Paul du Toit settled in the United Kingdom after leaving under a cloud ten years before. Now he is divorced and middle-aged, and bogged down in a boring job and a floundering relationship.

He therefore readily accepts a straightforward – or so he thinks – assignment from a wealthy London financier that takes him back to South Africa. But the country has changed, and the waters are treacherous.

Suddenly Paul has to battle not only the shadows of his own life, but also the hidden powers that control South Africa.

On a winter's morning in 1949, in an empty field north of the city of Johannesburg, the lifeless body of a beautiful young girl was found by a passer by. She was identified as Bubbles Schroeder, 18, and she appeared to have been strangled. This is her story. Born in the poorer part of the small town of Lichtenburg, Bubbles grows up with a bitter mother who takes in laundry to make ends meet and a dull-witted aunt. She has never known her father. Bubbles dreams of a better life for herself and she constructs an alluring fantasy world, a world of furs and jewels and Chanel No 5, where handsome men whirl her around a dance floor and send her roses. At 16 she moves to Vereeniging to work in a coal agency and is befriended by the sophisticated Winifred Walker. Winnie teaches Bubbles some social graces, giving her a veneer of sophistication, and, most importantly, she introduces her to erotic love. Bubbles soon moves on to Johannesburg where she is taken under the wing of a tawdry, middle-aged bookie, Barry, who continues her education, though not in the direction Winnie would have imagined. Barry teaches her tricks to beguile a man. He also introduces her to a social set of wealthy young men who find her captivating and. introduce her to their friends. Bubbles sees her fantasy world within her reach. She is convinced that the perfect beau is about to swoop in and 'carry her away' to a grand home and a life of fun and luxury. 'Don't go thinking you're one of them', Barry warns her, but it is too late. Out of her depth and completely misreading how high society works, Bubbles finds herself in a situation she can't control. The world to which she aspires turns menacing and, ultimately, fatal. Rahla Xenopoulos's novel is a fictional account of what might have been the life and death of Bubbles Schroeder whose murder has never been solved. Taking her cues from what little is known of the real Bubbles, she has imagined a charming ing nue and given her a voice that is at once delightful and tragic.

On a blowtorch-hot night in Cape Town, American ex-model Roxy Palmer and her gunrunner husband, Joe, are carjacked, leaving Joe in a pool of blood. As the carjackers make their getaway, Roxy makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever. Soon she is caught in a wave of escalating violence in the beautiful and brutal African seaport. With savage plotting and breakneck suspense that end in a shattering climax, "Wake Up Dead" confirms Roger Smith as one of the world's best new thriller writers.

Murder is on the menu.

Detective Storm van der Merwe and Andreas Moerdyk are back in this brand-new thriller by Irna van Zyl, author of Dead in the Water.

Storm now works in Hermanus and during a lunch with her friend at Zebardines, a much-hated food blogger keels over and dies. It turns out that there were deadly mushrooms, death cups, in her food.

Finding out who killed the blogger is Storm’s first priority, but not the only matter requiring her attention: her old colleague, Andreas Moerdyk, quit his job unexpectedly and expects Storm to put him up while he makes a new start in Hermanus.

Amid frantic preparations for Fooddotcom’s prize-giving ceremony that will honour the country’s best chefs, the murderer strikes again, and again.

Storm’s time is running out.

Vyf jaar ná die aanval op Kris, wat byna haar lewe gekos en haar met ’n letsel op die gesig gelaat het, is sy weer op koers. Wel, as mens nou die nagmerries wat haar soms ry, uitskakel. Haar aanvallers is agter tralies, haar verbreekte verlowing is iets van die verlede. Wanneer sy die kans kry in haar fisioterapiepraktyk, breek sy ook weg om kursusse aan te bied in bewustelikheid – oftewel mindfulness: Sy help mense ontdek hulle kan maar net wees, hulle hoef nie heeltyd te doen nie. Dit is wat haar met heelwording gehelp het.

Dit is tydens so ’n kursus dat haar en Luca se paaie kruis, ’n ultra-atleet in wie se wêreld daar nie plek is vir enigiets anders nie, laat staan ’n vrou, veral nie een met “issues” nie. Daarvan het hy genoeg gehad. Maar dit is nogal ’n moeilike situasie as jy in dieselfde huis saam met een woon. Haar nagmerries help ook nie juis nie. En hy moet fokus vir sy volgende wedren in Amerika om sy borge tevrede te hou. Hy moet wen, anders het hy verloor, dis sy leuse.

