michael Stanley and features in A Carrion Death and A Deadly Trade
Mace BISHOP (security operator) created by Mike Nicol and features in Payback and Killer Country
Lennie BRYANT (potter and amateur sleuth) created by June Drummond and features in Farewell Party.
Abigail BUKULA (lawyer) created by Wessel Ebersohn and features in The October Killings
Pylon BUSO (security operator) created by Mike Nicol and features in Payback and Killer Country
Emmanuel COOPER (detective sergeant) created by Malla Nunn and appears in A Beautiful Place to Die
Jade DE JONG (private investigator) created by Jassy Mackenzie and features in Random Violence
EMMIE (a housekeeper and amateur sleuth) created by June Drummond and features in The Black Unicorn
Maurice FABER (political campaign manager and amateur sleuth) created by June Drummond and features in her political crime thriller, The Patriots
Riedwaan FAIZAL (cop) created by Margie Orford and features in her three novels.
Eberard FEBRUARIE (cop) created by Andrew Brown and features in Coldsleep Lullaby. Also makes a guest appearance in Margie Orford’s Blood Rose
Yudel GORDON (a prison psychologist and co-opted investigator) created by Wessel Ebersohn and features in A Lonely Place to Die, Divide the Night, Closed Circle and The October Killings
Benny GRIESSEL (cop) created by Deon Meyer and features in Dead at Daybreak and Devil’s Peak.
Clare HART (journalist and part-time police profiler) created by Margie Orford and features in her three novels.
Sam HART (police inspector) created by Brandon Carstens and features in his graphic novel, Project H
Mat JOUBERT (cop) created by Deon Meyer features in Dead Before Dying, with walk-on parts in other Meyer novels.
Nick KENYON (paramedic) created by Jassy Mackenzie and features in My Brother’s Keeper
Lucy KHAMBULE (journalist cum PR consultant) created by Angela Makholwa and features in Red Ink.
Jan KLEIN (lawyer and legal advisor to government) created by Andrew Gray and features in The Fence.
Tromp KRAMER (cop) created by James McClure and features in the listed novels.
LEMMER (body guard) created by Deon Meyer and features in Blood Safari.
MK MAKATINI (cop) created by Muff Andersson and together with former super spy Philemon Skosana and amateur sleuth Abby Moeketsi appears in Bite of the Banshee.
Thabang MAJE (private investigator) also known as Tichere. Created by Diale Tlholwe and features in Ancient Rites
Justice MARAPEDI (cop) created by Angela Makholwa and featured in Red Ink.
Harry MASON (cop) created by Richard Kunzmann and features in his two novels, Bloody Harvests and Dead-End Road as a cop and as a PI in Salamander Cotton.
Cicero MATYOBENI (cop) along with Ewan Christopher(journalist) and Helena de Villiers (pathologist) created by Jane Taylor and feature in Of Wild Dogs.
Craig McCLOUD (detective) created by A L Patterson and featured in I See the Moon
Ross McCRAE (computernik) created by June Drummond and features in her political thriller, Junta.
Mullet MENDES (ex-cop turned private investigator) created by Mike Nicol and features in Out to Score.
Fred MESSINA (insurance investigator) created by June Drummond and features in I Saw Him Die.
O Chester MORENA aka the Chief (private detective) created by Arthur Maimane and features in a number of serialised stories in Drum magazine during the 1950s.
Thobela MPAYIPHELI (former MK guerrilla forced into vigilantism) created by Deon Meyer features in Heart of the Hunter and Devil’s Peak.
Lamla NGWEMA (cop) created by Francois Bloemhof features in Rooi Luiperd.
Gys NIEMAND (detective) and his youthful sidekick, Faantjie Fortuin, created by Chanette Paul feature in her novels Springgety, Fortuin and Boheem.
Jerome Michael NOSSEL (lawyer) created by David Dison and features in Death in the New Republic.
James PORBEAGLE (a university lecturer turned sleuth) created by June Drummond and features in Welcome, Proud Lady.
Philip RENNIE (accountant and amateur sleuth) created by June Drummond and features in Slowly The Poison.
Vincent SALDANA (ex-cop turned private investigator) created by Joanne Hichens and features in Out to Score.
Neil SCALLAN (amateur sleuth) created by June Drummond and features in Hidden Agenda.
Junior SCHEEPERS (cop) created by Riana Mouton and features in Reuk van die Dood.
Mark STEYN (cop) created by Francois Bloemhof features in Rooi Luiperd.
John THORNEYCROFT (cop) created by June Drummond and features in Loose Cannon (a 2003 novel set in the UK) and Old Bones Buried Under.
Jake TROMP (cop) created by Tim Keegan and features in Tromp’s Last Stand.
Jacob TSHABALALA (cop) created by Richard Kunzmann and features in his three novels.
Alma VAN DER POOL, (cop) the first female detective in Afrikaans, created by Francois Bloemhof features in Spinnerak and Jagseison
Zatopek VAN HEERDEN (cop) created by Deon Meyer and features in Dead at Daybreak.
Mickey ZONDI (cop) created by James McClure and features in the listed novels.
Appendix
Sepedi crime fiction as detailed by Professor M J Mojalefa. For his paper click here
‘By 1998, only twenty-two detective stories had been published in Sepedi, twelve of which are short stories. These are Tšhipu e rile ke lebelo (Moloto, 1962), Lenong la Gauta (Bopape, 1982), Leabela le a fetiša (Maphoto, 1983), Letlapa la Bophelo (Moloto, 1983), Nonyana ya Tokologo (Kekana, 1984), Etshwang Mare (Mothapo, 1986), Nnete Fela (Kekana, 1989), Sesasedi sa katlego (Kekana, 1990), Ga se nna mmolai (Maputla, 1991), and Kepisi ya lephodisa (Mojalefa, 1998). The following are examples of detective short stories in Sepedi: “Tšhelete ya sepoko” and “Moloi ga a na mmala” from the collection Molomatsebe (Ramaila, 1951), “Serapeng sa Badimo” from the collection Hlokwa-la-tsela (Matlala, 1969), “Ralato 1-5” from the collection Nka se lebale (Motuku & Ramokgopa, 1972), “Tšhipu e rile ke lebelo” from the collection Seswai sa dita- Literator 28(1) April 2007, Mystery in Sepedi detective stories Banatodi (Ngoepe, 1980), “Moloko ga o fahlwe ka moka” from the collection Lerole la Bjaša (Tlooke, 1987) and “Bomahlwabadibona” and “Ntlo ya monna yo mongwe” by P.M. Lebopa from the collection Makhura’ lefehlo (Mampuru, 1991).
© Mike Nicol, 2009
