The Caterpillar Cop: (2 Kramer and Zondi Mysteries)

The author of The Steam Pig delivers a "powerful picture of South African society . . . The pace is fast, the solution ingenious" (The New York Times Book Review). When a twelve-year-old boy named Boetie is found strangled to death with multiple stab wounds, his killer is assumed to be a pedophile. Lt. Tromp Kramer and his sidekick, Bantu Det. Sergeant Mickey Zondi, begin to investigate and soon learn that the boy had been involved in a detective club that encouraged children to spy and snitch on people--and no one likes a snitch. Whom was Boetie spying on? As the two men look into possible leads on the case, they must also navigate increasing tensions surrounding racism in the seventies in South Africa, and Kramer finds himself on the receiving end of much of the hatred himself. "McClure's first novel, The Steam Pig, was one of the most memorable books in the genre last year . . . The Caterpillar Cop may prove to be even better." --Newsday "The Caterpillar Cop . . . unusually enough--is just as good, if not better, than its predecessor." --St. Louis Post Dispatch "The integrated South African police team of Lt. Tromp Kramer and Sgt. Zondi did a good job in McClure's The Steam Pig. They're even better this time . . . The gathering of clues is described with McClure's special blend of humor, cheerfully sexy scenes and startling realism. Good to see a second novel come out so well." --San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

About the Author :
James McClure (1939-2006) was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he worked as a photographer and then a teacher before becoming a crime reporter. He published eight wildly successful books in the Kramer and Zondi series during his lifetime and was the recipient of the CWA Silver and Gold Daggers. His other novels include Imago: A Modern Comedy of Manners, Rogue Eagle, and Four and Twenty Virgins.

Review :
"James McClure's The Steam Pig made a big impression . . . The Caterpillar Cop is just as stark, just as earthy, and just as lusty. And an equally powerful picture of South African society . . . The pace is fast, the solution ingenious. Above all, however, is the author's extraordinary naturalistic style. He is that rarity--a sensitive writer who can carry his point without forcing." --The New York Times Book Review "McClure's first novel, The Steam Pig, was one of the most memorable books in the genre last year . . . The Caterpillar Cop may prove to be even better." --Newsday "The Caterpillar Cop . . . unusually enough--is just as good, if not better, than its predecessor." --St. Louis Post Dispatch "The integrated South African police team of Lt. Tromp Kramer and Sgt. Zondi did a good job in McClure's The Steam Pig. They're even better this time . . . The gathering of clues is described with McClure's special blend of humor, cheerfully sexy scenes and startling realism. Good to see a second novel come out so well." --San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle Praise for James McClure "More than a good mystery story . . . A revealing picture of the hate and sickness of the apartheid society of South Africa." --The Washington Post "[McClure is] a distinguished crime novelist who has created in his Afrikaner Tromp Kramer and Bantu Sergeant Zondi two detectives who are as far from stereotypes as any in the genre." --P. D. James "McClure's stories . . . have been noteworthy in equal measure for their poignant evocation of [South Africa], their perception of partnership, and their acute sense of sexual obsession." --Time "Soho completes its reprinting of one of the finest police series to begin in the 1970s, James McClure's eight books about Tromp Kramer and Mickey Zondi, a South African biracial detective team in the days of Apartheid." --Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine