Zeit der Finsternis. Ein Fall für Emmanuel Cooper

Detective Emmanuel Cooper #4

by Malla Nunn, Else Laudan (Translator), B. Szelinski (Translator)

Im zutiefst korrupten Apartheidstaat Südafrika 1953: Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper hat sich nach Johannesburg versetzen lassen, um hier mit seiner heimlichen Familie ein Doppelleben zu führen, von dem keiner seiner Kollegen etwas ahnen darf, schon gar nicht sein argwöhnischer Vorgesetzter Lieutenant Walter Mason. Andernfalls droht Cooper Berufsverbot und Gefängnis, ganz zu schweigen von den Repressalien, die seine farbige Frau und ihre kleine Tochter zu erwarten hätten: Die Rassentrennungsgesetze sind gnadenlos. Er muss also extrem behutsam lavieren.

Als im Villenviertel ein weißes Ehepaar überfallen wird, geraten seine Loyalitäten auf den Prüfstand. Cooper kann nicht glauben, dass Constable Shabalalas Sohn ein Raubmörder sein soll. Doch für seine Kollegen ist der Fall klar: Wenn ein weißes Mädchen einen Zulu-Jungen beschuldigt, gibt es kein Zweifeln. Schon gar nicht direkt vor der Urlaubszeit. Cooper wird kurzerhand kaltgestellt. Und riskiert alles.

Malla Nunns Romane aus dem Herzen einer repressiven, zutiefst patriarchalen Kolonialgesellschaft kombinieren das unbeschwerte Vergnügen fulminanter historischer Kriminal¬romane – historische Genauigkeit, stringente Plotführung und mitreißend geschilderte Auseinandersetzungen – mit tiefen Einsichten über die Art, wie Menschen sich in Gesellschaft positionieren, worauf sie mit Angst, mit Anpassung, mit Aggression oder mit gesteigerter Kompetenzbildung reagieren. Das ist große Literatur, mitten im Genre.

»Nunn ist eine Meisterin darin, die Unterdrückung noch in der leisesten Körpersprache darzustellen. Eine starke Schreibe, aus der der Duft der Regenzeit des südlichen Afrikas aufsteigt.« Christiane Müller-Lohbeck, taz

»Behutsam, fein und klug: Nunn.« KrimiZEIT-Bestenliste

»Ein zutiefst fesselndes und hypnotisches Leseerlebnis, getränkt mit der Atmosphäre Südafrikas in den 1950ern.« Mike Nicol, Autor der Rache-Trilogie

Genres: Mystery, Africa, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime, South Africa, Mystery Thriller

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2014

About the author

Malla Nunn grew up in Swaziland before moving with her parents to Perth in the 1970s. She attended university in WA and then in the US. In New York, she worked on film sets, wrote her first screenplay and met her American husband to be, before returning to Australia, where she began writing and directing short films and corporate videos. Fade to White, Sweetbreeze and Servant of the Ancestors have won numerous awards and been shown at international film festivals, from Zanzibar to New York.

Her first novel, A Beautiful Place to Die (2008), was published internationally and won the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Novel by an Australian female author. Malla and her husband live in Sydney with their two children.

Reviews

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75★
Went into this one blind for a group reading challenge with no prior knowledge of the author or the series and ended up enjoying this mystery-crime novel set in 1953 Johannesburg in the heartless and unforgiving times of South Africa’s apartheid.
Amidst police corruption a couple have been beaten and left for dead and the culprit identified—an open and shut case? Sargent Emmanuel Cooper thinks not.
I liked the interaction of friendship, loyalty, and trust between the detective and his two friends—Dr. Daniel Zweigman, a Jewish doctor with Holocaust experience and Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala.
Although the mystery’s answer seemed transparent the journey getting there was the reward. I might have enjoyed it even more had I read the first books and had a better feel and knowledge of the characters and their history.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apartheid in 1950s Johannesburg and corruption and violence are a way of life for those who are not white and must survive in a difficult world. But also for the police who have the power to cover up what they want. Emmanuel Cooper's new boss, born-again righteous Lieutenant Mason is one such policeman. When a respectable white couple are viciously attacked in their home just before Christmas, and a teenage Zulu schoolboy is identified by the couple's daughter as the attacker, Mason arrests Aaron Shabalala, youngest son of Cooper's friend DC Samuel Shabalala. Cooper knows that Mason has probably planted the 'proof' that everyone is happy to accept so they can wrap up the case and go on their holidays, so he and Shabalala set out to investigate themselves.

Malla Nunn has painted a grim picture of Apartheid in South Africa. The underworld of Sophiatown, the slum where Cooper grew up is dark and gritty with the smell of fear and violence permeating the bars and dance halls. Cooper, with his illegal non-white mistress and child also lives in fear of discovery, particularly by his boss Mason who has an unhealthy interest in Cooper's personal life. Cooper's investigation will also take him to a dry, dusty farm on the outskirts of Pretoria where a white woman is struggling to keep her family going after the death of their father and there is a fight over who controls the life giving waters of the river that borders her property.

It's the atmosphere of this series and the dangers of being on the wrong side of the colour bar that make these books such compelling reading, as well as the strong characters and their moral sense of justice. It's very sad indeed that this is probably the last book in this excellent series.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johannesburg in 1953 was full of corruption on all levels – the division between the whites and non-whites was as wide as it had ever been. Apartheid in South Africa was in full swing and Detective Emmanuel Cooper was in the thick of it. When the call came through about a white couple having been assaulted in the most violent of manners it was only five days until Christmas; five days until the majority of the Detective Branch police were on leave for long awaited holidays.

But the immediate identification by the couple’s daughter of two young Zulu teenagers as the perpetrators had Emmanuel tense and worried – one of the boys was Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala’s youngest son, Aaron – he knew Aaron wouldn’t have done this; how would he pass the news to his best friend about his son? But the evidence was mounting – Emmanuel was determined, along with Shabalala and their good friend Dr Daniel Zweigman to find the truth before it was too late.

As their covert investigation deepened, the corrupt and violent world of Sophiatown’s hidden agenda threatened their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Not sure if they could trust anyone but themselves, the search for justice was stymied in every direction. And little did they know there was more, much more at stake than they realized. Would they manage to find what they searched for before the deadline passed?

I absolutely loved this fourth (and final – so far, the author says) novel in the Detective Emmanuel Cooper series. As brilliant as the first three, I’m sad to farewell the characters of Aussie author Malla Nunn’s imagination. The three main characters are well-crafted and incredibly real but I must say I thoroughly enjoy the character of the Scottish sergeant major as well! He always makes me smile. Gripping and intense, the words flow easily from the pages until the satisfying conclusion. I have no hesitation in recommending Present Darkness plus the previous in the series very highly.

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author can certainly write and so far I have loved all of her books. I have lived in South Africa and know the Johannesburg area well and be assured that her descriptions of the scenery and the atmosphere are spot on. I can breathe in and almost smell the countryside as I read her words. Of course as a fan of mysteries and of police novels this series pulls me in anyway. I read this book in one sitting. It was excellent.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prostitute is kidnapped. A white couple is critically beaten, and their daughter names two black students as the attackers, one of whom is the son of Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper's good friend Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala. Cooper quickly realizes that the crime is simply too neat and decides to disobey his police boss by investigating on his own, especially since he owes Shabalala his life. His investigation takes him back into the mixed-race slum, where he was raised as a "white kaffir." Cooper is a superb and complex character, who seeks justice for those whom apartheid law has abandoned. His mission is complicated by the need to hide his private life: a mixed race, common law wife (of a wealthy white man) and their daughter. Cooper's partnership with the Zulu constable and their Jewish doctor friend is terrific.

I particularly like the South African setting and Nunn's descriptive writing, which is often cinematic: the tension between the races, the disparity in living standards, scenes in the city and the veldt, the corruption of the authorities. Even the words spoken by characters seem very real. Eagerly looking forward to book #5, but start at the beginning of the series. 4.5 stars.

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was an excellent and fascinating crime series set in the 50s South Africa during Apartheid, a shame it ended with 4 books but the finale was very satisfying.

Listened to the audio version. Fantastic narrator.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 5 out of 5]

Present Darkness is the fourth superb instalment in Malla Nunn's Detective Emmanuel Cooper series. This unique crime series, set during the 1950's in apartheid ruled South Africa, has become one of my favourites, and Present Darkness is Nunn's best yet.

It is a few days before Christmas, 1953 and Cooper is fast losing patience with his colleagues in the Johannesburg major crimes squad. While the temporary transfer from Durban allows him to see Davida and their baby daughter Rebekah every day, he is wary of his boss, Lieutenant Walter Mason who seems far to interested in what Cooper does in his off time. Called to a vicious beating of a white couple, a high school principal and a secretary at the office of land management, Cooper is surprised when their teenage daughter blames Aaron Shabalala, the youngest son of his best friend and Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala, for the brutal attack. From the first things don't seem to add up, but Mason isn't interested in Cooper's doubts and insists the girls identification closes the case. Cooper, who owes Shabalala his life, can't let it rest though and with the help of Dr. Daniel Zweigman, he begins an investigation of his own.

Cooper's inquiry leads him from the violent slum in which he was raised to a dusty farm on the outskirts of Pretoria. He encounters thieves, corrupt cops, pimps, murderers and an abducted prostitute in his drive to prove Aaron Shabalala's innocence. Full of twists and turns, complicated by Cooper's need to avoid alerting Mason to his unsanctioned investigation and his desire to protect his family, the plot is fast-paced and tension filled. Cooper, as always, follows the evidence wherever it leads him, no matter the threat or danger, ably assisted by Shabalala and Zweigman.

As I've written before, the cultural framework of the novel is what really sets this series apart from other crime fiction I have read. Apartheid affects every facet of life for South Africans, and Nunn doesn't shy away from exposing the appalling inequalities of the period. Having experienced life on both sides of the colour line, Cooper is more aware of the arbitrary injustice based on skin colour than most and refuses to let apartheid compromise his job or his personal life. In 1953, Cooper's relationship with Davida, a mixed race woman, is illegal and he is conscious that she, and their daughter, is a vulnerability his enemies could easily exploit.

As with Nunn's last book, Silent Valley (published in the US as Blessed Are the Dead), I read Present Darkness in single sitting. Skilfully crafted with an intriguing plot and superb characterisation, Malla Nunn's Detective Emmanuel Cooper series should be on everybody's reading list.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

There has always been a strong instructive element in the Emmanuel Cooper series. Apartheid South Africa is a world that we know existed, even know some details about, but what it was like actually living in that regime, particularly when you're not definitely part of the elite? Well that's where this series comes in.

One of the great strengths of the books is the way that the world that Cooper and his compatriots occupy has been expanding. This is a series that could be read out of sequence but will work much better if you can follow them in order. The progression steers the reader through the stark and quite mind-boggling viciousness of the apartheid regime. The way that the colour of your skin affects absolutely every aspect of your life. Including, most poignantly in PRESENT DARKNESS, who you love, and the children that you cherish.

The central device of the plot - the assault of a respectable, white couple, laid squarely on the shoulders of black youth, with very little in the way of investigation, and some decidedly dodgy behaviour from local police - works well, and sadly feels all too real. That tension between the races, the difference in living standards - the white neighbourhood of the assault, versus the township of Cooper's youth are described wonderfully - not in too many words, but in the reactions of the characters, the complications of adjustment. The corruption of the authorities, and the powerlessness imposed by Apartheid are laid out elegantly, spread through the story with a deft touch, making the whole situation more profoundly moving than a lecture ever could.

Nunn has a visual way of writing that doesn't come across as a screenplay in the making, rather it pulls the reader into the townships, and the dust, and the tension and fear that sits at the back of every non-authority figure throughout the entire story. You can feel and see Cooper's worry about his little family's fate and his guilt at his complicity in getting them into this situation. You can see and feel Shabalala's quiet pain and dignity in the face of his son's fate. You can see the bush and the flight and plight of women taken or put in such difficult places.

We're fortunate indeed that writers like Malla Nunn are here, working on books like PRESENT DARKNESS. This is crime fiction that goes into an area of human behaviour and a history that needs to be held up to the light, remembered, examined and understood.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Det. Emmanuel Cooper is living in dangerous times with too many dangerous secrets in apartheid South Africa of the 50s. The talented police man is not only mixed race, and passing as white, but he is in love and living with his mixed race woman and their child. Both of whom are black.

And the challenge are coming. A white couple have been assaulted and left for dead. The only survivor of the attack is the daughter — who tells them her parents had hosted two black students for dinner and that one of them returned to attack them: Aaron Shabalala, the youngest son of Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala, Cooper's friend.

And the boy is hiding something that he feels so strongly about he is willing to face trial. Could he be the secret lover of the girl or ???

Now its up to Cooper to ferret out the clues to what happened that night and put the case together, all while hiding his own potentially deadly secrets. Can he do it?

