Random Violence

This is an engaging mystery, though there are a couple of flaws. The most noticeable is that the basic plot premise—private investigator who is childhood friend of police officer gets officially invited to be an equal partner in murder investigation—was a bit too far-fetched. (Well, unless South African police attitudes and procedures are significantly different from those in the U.S. and Europe.)

However, if you set those types of things aside, this is a well-plotted mystery that won't be immediately tagged as a clone of a dozen other stories. While the reader will figure out some things ahead of the book's protagonist, there are enough twists and turns to keep your attention. There are also a number of detours into side stories show more for some long-term interest.

Since I'm not South African, I found the setting of the story colorful and fascinating. One word of warning is about the level of violence. The psychopath who inhabits this story is rather gruesome and, though the author doesn't go into extreme detail, she does mention what is done. In a way, this is part of the book's atmosphere: the sense on the part of the upper class that violence is spiraling out of control in South Africa and the drawbridge mentality they have as a reaction to it.

The main character, Jade de Jong, isn't fully developed in this first book but I found her quite appealing and complex: South African but has lived as an expatriate for years while her country changed; willing to work with the police to catch a murderer while planning a bit of revenge execution of her own; underprivileged as a child but the daughter of a famous police officer. I think that it is the character of Jade who will make or break this series. If she continues to flesh out for the reader and maintains her complexity, she will be interesting to follow. show less

Mackenzie thrills again with the next in the Jade De Jong series. Jade, a private detective has recently returned from self-exile in England after needing time to get her head together following her last caper.
She immediately falls back in not only with the criminal underworld informants she had cultivated, but also into a semi-partnership with police detective David Patel. Hoping to stay close to Patel in order to foster a romantic relationship, they find themselves at loggerheads, especially when he admits that he has married and had a child since her absence. The fact that his wife and he are separated only seems to open more wounds for the couple.
Her arrival back in Johannesburg is also timed for the release of a hardened criminal show more that Jade believes was involved in the death of her father—a police commander whose death was set up to look like a simple auto accident—a decade previously. Along with helping Patel solve a possible home invasion style murder that leads to a much more complicated case with multiple victims and a vicious gang of murderers, Jade has her hands full keeping Patel’s new commander off his back as well as keeping from him the knowledge that she has already shot and killed a notorious thug with a gun she was not supposed to have been carrying.
All of this mayhem helps complicate a simple plot. One that is a simple P.I. out does the police at their own game, figures out the bad guy first, girl gets guy in a happy ending. At least the murders and car chases keep us entertained enough to stay interested.
Not quite a page turner, but remarkable nevertheless as the reader is held spell bound by the author’s interpretation of South Africa, the rhythms of her cities, and their cry for help. show less

A woman arrives home late at night. Her remotely operated security gate is not functioning properly, so she must exit her car to manually open it. Four huge, barking, growling dogs come running from inside the gated area gate in greeting, the next line of defense. The final touch is highly charged electrical wire, completely surrounding the home's perimeter. But none of this is any protection against the armed intruder now standing 20 feet down the drive with a pistol pointed at her chest. And so begins this debut novel about life in current day Johannesburg. Security, or the lack of it, is a major theme throughout, as well as the local police force's inability to provide it. We are further introduced to even more security, secure golf show more courses, secure housing developments, private security firms, and start to wonder is this about Johannesburg, or a peek into our future. It is a crime fiction story, and there are murders to be solved, but there are other issues at play as well, including vigilantism. I thought this all was perhaps a bit of exaggeration, then I read Sunday's (5/23/10) Washington Post Travel Section, and started to realize, maybe not.......Enjoyed this very much and eagerly await book #2. Will also check out some other So Afr crime fiction. show less

Mackenzie thrills again with the next in the Jade De Jong series. Jade, a private detective has recently returned from self-exile in England after needing time to get her head together following her last caper.
She immediately falls back in not only with the criminal underworld informants she had cultivated, but also into a semi-partnership with police detective David Patel. Hoping to stay close to Patel in order to foster a romantic relationship, they find themselves at loggerheads, especially when he admits that he has married and had a child since her absence. The fact that his wife and he are separated only seems to open more wounds for the couple.
Her arrival back in Johannesburg is also timed for the release of a hardened criminal show more that Jade believes was involved in the death of her father—a police commander whose death was set up to look like a simple auto accident—a decade previously. Along with helping Patel solve a possible home invasion style murder that leads to a much more complicated case with multiple victims and a vicious gang of murderers, Jade has her hands full keeping Patel’s new commander off his back as well as keeping from him the knowledge that she has already shot and killed a notorious thug with a gun she was not supposed to have been carrying.
All of this mayhem helps complicate a simple plot. One that is a simple P.I. out does the police at their own game, figures out the bad guy first, girl gets guy in a happy ending. At least the murders and car chases keep us entertained enough to stay interested.
Not quite a page turner, but remarkable nevertheless as the reader is held spell bound by the author’s interpretation of South Africa, the rhythms of her cities, and their cry for help. show less

Mackenzie thrills again with the next in the Jade De Jong series. Jade, a private detective has recently returned from self-exile in England after needing time to get her head together following her last caper.
She immediately falls back in not only with the criminal underworld informants she had cultivated, but also into a semi-partnership with police detective David Patel. Hoping to stay close to Patel in order to foster a romantic relationship, they find themselves at loggerheads, especially when he admits that he has married and had a child since her absence. The fact that his wife and he are separated only seems to open more wounds for the couple.
Her arrival back in Johannesburg is also timed for the release of a hardened criminal show more that Jade believes was involved in the death of her father—a police commander whose death was set up to look like a simple auto accident—a decade previously. Along with helping Patel solve a possible home invasion style murder that leads to a much more complicated case with multiple victims and a vicious gang of murderers, Jade has her hands full keeping Patel’s new commander off his back as well as keeping from him the knowledge that she has already shot and killed a notorious thug with a gun she was not supposed to have been carrying.
All of this mayhem helps complicate a simple plot. One that is a simple P.I. out does the police at their own game, figures out the bad guy first, girl gets guy in a happy ending. At least the murders and car chases keep us entertained enough to stay interested.
Not quite a page turner, but remarkable nevertheless as the reader is held spell bound by the author’s interpretation of South Africa, the rhythms of her cities, and their cry for help. show less

After ten years away, PI Jade de Jong returns to Johannesburg to take care of unfinished business and signs on to help the police solve an apparent hi-jacking/murder case. Being home gives her the chance to renew a special friendship but also brings back memories of her police commissioner father and his suspicious death. As the multiple cases converge tables turn, good guys do bad, bad guys do good, and a lead suspect's involvement is questionable right up until the very end. In Random Violence Jassy Mackenzie keeps all these elements in the air while she fills us in on Jade's back-story. I feel I got a full introduction to spunky Jade de Jong in this first book of the series.

I read this book on my kindle after seeing a post about it through the Kindle Daily Posts. What a find! The book takes place in South Africa and features PI Jade DeJong who has just returned to Johannesburg, South Africa after a decade away. She had grown up there, the daughter of the Police Commissioner, and was always interested in investigating crimes. After her father was murdered she left South Africa. Now that she has returned she is committed to taking her revenge on the person who killed him. While she is planning her revenge she is asked to assist the current commissioner, a family friend and a person Jade has feelings for, to help in the investigation of a murder. Through a number of twists and turns you feel Jade's challenge show more of dealing on both sides of the law. The plot is great with lots of twists and turns, the characters are well developed and very real, the relationships between characters are complex, and pace is very fast. This is an author I will follow and hope to see new books in this series! Take a chance and read this one. show less