THE BLOOD OF AN ENGLISHMAN

Kramer and Zondi Mystery #6

by James McClure

The tensions between South Africa's white population and the local British are dramatically increased with the discovery of two the brutal killing of a Black and the mysterious slaying of Edward Hookman, an ex-RAF hero

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Africa

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

James Howe McClure was a British author and journalist best known for his Kramer and Zondi mysteries set in South Africa.

James McClure was born and raised in South Africa and educated in Pietermaritzburg, Natal at Scottsville School (1947–51), Cowan House (1952–54), and Maritzburg College (1955–58). He worked first as a commercial photographer with Tom Sharpe, who later wrote a series of celebrated comic novels, and then as a teacher of English and art at Cowan House in 1959-63, before becoming a crime reporter and photographer for the Natal Witness in his hometown of Pietermaritzburg.

His journalistic career saw him headhunted first by the Natal Mercury and then by the Natal Daily News. After the birth of his first son, he moved to Britain with his family in 1965, where he joined the Scottish Daily Mail as a sub-editor. From there, he moved to the Oxford Mail and then to The Oxford Times.

His first crime novel, The Steam Pig, won the CWA Gold Dagger in 1971. He resigned as deputy editor in 1974 to write full time. He added to his series of police procedurals based on his experiences in South Africa, featuring the detective partnership of Afrikaner Lieutenant Tromp Kramer and Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi.

McClure also wrote a spy novel set in Southern Africa - Rogue Eagle - which won the 1976 CWA Silver Dagger, a number of short stories, and two large non-fiction works that won wide acclaim: Spike Island: Portrait of a Police Division (Liverpool) and Copworld: Inside an American Police Force (San Diego).

After publishing 14 books, he returned to the bottom rung of "The Oxford Times" in 1986, as his police books had made him aware of how much he had missed working with others - his intention being to write in his spare time. What proved his most popular Kramer and Zondi novel then followed, The Song Dog, but journalism soon became all consuming. He became editor in 1994 and three years later The Oxford Times won the Weekly Newspaper of the Year award, beating all comers from across the United Kingdom.

He was promoted to editor of the Oxford Mail in 2000, and spent the next three years on a variety of objectives to enhance the quality and revenue of the county's daily paper. That done, he decided it was time to again step down, and retired to return to writing. He was working on a novel set in Oxford and had just started his own blog when he came down with a respiratory illness and died on 17 June 2006. He lived in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

Reviews

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trojrecenze na tři příběhy vydané v knize 3x Kramer a Zondi

Další vykopávka. Kriminální série inspirovaná 87. revírem, u které je asi nejzajímavější prostředí a doba. Děj se totiž odehrává v sedmdesátých letech v Africe. Autor, James McClure tam nějakou dobu žil, takže tam zasadil svou detektivní sérii, která hodně těží z místní atmosféry a situace.
Je to o to zajímavější, když si to spojíme se studeným sedmdesátkovým stylem, který situace jen popisuje, aniž by je vysvětloval, nebo k nim dodával, co si o tom máte myslet, co je správné a co ne. Rasismus je tu prostě norma a i když je to postavené na černobílé dvojici vyšetřovatelů, ani náhodou si nejsou ti dva rovní. Ano, Kramer svého černého kolegu respektuje a občas se ho u šéfů zastane, ale pokaždé je jasné, kdo je tu šéf a kdo bude dělat horší práci a stěhovat nábytek, když bude třeba. Tenhle suchý způsob popisování situace na mě funguje líp – když mi kniha umožní udělat si názor sám. Ono to i ve výsledku líp funguje. Názory, u kterých máte pocit, že jste k nimi přišli sami (i když vás k nimi kniha nenápadně navedla), jsou pevnější než ty, které vyfasujete hned u vchodu.