In the hands of Malla Nunn, this is a story of multiple layers, gangsters and crooked police, and twists at every turn. Her characters are three-dimensional and realistic, the stories compelling and the reading is a rich delight.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Ir´s a pity she didn´t write any more of the series...

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Present Darkness is Malla Nunn’s fourth entry in the Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper series and is an excellent continuation of the series.
It’s the 1950’s in South Africa and Apartheid has taken its vicious hold. Detective Sergeant Cooper has managed a temporary transfer from Durban to Johannesburg for personal reasons. The price he must pay is reporting to the angry, religiously fanatic Lieutenant Mason who applies the Apartheid rules with a vengeance.
Cooper is called to assist in the investigation of the savage beating of a well-to-do white couple. The couple’s teenage daughter identifies Aaron Shabalala as their attacker. Aaron is the son of black Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala, Cooper’s friend, and a man who has once saved his life.
Cooper’s superiors are satisfied that they have the guilty party and break off any further investigation. However, Cooper believes the evidence doesn’t support the daughter’s story. He’s determined to uncover the facts and free his friend’s son, even though the young man won’t speak up for himself. Cooper, Shabalala and their friend, Dr. Daniel Zwiegman set out to discover the truth and their search takes them into the underbelly of Johannesburg and the worst it has to offer: drugs, gangs, prostitution and abject poverty.
Malla Nunn’s previous Cooper books were stark portrayals of the darkness of Apartheid and its dehumanizing effects. In Present Darkness she succeeds again in wringing drama from that terrible scourge.
Money and power allow some to flout the laws, while applying them with a heavy hand when they choose. To combat these people, Cooper and his friends must occasionally go outside those same laws, and rely on unsavory types to gain an advantage or discover information. Nunn does an outstanding job illustrating how Cooper and his friends serve justice by delving into these areas and living with the consequences of their actions.
Nunn writes with a sure hand. Her portrayal of Apartheid, the insidious way it turned people against one another, and the manner in which some found kindness in spite of it is entirely authentic. Her characters are multi-dimensional and complex, and even angry Mason reveals some humanity. Present Darkness flows smoothly with plenty of drama and culminates in a satisfying climax. It should leave Nunn’s fans watching excitedly for the next Cooper novel.
Rating: A-

[Gloria Feit · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth entry in the series featuring South African detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper brings vividly to life the rigid apartheid system in the country in 1953. Although those laws were abolished over twenty years ago, the author places the reader squarely into that reality, the dichotomy made very clear.

Emmanuel has obtained a short-term transfer from the coastal city of Durban to Jo’burg. His first assignment has him paired with Lieutenant Walter Ramos, fresh out of undercover work, in what proves to be a very testy relationship. The case involves an upscale white couple who have been savagely beaten and left for dead in their home, their Mercedes auto stolen. The couple’s young daughter identifies one of the culprits as a young man who is the son of Cooper’s best friend, a man to whom he owes his life ago, but Cooper is certain she is lying. When the boy has no alibi for the night in question, proving his innocence is a formidable task. Joined in his investigation is the boy’s father, Zulu Detective Samuel Shabalala, and their trusted friend, Dr. Daniel Zweigman, a German who had survived the war in Buchenwald but not before losing all three of his children. Cooper himself had been a combat soldier during the war, and was raised in a slum “populated for the most part by black Africans, [it] also contained a smattering of Jews, Indians and mixed race couples intent on breeding brown-skinned children. Sophiatown defied the racial segregation laws.” The three make for an imposing team.

The laws of the time made interracial relationships illegal, and all blacks were legally required to carry a passbook on them at all times, which must contain the bearer’s name, place of origin and photograph. Cooper finds himself “a lying European detective sergeant with a mixed-race woman and daughter stashed away from public view,” who broke the law every day. “He was, in reality, already across the line that divided the dirty cops from the clean ones,” but a better cop than most, and won’t leave the case unsolved, whatever barriers, be they his superiors or corrupt cops, even if they might be one and the same. Wonderfully-plotted and –written, suspense-filled to the very end, this was another terrific book in the series, and is highly recommended.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the dialogue and description were (in my view) a bit melodramatic and clunky, this was a really interesting, and disturbing, novel set in the early years of South African apartheid. The story dramatizes the deep racial divisions and legal separation of the races in a way that textbooks can't - it made me want to rewatch District 9.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s Southern Cross Crime Month at Reading Matters, and my choice of Present Darkness by Swazi-born, Sydney-based author, screenwriter and film-maker Malla Nunn is an apt choice, if I do say so myself, because it’s set in South Africa where (except in Spring) they too can see the Southern Cross in the night sky!

