The Woman in the Blue Cloak

This mystery was only so-so. It was a short book and a quick read; sometimes it's tougher for the author to craft a good story in fewer words. In this case, the mystery just wasn't very engaging, nor was the investigation, and the characters were not well developed. The resolution was a fairly satisfying surprise, but there was no tension leading up to it. Part of the problem is that the translation from Afrikaans was not very well done. There were moments of awkward vocabulary use that interrupted the flow because I had to stop and re-read, trying to figure out what the translator was trying to say. The English translation seemed to be a mix of British English, South African English, and American English, which made for awkward show more reading. I have a feeling that this story would read much better in its original Afrikaans. show less

Thanks to Grove Atlantic Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this eBook. The comments about it are my own.
This is a clever and colourful police procedural murder mystery novella set in the South African city of Cape Town. It introduced me to Benny Griessel, a captain in an elite branch of the South African police known as The Hawks. He and his quirky partner Vaughn Cupido make an unlikely pair of detectives, which helps make the story interesting to read.
The murder mystery involves a woman's naked body found without any identification in a rural area on the city's outskirts. The police investigation is hampered by the body having been rinsed in bleach. The press dubs the case the Bleached Body Homicide. Bernie and show more Cupido follow a trail which eventually leads them to a mysterious art expert, a retired history professor, a reclusive farming family and an unsavoury ex-cop turned private detective. In due course, there's a satisfying conclusion to the mystery.
Benny is as interesting as the murder mystery. He's a recovering alcoholic getting a fresh start, which includes losing weight, taking up cycling and entering a second marriage with another recovering alcoholic. He needs to find money to buy an engagement ring for his fiance and there's an amusing sidebar about him applying for a bank loan.
This story can easily be read as a standalone novel, even though there are several books in the Bernie Griessel series. It has been translated into English from Afrikaans without any loss of readability.
Recommended show less

Originally published in the Netherlands as part of the 2017 Week of the Thriller as a gift book. Then it was published in Meyer’s native South Africa in Afrikaans, then in English in Great Britain, and finally in American for this version. The book qualifies as a novella at 160 pages and 31,000 words.

This entry in the Benny Griessel series opens with an unknown person running for his/her life while being chased by four unknown men. Then a body of a nude woman is found near a highway about 35 miles from Cape Town, South Africa. The body has been washed in bleach and posed atop a stone wall. She is soon identified as an English art historian specializing in the recovery of Dutch Masters paintings. Two detectives, Captain Benny Griessel show more and his partner Vaughn Cupido are assigned the case.

This novella is wonderfully written, and, while a part of a series, reads like a stand-alone book. Meyer keeps the investigation moving and isn’t stingy with giving the readers clues. However, like the detectives in the book, the reader will undoubtedly be surprised at who murdered the victim.

This short book deserves to be on every mystery reader’s TBR shelf. It is a wonderful introduction to the series and you might have just found a new series to read. There is one caveat, however, the translator left some words in the original language which was unfortunate because not all readers will be familiar with Afrikaans and since Meyer may have expected his readers to know what the words meant, the publisher of the American version should have had the words translated. show less

This novella is a little gem that's slow to take off but once the woman's identity is established, it's hard to stop turning the pages. It was just as good to see Benny on the wagon and not craving alcohol as it was to see him working together with Cupido. There's a nice little twist for the whodunit, although it may not be totally unexpected for the more seasoned readers of crime.

#GoodreadsGiveaway

This short novel seems to have been written with the intent of introducing new readers to the Benny Griessel series of novels by South African Deon Meyer. As such it serves the purpose well. We get a feel for the characters and setting both of which would be high on my list of enticements to read the series. This particular plot line however is quite brief. I read another reviewer who indicated that the book felt like half of a novel. I concur with this assessment. I would have enjoyed a few thousand more words added to the plot arc. On balance, though, the book is a quick read (it took me two days) with interesting characters and a fascinating setting. Pick it up and give a South African Crime novel a shot.

A naked woman is found alongside a highway outside of Cape Town, with her body having been washed in bleach to destroy DNA evidence. Benny Griessel of the prestigious Hawks investigative unit is asked to assist. The dead woman turns out to be Alicia Lewis, an art expert, who is trying to find a rare painting by Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt's finest student, not seen since it disappeared from Delft in 1654. Benny and his partner find the two men she had contacted prior to her sudden trip to South Africa: one sleazy and one not.

I was disappointed by this novella, because there was little character development, other than Benny's worries over the cost and provenance of an engagement ring.

Despite the fact that I usually do not like short stories very much, this was a very nice book.
I liked the story, but missed the real complex storylines and the insight in characters etc.