Hrdinové nejsou extra sympaťáci a neváhají podezřelým vyhrožovat a manipulovat s nimi. Ostatně, sám Kramer na otázku, co je to psychologie, odpovídá, že je to máchnout nohou, abyste kopli podezřelého do koulí – a zastavit se milimetr od nich. (Což zase není tak daleko od pravdy.) Nehledě na to, že se tam ani vůbec neřeší nějaké nevěry, násilí, vyhrožování podezřelým, krádeže, úplatky…

K sedmdesátým létům patří i úsečné a konfliktní dialogy, které spíš nahazují témata, než že by něco detailně vysvětlovaly. Jak se jen máloco řeší více než půlvětou, tak čtení komplikuje ne vždycky dobrý překlad. Každý román překládal někdo jiný, takže u prvního příběhu člověk většinou nechápe, o čem lidi vůbec mluví, u posledního nechápe, proč lidi takhle mluví… a jen prostřední, který dělal Pavel Medek, po stránce dialogů funguje. Byť i tady by stálo za přečtení v nějakém modernějším překladu.

Po té detektivní stránce je asi nejzajímavější to Goosebery Fool/Až se ucho utrhne, kde přichází i zajímavý zvrat a je vám z toho jasné, že liberálové neměli v JAR zrovna lehký život. Ostatní je už spíš klasika, která je na spoustě míst spíše podehraná, takže často jsou některé zásadní věci řečené jen tak mimochodem, nebo zpětně odvyprávěné. To prostředí a detaily jsou na sérii vážně nejzajímavější. Třeba když si v některých chatrčích dělají ženy klacíkem rýhy do hlíny, aby to připomínalo dřevěnou podlahu, co mají bílí a krajky vystřihují z novin. Nebo že je pro místní muže normální mít jednu městskou a jednu vesnickou manželku. A samozřejmě, pracuje se s tím, že někam má Zondi přístup zakázaný… a někde by zase nechápali, na co se jich ptá Kramer.
Čili – pokud by po tom někdo chtěl sáhnout, tak spíš kvůli tomu prostředí a detailům, než kvůli příběhu.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally back on track in the Kramer and Zondi South African mystery series after a couple piss poor entries. Spoiler alert for any of the whiners that happen to stumble across and read this review. Taking place in 1980 at the height of the apartheid era we find our intrepid investigators investigating a murder (they did not realize obviously how much worse it would get under black rule. You go Nelson Mandela!). In this instance a former WWII RAF pilot is found shot to death in the boot of a car (yeah I know a trunk but we use the location vernacular). Strangely his arms are tied up so tightly his forearms are shattered. Early clues point to a “giant” as the shooter but Lt. Kramer starts to suspect it is misdirection. A complex investigation reveals that several WWII RAF pilots escaped from a Nazi POW camp and all were killed except one of the shooting victims. Lt Kramer with Zondi’s key help discovers the surviving victim is a rancid scumbag that revealed the French Resistance house that helped the RAF pilots once they escaped. As a result everyone in the house was tortured and murdered by the German Gestapo. Kramer realizes this is why he killed his fellow pilot and placed him in the boot of his own car. As it happens the pilot that was murdered is a slight fellow and he was trying to throw off the investigation by claiming he was a “giant.” The suspect is convicted and hung as much for the murder as for being a lying traitorous piece of filth during the war. Sounds like a President America just gave the boot (get it?) to.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book set in South Africa during apartheid. My favorite part was the dry humor, sometimes quite subtle, other times I could see it coming from a mile away, but it still made me smile. I also especially enjoyed the relationship between Kramer and Zondi - their friendship and the respect they had for each other. I found Zondi (the Bantu sergeant) very interesting, in particular how cleverly he interacted with the whites so as not to offend them. Some of the male characters were well developed and interesting, others quite stereotypical, and many of the females were nicely and sensitively developed with empathy and understanding despite the time it was written (80s). The plot had enough twists and turns to keep me interested, and for me the conclusion was unexpected, which I always appreciate in a murder mystery.

