The Woman in the Blue Cloak (novella) - Deon Meyer

Written by Deon Meyer
Read by Saul Reichlin
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 32 Kbps
Unabridged

Series: Benny Griessel, Book 5.5
Length: 3 hrs and 47 mins
Release date: 10-04-18
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Early on a May morning in the depth of South Africa’s winter, a woman’s naked body, washed in bleach, is discovered on a stone wall beside the N2 highway at the top of Sir Lowry’s Pass, some thirty-five miles from Cape Town. The local investigation stalls, so the case is referred to Captain Benny Griessel and his colorful partner Vaughn Cupido of the Hawks—the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations.

The woman proves to be Alicia Lewis, an expert in old Dutch Masters paintings specializing in the recovery of valuable lost art. Discovering the two men she had contacted before coming to South Africa reveals what she was seeking—a rare painting by Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s finest student, not seen since it disappeared from Delft in 1654. But how Lewis died, why, and at whose hand shocks even the two veteran detectives.

The Woman in the Blue Cloak is a compact jewel of a thriller, filled with Deon Meyer’s earthy dialogue, clever plotting, and the memorable characters that have peopled all of Deon Meyer’s award-winning novels.

A Review…Why was the foreign visitor so interested in getting directions to the nondescript town of Villiersdorp? What was she doing that got her killed so quickly after her arrival? And why, in the name of self-preservation and common decency, didn’t her killer take more care to conceal her body instead of displaying it so brazenly that it was immediately spotted by a minibus carrying a dozen horrified workers to jobs in the city? Before these questions are answered, they’ll lead to even more questions about a painting that’s been lost for 350 years and a plot that brings the respectable Alicia Lewis into imprudently close contact with some truly shady characters.Though it’s light on the critical analysis of race relations that helped make Meyer’s earlier Cape Town mysteries hefty in every sense of the word, this gemlike novella is just the thing for a one-sitting read.