I don’t often read crime but I like Malla Nunn’s Detective Emmanuel Cooper series because it’s also an historical novel, offering a deft and devastating portrayal of apartheid in South Africa in the 1950s. Present Darkness, No #4 and last in the series is set in 1953, just as rigid geographical controls were being legislated to ensure residential separation based on skin colour.

The novel begins in Johannesburg, 1953, with the abduction of a young prostitute and then the action shifts to Detective Emmanuel Cooper’s arrival at a major crime scene. There has been a break-in at a property where the husband and wife have been very badly beaten. The husband dies that night, but the murder investigation takes on personal significance for Cooper when the son of his best friend and colleague Shabalala is one of two Zulu boys accused of the crime. And as if institutionalised racism and the peculiarities of the crime were not enough to deal with, Cooper is very soon taken off the case by a senior officer called Mason, and not because of his personal connection to the accused’s family. Cooper keeps his associations with people of colour very private, including his relationship with Davida and their daughter.

It’s a familiar trope in crime fiction, the ostracised, alienated detective working outside the system and deprived of any available resource. Cooper has to rely on his own powers of observation, deduction, networking, knowledge of human nature and his intuition. As in previous novels in this series he is also aided and abetted by the inner voice of the sergeant with whom he served during WW2, and by Shabalala and Zweigman, a doctor who survived the Nazi death camps but lost his entire family. These three survive various encounters with the malevolent Mason and his thugs while slowly the pieces come together, as they do in crime fiction.

For me, it’s the book’s dual identity as a crime-and-historical novel which makes it interesting to read. Subtle attention to detail and light sarcasm brings the evils of apartheid to grotesque life.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/03/01/p...

[Liviania · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Emmanuel Cooper books just might be my favorite ongoing mystery series. The series started in 2009 with A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE, set in 1952 South Africa. Although PRESENT DARKNESS comes three books later, it is only one year later in story time.

The setting is incredibly important to these novels. Apartheid legislation started in 1948. It segregated people - white, black, mixed race, Indian - as well as services. It also made sexual relations and marriage between people of different races illegal. Cooper, a detective sergeant, grew up in a mixed-race slum, growing up as a "white kaffir." In the present, he seeks to hide his sympathies even as he helps find justice for those the law would ignore. It's becoming harder, especially since he has to hide all details of his private life. His girlfriend is mixed race and they have a daughter together.

PRESENT DARKNESS starts with two separate crimes. A prostitute is kidnapped. A white couple is critically beaten, and their daughter names two black men as the attackers. The first crime takes a long time to tie into the story, although the updates on the girl's situation are quite harrowing and make one hope that she'll somehow escape a grisly fate. The second seems like an open and shut case. However, one of the men she names is the son of Cooper's good friend Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala. Cooper realizes that the crime is too neat and investigates on his own.

The mystery weaves together slowly, taking several unpredictable turns, complicated at every step by the inescapable racial politics. Malla Nunn's hero might be impossibly progressive, but he does have his dark side, and as the case gets more personal it brings out his violence. I thought PRESENT DARKNESS hammered a bit too hard on Cooper's concern about his secret family being discovered, but I did like how the theme of family was woven through the climax.

This series is good because Nunn's plotting is tight and twisted, the sense of place not a gimmick but an integral part of each mystery. It is also good because Nunn's writing is so good. Nunn got her start in screenwriting, and she has a real sense for laying out cinematic landscapes. You can practically see the geography rolling out before you. A new book in a favorite series is always cause for celebration, and PRESENT DARKNESS didn't let me down. I know I'll be back for book five.

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a superb detective series set in the 1950's world of the apartheid regime in South Africa. The background, both historically and culturally seems very authentic. My favourite book in the series was the first, A Beautiful Place To Die, which explored the cultural and legal inequalities and tensions between the British and Dutch settlers,as well as Blacks, Coloured and those of mixed race.This was an outstanding mystery set in an era that is difficult to conceive. The following three books in the series are also very good indeed.
Cooper, a police detective, has experienced life from both sides of the colour barrier. Born in a violent slum, and possibly of mixed heritage, his identification card classifies him as white. His relationship with Davida, a mixed-race woman and their daughter is illegal and places the family in jeopardy if discovered by authorities.
Cooper's best friend throughout the series is a Zulu detective, Shabalala. They have often worked together in the past, often helped by Dr. Zweigman, a Jewish doctor formerly from Germany.
The book begins with the kidnapping of a street prostitute and the description of her imprisonment are harrowing. The authorities do not seem concerned with this crime. Cooper's boss, Lieutenant Mason assigns him to investigate a brutal beating of a high school principal and his wife. This principal has been unpopular with neighbours as he frequently invited his Black students to dinner at his home with family. The couple's teen-aged daughter has blamed Detective Shabalala's son for the attack on her parents. He was one of the students who had dinner in the home the night of the attack. Mason considers the case closed due to the girl's identification. He is also displaying too much interest in what Cooper does in his spare time. Cooper decides to investigate on his own. His intuition tells him the girl may be lying and the young man refuses to defend himself. Why?
The story shifts from Johannesburg, Durban and to a remote run down farm near Pretoria. This story is well written and moves along at a quick pace. I recommend the series.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emmanuel Cooper lives on the razor’s edge. As a man of mixed race and humane principles, this ex-soldier turned police detective turned undercover agent in 1950's South Africa is forever at risk of being found out. The vicious apartheid regime would swat him like a fly. It is only by virtue of having a close circle of true and talented friends that he is able to maintain his cover and keep his loved ones safe. In this fourth spine-tingling episode, Emmanuel, in order to be close to his family, is in Johannesburg working temporarily in a police branch headed by the corrupt Lieutenant Mason. Aaron, the youngest son of Emmanuel’s Zulu friend, Shabalala, has been framed for the murder of a school principal. Cooper is certain that Mason is behind the crime. But Mason also has his doubts about Cooper, setting up a game of cat and mouse. Anxious to save Aaron, desperate to keep his secrets safe but determined to find the truth, Cooper calls on the services of his friends. Finding unusual sources of intel in the back streets and outer reaches of Johannesburg’s most dangerous areas, Emmanuel takes readers on a nerve-racking journey through the treacherous landmines of South African history. The suspense is maintained from the first page to the last by this accumulation of clues, each detailing another aspect of the “present darkness” that held the country in its grip. Five stars.

[Viccy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper is waiting to take his Christmas holiday to Mozambique when he catches a home invasion in a white enclave of Johannesburg. When the daughter of the house identifies the son of Cooper's best friend, Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shambalala as one of the attackers, Cooper knows she is lying. But the case is taken over by a policeman who is intent on railroading Shambalala and Cooper knows he has to intervene, even if it mentions having his cover blown. Cooper is actually of mixed-race, working as a white during the time of apartheid in South Africa. Danger lurks everywhere, especially since he is in love with and has a child with another mixed-race woman.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I waited so eagerly for this third installment of Emmanuel Cooper to come out...but have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. While I enjoyed the book in general, I found that it lacked the depth and richness that won me in the first two books in the series. The characters weren't painted in the same vivid, insightful detail that made me want to know these people; nor was the setting brought to life quite as it was before. Even the plot seemed simpler and a bit rushed. I'll certainly come back for more, but wish this one had engaged me more.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young native boy is accused of the brutal murder of a white schoolteacher but won't defend himself against the charges. And while there is something off about the witness statement implicating the boy, Detective Emmanuel Cooper is discouraged by his boss from investigating further. This mystery series set in South Africa in the 1950s, explores the dangerous moral and ethical dilemmas faced by Cooper as he relentlessly pursues the truth in this racially charged environment. Highly recommended.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful detective Cooper story, this one set in Johannesburg. Here the beauty of South Africa is more subtle, but still there in indelible flashes. Elements are added to Cooper's physical and psychological portrait in this story of gang violence and police corruption starting with the brutal beating of a school principal and his wife. This leads to the imprisonment of Samuel Shabalala's son, accused of the crime, and to the underworld of violence and fear. Perfect. Now how long do I have to to wait for the next one?

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emmanuel Cooper is one of me favorite literary characters. He's a complex figure struggling with issues of race and love in apartheid South Africa. He is fiercely loyal to friends, dedicated to doing what's right rather than what's easy, and always reliable in a fight. Interesting story built around strong characters. Great addition to the series.

[Wilhelmina Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 4th in what my currently be my favorite mystery series. This series is set in South Africa in the early days of the development of the apartheid system. I enjoyed this book a bit less that some of the others in the series, but it was still a fascinating book. I hope that this series continues for a long time.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully written mystery series set in 1950s South Africa, just after apartheid laws began to take effect, featuring an excellent cast of characters and a unique blend of mystery and social commentary.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review will be in English and German.