Dawid Neethling is ’n suksesvolle psigiater op Stellenbosch met ’n deeltydse pos by die universiteit, ’n knalgeel Porsche en ’n steriele huwelik.  Wanneer die beeldskone musiekstudent Eva Rodriguez sy pasiënt word, kan hy hom nie indink langs watter paadjies sy hom sal laat loop nie. Voor hy sy oë kan uitvee, staan hy in die beskuldigdebank op aanklag van moord. En dan begin onbeheersde kragte uitspeel wat uiteindelik sy éie lewe sal bedreig.

Wat hét met Anna gebeur die oomblik ná sy die sneller getrek het? Ná sy haar stiefpa wat haar soveel jare lank fisies en emosioneel verrinneweer het, vroeg een oggend in Bloemfontein in die oë gekyk, en toe geskiet het?

Agt jaar ná die verskyning van Dis ek, Anna neem Anchien Troskie aldus Elbie Lötter weer haar pen op, en skryf die opvolg. Hoe vra ’n mens vergifnis, en wanneer mag jy wraak neem? Dit is die vrae waarmee Anna – en ook die skrywer – worstel . . .

’n Skreiend eerlike roman oor Anna Bruwer se lewe ná die moord op haar stiefpa – ’n boek gevul met deernis, en eindelik ook hoop.

Ella Neser is on compulsory sick leave after her close encounter with Abel Lotz’s scalpel.

Between therapy sessions and harp lessons, she ponders over the photographs of Abel’s four victims, dead set on catching him before he kills again. When a burglary results in the death of one of the victims, Ella returns to duty to catch the culprits. But she isn’t the only one on their trail.

Has Abel Lotz returned, or is there a new killer in Dorado Park?

Dawn light on the mountains, a two metre swell coming off False Bay. PI Fish Pescado – lithe, blond-haired, six-pack – is surfing. To Fish this is paradise. Except, he has no work, and a diminishing bank balance. Until a young surfer paddles up: ‘Hey, Fish, there’s a pretty chick looking for you.’ The pretty chick is Vicki Kahn, poker addict by night, lawyer by day. She’s bright, sharp, lovely. The best woman he’s ever had. And she’s got a job for him: find the murderous bastard who wiped out a bystander at an illegal drag race.

If only it were that easy. Thing is that the drag racer has connections high up. Really high up, right to the police commissioner. Thing is the police commissioner has his eye on Vicki Kahn. Thing is the police commissioner has a past, a nasty past. A past that has something to do with hit squads, assassinations, rhino horns and the kind of information that no one wants uncovered. The kind of information that involves lots of money, gold bullion in fact. The commissioner’s also got a taste for the lush life. A taste that is ruthless, savage.

Before long, Fish and Vicki can’t tell who’s a cop and who’s a robber. Or who’s gunning for them.

Meer as vyf jaar gelede het die gevaarlike David Francke uit aanhouding ontsnap en na Botswana gevlug. Vir sy ma, Klara, troos die hoop dat hy waarskynlik teen dié tyd al dood is haar waar sy in Amerika woon. Maar dan is daar ’n oproep uit Suid-Afrika wat die mat onder Klara se voete uitruk. Kan dit wees dat haar wreedaard van ’n seun ’n halfbroer het waarvan sy nie geweet het nie?

Wanneer die lyk van ’n jong vrou langs die see by Strand gevind word, begin kaptein Beyers van der Rheede en sy span onmiddellik na haar moordenaar soek. Maar toe dogtertjies begin verdwyn, is dit duidelik dat hulle nie hier met ’n groentjie te doen het nie. Is dit dieselfde moordenaar?

Op Coetzersdal word kaptein André Coghran deur die spoke van die verlede gery. Ook hý ontvang ʼn vreemde oproep. Gaan hy uiteindelik vir David vastrek?

Tussendeur op Gordonsbaai kan die jong musikant, Katherina, nie besluit hoekom die aantreklike nutsman, Hechter Stander, se attensies haar kriewelrig maak nie.

Sangomas and cops don’t mix. Usually. But this is Joburg, a metropolis that is equal parts flash and shadow, and where not everything can be easily explained.

Ian Jack, a disillusioned former police officer, teams up with Reshma Patel, a colleague from his old life, to investigate a routine housebreaking gone bad. But when they uncover links to a possible animal poaching and trafficking syndicate, things go from complicated to dangerous to downright evil.

Set against the richly textured backdrop of a livewire African city, this fast-paced thriller offers a disturbing contemporary take on justice and morality. To be read with the lights on.

A cold case for Captain Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido of the Hawks elite police unit - not what they were looking for. And a difficult case, too. The body of Johnson Johnson, ex-cop, has been found beside a railway line. He appears to have jumped from South Africa's - perhaps the world's - most luxurious train, and two suspicious characters seen with him have disappeared into thin air. The regular police have already failed to make progress and others are intent on muddying the waters.

Meanwhile in Bordeaux, Daniel Darret is settled in a new life on a different continent. A quiet life. But his skills as an international hit-man are required one more time, and Daniel is given no choice in the matter. He must hunt again - his prey the corrupt president of his homeland.

Three strands of the same story become entwined in a ferocious race against time - for the Hawks to work out what lies behind the death of Johnson, for Daniel to evade the relentless Russian agents tracking him, for Benny Griessel to survive long enough to take another huge step in his efforts to piece together again the life he nearly destroyed - and finally ask Alexa Bernard to marry him.

The Last Hunt shows one of the great crime writers operating at the peak of his powers. (Released as Prooi in Afrikaans)

“Die naald sink tussen haar oe in en buig. Die blink tandartsspuit van vlekvrye staal tref die skedel hard. Bloed. Sy hand lig weer op ...”

Izak Hugo is ’n gefrustreerde tandarts van Port Elizabeth. Hy haat sy werk en smag na ’n meer vervullende lewe. Snags word hy deur gewelddadige drome geteister. Soos sy onvergenoegdheid opbou, begin hy sporadiese oomblikke van geheueverlies beleef.

Wanneer hy ná so ’n episode sy vriend se verwurgde poedel in sy bakkie ontdek, begin hy sy greep op die werklikheid en homself verloor. Sake vererger wanneer ’n jong bendelid vermoor word en die bende vermoed dat lzak die skuldige is. lzak besluit om Transkei toe te vlug, maar die bloedspoor volg hom.

’n Kaalvuis sielkundige riller deur ’n opwindende nuwe skrywer. ’n Geveg tot die dood toe tussen goed en kwaad, maar die rolverdeling is net so onseker soos die uitslag.

Hoë politici sweer saam om Suid-Afrika in ’n diktatorskap te dompel. Die armes het genoeg gehad en kom in opstand. Die land brand. Mense vir wie Thys Krige omgee, kry seer. Iemand moet daarvoor boet.

Hierdie keer word hy betrek by korrupsie en komplotte op regeringsvlak. ’n Korrupte president speel in die hand van buitelandse moondhede met imperialistiese ambisies wat ’n voet in die deur soek. Sagte kolonisasie, noem mens dit. Staatskaping noem die media dit. Die tentakels daarvan al so diep in die struktuur van mense in sleutelposte dat niemand meer seker is wie betrokke is en wie vertrou kan word nie. In sulke gevalle protesteer mense gewoonlik. Hulle kan byvoorbeeld so aggressief gemaak word dat hulle mekaar begin uitroei. Traangas word gedokter met dwelms wat ten doel het dat mense mekaar te lyf gaan. Grootskaalse chaos maak ’n land onregeerbaar. Dryf die mense se frustrasie tot breekpunt. Sweep hulle teen mekaar op. Maar daar is maniere om hulle stemme stil te kry.

In Krige se stryd het drie vroue deel van sy wêreld geword: sy halfsuster, ’n gestremde IT-spesialis en ’n genie wat die donkerweb met die donkerbewuste in die mens se psige in verband bring. Al drie gaan gebuk onder pyn en trauma, soos Krige, en vir al drie ervaar hy iets wat aan liefde gelykgestel kan word.

“Hy voel die wonderlike pyn wegsak, diep in, dieper, dieper, tot dit sag word en tot rus kom op die koue en harde ding in hom.”

Set in South Africa at the zenith of the mid-1980’s Durban alternative club scene, Uptown Saturday Night, Downtown Sunday Morning re-captures in sensuous detail the technicoloured vibrancy of the city’s counter-culture and its struggle within the oppressive regime of the day.

Charting an erratic course through Durban’s underbelly, the novel’s obtuse sharp-focus lens pulls you into the unhinged psyche of James DuPont and the Durban he inhabits. Acidly honest, it is in turn shocking¸ poignant and seductive.

An astonishingly unique testament to a lost generation and their city.

Hierdie verhaal van Leon van Nierop is ’n fenomeen wat oorspronklik die lig gesien het as radiovervolgverhaal (1979), toe ’n roman geword het (1983), daarna ’n televisiereeks (1985) – en nou word dit in Oktober vanjaar uitgereik as rolprent, die eerste “Boere-noir”.

Leon het self die draaiboek geskryf, en dít het hom geïnspireer om weer hierdie roman te skep! Dit is dus ’n totaal nuwe roman wat tot stand gekom het, met dieselfde geliefde karakters as destyds, maar geplaas in die hier-en-nou van hedendaagse Suid-Afrika.

Die mooi jong Sonja Daneel beland in Hazyview in ’n motorongeluk. Sy herwin haar bewussyn, maar ly egter aan geheueverlies. Sy herstel by die skouspelagtige Hotel Njala, en raak betrokke by die intriges en lotgevalle van ’n formidabele familie wie se lewens onlosmaakbaar verbind is aan dié onheilspellende hotel.

Voeg hierby geraamtes uit Sonja se eie verlede wat spoedig hul opwagting begin maak en die tafel is gedek vir ’n heerlike, spannende storie wat lesers nie sal kan neersit nie.

Paola Dante is a driven project manager employed by a large multinational information technology corporation who reads war strategy books for relaxation. In general she prefers computers to people with their random uncontrolled emotions. Long ago she made a decision that matters of the heart were inherently messy and should be kept at arm’s distance. But her husband had surprised her; she had no resistance against Daniel. Now she sees herself as a survivor who has successfully moved on from the traumatic events and terrible truth surrounding her husband’s sudden disappearance years before. But the truth is that ever since the night he walked out on their marriage back to his old ways she’s found it hard to get on with normal life.

An unlikely and ill-equipped mother, she stands alone between their adopted daughter Simone and the criminal kingpin who wants the teenage girl for his own ends and has set the savage wolves on her.

To save her daughter - and herself - once and for all, Paola will face her every fear, her every mistake, and the past she thought she’d finally processed and left behind.

Soetroos van Saron vertel die verhaal van Delicia Basson, ‘n jong vrou van Saron wat ‘n gesogde beurs van die welgestelde Nicol-familie ontvang om aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch te studeer.

Delicia is opgewonde én angstig wanneer sy ouma Toesie en haar vertroude wêreld agterlaat om haar studies voort te sit. Delicia is heeltemal oorweldig deur die prag en praal waarin die welgestelde Nicolfamilie woon. Maar geleidelik besef sy daar is iets sinisters wat onder die oppervlak broei. Soos sy dieper grawe, ontdek Delicia ‘n patroon van uitbuiting wat ander slagoffers betrek – insluitend Deyoncé, ‘n plaasmeisie wat op geheimsinnige wyse verdwyn het.

Kan Delicia soos Nancy Drew die leidrade ondersoek en die donker waarheid blootlê?

When Louw Roodt vanishes after a work function, Kristien Liebenberg’s worst fear comes true: her lover isn’t coming home. Has Louw been in an accident? Is she having an affair? Has she been hijacked, assaulted, or worse, left for dead in the bushes and sand dunes of the Cape Flats? Or has it got something to do with their argument that morning?

Then news breaks of a murdered man found in a Cape hotel – the same hotel Louw was last seen in, on the same night. And it’s the very man who was the speaker at her work function. Was Louw involved in the murder? Is she on the run? That’s what the police say. Or is there a connection to her mother’s hijacking 21 years ago, an event which left Louw psychologically scarred?

Amid all these questions and a rising sense of dread, Kristien knows Louw is in trouble, and she needs her help.

Money. Money. Money. Tons of it. In US dollars. And it’s all being funnelled into a government tender snagged by family-owned Amalfi Civils. Which would be great for business if CEO Angela wasn’t fighting with her CFO brother Rej.

Where Angela sees corruption, Rej sees cabinet ministers, politicians, officials eager to lend a hand. For a fee. It’s a big pot so he’s happy to oblige. And if needs be he’ll take out his sister to keep the lucre.

There are other players in this game. The CIA for one. The State Security Agency for another. And a black op using lawyer and spy Vicki Kahn as a honeytrap to ensnare Rej’s middleman – the very same middleman that her lover, PI Fish Pescado, is investigating.

With these stakes, it’s only time before the killing starts.

Inspekteur Adriaan Kruger en Karien is baie gelukkig met hulle relatief rustige lewe op die dorpie Overberg: sy verwag hulle tweeling en hy word tot kaptein bevorder.

Maar twee misdade stuur skokgolwe deur die gemeenskap: die aanval op ‘n jong meisie, en dan dít wat lyk na ‘n bloedige gesinsmoord.

En soms wil dit lyk of daar ‘n verband is tussen die twee misdade...