[Kamas Kirian · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the weaker entries in the series, but still entertaining. Kramer suffers through a bit of a crisis in reasoning, and ends up in the arms of another woman for awhile. Which are two reasons I didn't care for this story as much. Another is the foreshadowing seemed really obscure. Though I guess readers need to sort through all the chaff to find the few good kernels just like detectives.

The story flowed along somewhat slower than previous installments, but was still interesting. I would have like more of the Widow Fourie and more of Zondi though.

The eBook was formatted well with no obvious spelling or grammatical errors.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot in this Kramer and Zondi lacks substance and, at the end, there is too much telling to explain the convoluted nature of a murder by the guilty party but the novel is carried by the characters and the setting. Even minor characters such as pilot du Plooi and a victim’s wife, Mrs. Bradshaw, are fully three-dimensional. Kramer’s investigation of the murder of an ex-RAAF pilot returned from England and other shootings, has plenty of sidelights and Zondi appeals, but Kramer's relationship with a young woman is unconvincing

[Donald Schopflocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

More satirical about personalities and institutions than in earlier entries in this series; also wittier. But I missed that the mystery did not play off of the unique characteristics of Apartheid South Africa. In fact, the uniquely South African portions involving the Bantu officer Zondi seemed to be mostly filler, though with an authentic feel.

[K. Counihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Story Kind of Out There

It was a good engaging story. Parts of the story though are way out there unbelievable. It moved along at a good pace.

[Bernard Norcott-mahany · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the late 1970s I was a big fan of James McClure's Kramer and Zondi mysteries. Set in South Africa during apartheid, the series served as an indictment of that pernicious system. Kramer is a seasoned professional and an Afrikaner, a lieutenant in the Trekkersburg police force. His driver and assistant is Mickey Zondi, a Zulu. Because of apartheid, the two often work on mysteries from different ends -- Kramer talks with the whites while Zondi speaks with the blacks and coloreds (mixed race or Indian). Kramer has good instincts and often listens to his guts in an investigation, while Zondi is the more methodical, and because of the impoverished nature of schools for blacks and non-whites, he has a photographic memory of just about everything he learned in school, and this comes in handy on cases, as Zondi serves as a database Kramer can count on. Often the Afrikaner front line police are depicted as generally unqualified, but they are shown respect based on their skin color, where Zondi sometimes has to swallow his pride before whites he comes in contact with, and Zondi is clearly an excellent police sergeant who would get a lot more credit in the service of other countries, but not his homeland.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a promising beginning, Kramer loses all interest in the case of the body in the boot--and who can blame him? He realises he's got the wrong end of the stick and all his leads come to nothing. The investigation bogs down about halfway through, and so does the novel. The endgame is well narrated; unfortunately, the big reveal is all tell, no show. The style is less choppy in this installment, but there's a bit too much of it. A good bit of editing would have served him well. Zondi doesn't get much page time in this installment, and yet he seems to have some excellent clues that could help Kramer along. Meanwhile, Kramer is busy occupying his...time...while the widow's away.

[Chazzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a bit to adjust to the style of the author on this book. It also seemed to jump around a little too, in the telling. But I did enjoy the story line and there are some very good twists and turns.

I do like Tromp and his partner, Mickey. It took a little getting used to reading their dialogue as the story takes place in South Africa. Their speech patterns are different and so are their customs and style.

Over all, it is a good read and can keep you tracking along to find out the solution.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good mystery with compelling main characters though I would have liked more interaction between Kramer and Zondi here. The story was well told, the mystery good (perhaps too convoluted), and the South Africa under apartheid context more muted than an earlier book in the series I have read.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detective novel, part of the Zondi and Kramer series, told with tongue-in-cheek racist humour. The reader will enjoy the complex final "solving of the crime" told in convoluted explanation to various characters in the story.

[Davina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snails are in this one. :) Tromp makes a total idiot of himself and it's surprisingly not that fun.

[Jenine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tight installment. The series is an anti-vacation to apartheid South Africa in the 70s. Tromp and Zondi's bromance shines through.