English:

For several years now, thanks to Malla Nunn, I’m able to follow Detective Sergant Emmanuel Cooper in South Africa in the 1950’s. So I’m gaining insight into the apartheid-driven country. Once again Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala “investigates” with Cooper. But also there is the Jewish doctor Dr. Zweigman.

As a starting point for this investigation and the description of the Apartheid regime serves an attack of a white couple in a residential area of Johnnesburg. With Johannesburg we enter a new scene of crime, because of the fact that Cooper had moved there from Durban. This gives him the opportunity to live a double life with the black Davida – we already know her since the 1. book – and his daughter Rebekah. Right from the start two problems arise from this situation: 1) The secrecy of his private life gives suspicion to his new superior Mason. 2) The supposed perpetrator is relatively quickly identified as Aaron Shabalala.

Of course, the name of Shabalala immediately catches attention, as he is the son of Samuel Shabalala. Cooper immediately conflicts with holding his double life secret and to prove the innocence of Aaron Shabalala. Even though it is clear from the beginning how this case will turn out, Nunn succeeded once again to put the reader into this country of resentment with undreamt of force, without doing so with the raised finger or practising pure black and white painting. Although the one or other character and its motivations should have been descripted in more detail, so the fourth volume is a good continuation and I hope that this series will continue and not end with this very good part.

German:

Seit einigen Jahren darf ich dank Malla Nunn Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper im Südafrika in den 1950er Jahren begleiteten und so Einblick in das von der Apartheid geprägte Land gewinnen. Ihm zur Seite „ermittelt“ auch dieses Mal wieder Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala. Aber auch der jüdische Arzt Dr. Zweigman ist wieder mit von der Partie.

Als Ausgangsbasis dieser Ermittlungen und der Beschreibung des Apartheit Regimes dient dieses Mal ein Überfall auf ein weißes Ehepaar in einem Villenviertel von Johannesburg. Mit Johannesburg betreten wir einen neuen Schauplatz des Verbrechens, da sich Cooper von Durban dorthin hatte versetzen lassen. Dies bietet ihm die Möglichkeit ein geheimes Doppelleben mit der schwarzen Davida – sie kennen wir bereits aus dem 1. Band – und seiner Tochter Rebekah zu führen. Gleich zu Beginn ergeben sich aus dieser Situation zwei Problemfelder. 1) Die Geheimhaltung seines Privatlebens sorgt bei seinem neuen Vorgesetzten Mason für Argwohn. 2) Als vermeintlicher Täter wird relativ rasch Aaron Shabalala ausgemacht.

Bei dem Namen Shabalala wird man natürlich sofort hellhörig, ist dieser doch der Sohn von Samuel Shabalala. Cooper gerät unverzüglich in Konflikt zwischen Geheimhaltung seines Doppellebens und dem Versuch die Unschuld von Aaron Shabalala zu beweisen. Auch wenn von Beginn an klar ist wie dieser Fall ausgehen wird, so gelingt es Nunn neuerlich den Leser mit ungeahnter Wucht in dieses von Ressentiments geprägt Land zu versetzen, ohne dass sie dies mit dem erhobenen Zeigefinger macht oder reine schwarz-weiß Malerei betreibt. Wenngleich der eine oder andere Charakter und dessen Beweggründe vertiefender beschrieben hätten werden können, so ist auch der vierte Band eine gelungene Fortsetzung und ich hoffe, dass diese Serie fortgesetzt wird und nicht mit diesem für mich sehr guten Teil endet.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Present Darkness is the fourth book in the Detective Emmanuel Cooper series set in South Africa in the 1950s. In this outing, Cooper has returned to Johannesburg, the city in which he was raised, and is living in secret with Davina, his coloured partner, and their child. The plot concerns the assault and murder of a white couple and the framing of a teenage black boy for the crime. The sting in the tail is the boy is the son of Cooper’s friend, Zulu detective Samuel Shabalala. Cooper wants justice, his boss Lieutenant Mason wants to see the boy hang and is quite prepared to not only ignore evidence but to fabricate it. Mason is a bully and full of dirty tricks, though it’s not clear why he’s so keen to close the case so quickly and to push Cooper to one side. Nunn once again does a nice job of detailing the lived realities of apartheid South Africa, with its marked prejudices and oppression, corrupt policing, its dangerous ghettos, and illicit relations and friendships across the race divide. And it has a strong sense of place – both in the city and the countryside – and historical contextualisation. The three friends at the heart of this, and the other books – Cooper, Shabalala, and Dr Zweigman – again shine, forming an interesting and engaging trio. While the other books take a slightly more expansive view, this tale focuses very much on personal danger – the framing of an innocent boy and the fraught attempt to see justice served, and the threat to Cooper’s new family. Nunn nicely builds the tale up to a dramatic denouement, though the resolution seemed a little contrived and held together with plot devices. Overall, another entertaining addition to an excellent series.

[Russell Atkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper is from the wrong side of the tracks - the South African tracks, that is. He is a white man living with a colored woman in the apartheid era. A white married couple is murdered and their daughter identifies two black students as the murderers. Cooper realizes quickly that the girl is lying but doesn't know why. The white police lieutenant seizes on the identification as a quick solve of a heinous crime. It is up to Cooper to ferret out the truth.

The setting, both geographic and cultural, is esoteric and interesting to western readers; at least it was to me. However, that's about all I can say this book has going for it. The plot was predictable and the characters hackneyed. Zulu detective Shabalala is ripped from the pages of the comic books - magically able to track anyone or anything, move absolutely silently despite near superhuman size and strength, and having that native intuition that can tell when anyone is lying. The doctor with them can cure anyone of anything with whatever is at hand - a shoestring, a jar of honey. Cooper's inherent goodness can convince anyone to trust him 100% and cooperate with the police regardless of personal risk and can take any amount of beating or torture without revealing critical information. The bad guys are so obvious that they might as well have appeared with a neon sign on their heads from the first page where they were introduced and of course have not a single redeeming characteristic. I expected a "bwa-ha-ha" at any moment. There is no mystery here. You know how it's going to play out from around page 10; at least I did.

[Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emmanuel Cooper is such an interesting, complex character living in an equally interesting, complex time and place, fifties South Africa. In this installment we get to meet (or know better?) Davida, his now wife and Rebekka, his daughter. Race is THE premiere aspect of this society and everyone's status and fate revolves around one's official racial identity. While the race laws passed here in the US were and are horrible, they weren't as blatant or as extensive as those in South Africa. It's good to remember that slavery in many forms is still prevalent in some (many?) areas of the world (Thailand's fishing boats, Southeast Asian factories, undocumented workers and sex trafficking in First World and other countries, etc.). We must do what we can to combat it and awareness is a beginning.

In the musketeer-like trio of Cooper, Shabalala, and Dr. Zweigman, the author has done a great job of capturing a delightful mix of characteristics that balance well and expose important aspects of South African society at that time. And there is always a rousing rescue/fight/escape that aids in the resolution of the plot. Nunn often dips back into previous stories to tie up loose ends or provide more explanation, and I'm about ready to re-read the first volume so that I can appreciate some of the initial details about Emmanuel that I've forgotten. Altogether a very worthy series that wins on so many levels.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. I grew up in the segregationist south, where there were drinking fountains for "coloreds". If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't believe that such a thing could have been allowed. But until you read some authentic descriptions of the way things were in the 1950's South Africa, you will have no idea of how ridiculously convoluted society can become as a result of prejudice and ignorance. This book is a murder mystery and is the fourth in a series about a white progressive detective in 1950's South Africa. The story keeps you looking forward to every page. The apartheid experiences are palpably present as they have to be for historical accuracy but they are not the main idea of the book and are just a bonus for those interested in good history. This book is well written and has all the foreshadowing, the interweaving, and the surprises inherent in good mysteries.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper is called to the scene of an assault of a respectable white couple in Johannesburg. Their teenage daughter identifies the attacker as a black boy from a local school--the son of Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala. The men are good friends and Cooper owes his life. It is almost Christmas and Cooper's boss wants to close the case so everyone can go on holiday. He cares less about justice than getting the easy solve. Having a white girl accuse a black boy of violence against whites makes it open and shut. Cooper, Shabalala, and Zweigman hunt for the truth. The boy will not give an alibi for the time of the murder. The investigation leads the trio into the seamy parts of Sophiatown, corrupt government officials, and danger very close to Cooper's secret family. This novel was very good and I really enjoy the relationship between Cooper and Shabalala. I am really sad that no other novels with Cooper have been written.