Meet Tannie Maria: the loveable writer of recipes in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.

One Sunday morning, as Maria stirs apricot jam, she hears her editor Harriet on the stoep. What Maria doesn't realise is that Harriet is about to deliver a whole basketful of challenges and the first ingredient in two new recipes - recipes for love and murder.

A delicious blend of intrigue, milk tart and friendship, join Tannie Maria in her first investigation. Consider your appetite whetted for a whole new series of mysteries . . .

Valley Of Heaven And Earth is woven with the strands of remembrance from days of earliest childhood, intertwined with perspective and reflection.

Jayson Mayer, the principal character was raised in one of the most magnificent natural environments in the world, on the southern tip of Africa. The fishing village of Hermanus was populated by locals who made up the diverse people of South Africa including a community of several Jewish families who retained religion, tradition and identity in a society fraught with ethnic division and racism. Returning to South Africa, years after emigrating to Israel, memories are reignited.

Drama, comedy and tragedy follow in this compelling work of narrative fiction.

Queen Celeste rose to the throne of Virdura a month ago, after the sudden death of her mother. Desperate to prove herself, she agrees to hear the case of a simple farmer who claims a neighbour stole his cow.

To help her in this task, she orders her chief advisor, the royal wizard Solon, to cast a spell and divine the truth for her. Solon, however, is keeping a terrible secret. He is unable to perform any magic, and he cannot afford to let the queen find out the reason why.

Wanneer Donna de Villiers en haar man Divan skei, moet hulle suksesvolle juweliersonderneming sowel as hulle huis in Tamboerskloof verkoop word sodat hulle bates verdeel kan word. Haar selfbeeld is aan skerwe na Divan se verraad en die eens suksesvolle juwelier wat pryse vir haar werk losgeslaan het se skeppingsdrang is daarmee heen.

Sy wil wegkom uit die kringe waarin sy en Divan beweeg het, waar almal nou oor haar vernederende egskeiding skinder. Donna swerf van kusdorp na kusdorp waar sy ontvlugting op haar branderplank en in die arms van surfers vind. Wanneer sy na amper ’n jaar die allerlaagste punt bereik, besef Donna sy is op ’n pad van selfvernietiging.

Donna moet weer van voor af begin en sy aanvaar ’n opdrag om ’n replika van ’n antieke hangertjie te maak. Dit neem haar na Minnaarshof, ’n spogplaas in die Riebeekvallei. Hier ontmoet sy vir Toit Minnaar.

Toit treur al meer as ’n jaar oor sy vrou se dood en hy neem ’n wilsbesluit om weer sy lewe op koers te kry. Hy aanvaar ’n uitdaging om deel te neem aan ’n realiteitstelevisiereeks, Boer soek ’n vrou. Wanneer die drie dames op die plaas kom kuier saam met die TV-span, begin die poppe dans. Daar is wedywering en katgevegte en Toit begin al hoe meer aangetrokke voel tot Donna.

Donna doen egter haar bes om gevoelens wat Toit in haar wakker maak, te onderdruk. Sy wil weer haar loopbaan op dreef kry én terugkry wat ’n man by haar gesteel het.

Beendere word gevind op 'n stortingsterrein, en skielik moet speurder Kassie Kasselman nuut dink oor ou moordsake. Gou begin die moorde vinnig opmekaar kom, en tussendeur die nuwe buurvrou wat Kassie se kop aan't swymel het, én sy enorme posseël-meevaller weens nog 'n moord, moet hy uitwerk waarom 'n geheimsinnige bende skynbaar besig is om sigself uit te roei. Elke warm leidraad lewer 'n koue lyk op, en Kassie kan nie voorbly nie . . .

Marlize Hobbs se jongste roman raak roerende temas aan. Iza is ‘n lesbiese vrou en die leser volg haar soos wat sy die herinneringe van haar kindertyd en haar daaglikse ervarings in fyn besonderhede deel. Sy probeer sin maak van die lewe en span verskeie oorlewingsmeganismes in. Sy ly onder andere aan epilepsie en ‘n geestesversteuring.

Sy vertel van haar worstelinge en onsekerhede oor kwessies soos seksualiteit en geloof, veral as jong kind en tiener, maar ook van haar persepsie van die wêreld rondom haar as volwasse vrou. Sy ontvlug na verskillende fantasieë en het voortdurend gesprekke met haar alter ego’s.

Hobbs kry dit reg om tegeleykertyd op reguit en senitiewe manier die samelewing aan te spreek en laat baie stof tot nadenke. Hierdie boek kruip regtig op aangrypende wyse in die hart van die leser en sal beslis broodnodige gesprekke aanwakker.

Gebaseer op die treffer TV-reeks. Jacques Rynhard, een van die land se gewildste skrywers, verdwyn op die kruin van sy loopbaan. Joernalis Carina Human moet uitvind waar hy is, maar meer belangrik, hoekom hy verdwyn het. Sy krap 'n perdebynes oop van verraad, donker geheime, moord en mislukte verhoudings.

Dit lyk asof kaptein Kassie Kasselman met 'n reeksmoordenaar te kampe het toe Kaapstad se ses en vyftigjarige mans kopskote begin kry. Maar Kassie is nie oortuig die moorde dui nie op iets anders nie . . .

Kruispad is die kern van Deon Opperman se groot TV-trilogie oor die Afrikaner se pad in Suid-Afrika. Dit beeld presies uit waar die groot verandering gekom en hoe die Afrikaner daarop gereageer het.

Die roman wentel om Sophia en Mariana, die twee dogters van ’n welgestelde boer, Soois van Rooyen, en sy vrou, Mart. Sophia is met die skatryk FG van den Berg getroud en Mariana met die arm, bekrompe Andries Landman. Terwyl FG en Andries albei hul ekonomiese status ná die verkiesing van 27 April 1994 verloor, sit hul onderskeie seuns, Klein FG en Henk, met die nalatenskap van apartheid.

Kruispad belig nie net die snykant van apartheid fel nie, maar boor ook diep in die problematiek waarmee die Afrikaner in die jare negentig moes worstel en toon hoeveel inbors en karakter dit verg om die juk van die verlede af te skud.

Award-winning novelist Michiel Heyns is back with a darkly comic tale.

When a young South African literary scholar, Michael Marcussi, is offered, via a Facebook contact, a house in the Tuscan village of Gianocini, he accepts with alacrity: this is just the space and quiet he needs to complete his study of Literary Representations of Tuscany.

But even before he has boarded his plane at Stansted Airport, things start vexing him: an obnoxious old man jumps the boarding queue, and Michael is given the evil eye by a belligerent bovver boy covered in tattoos. Nor is this to be his last meeting with these objectionable characters: they turn up in unexpected places, first in Florence and then in Gianocini itself, with a frequency that cannot be purely coincidental.

In the meantime Michael is pursuing his own extracurricular agenda, through the streets of Florence and the passages of the Uffizi, then through the medieval alleys of Gianocini, only to find himself the object of mysterious designs and the subject of some very disturbing paintings. Add to this the innocent but curious Wouter, the startlingly rude upper-class harridan, Sophronia, the beautiful but supercilious Paolo and a dog called Thanatos: the Tuscan sun never shone on a more bizarre mix.

After the sophisticated comedy of The Typewriter’s Tale and Invisible Furies, and the poignant ironies of Lost Ground, Michiel Heyns here returns to the broader comedy of The Reluctant Passenger, in a scintillating tale of love, revenge and trippa.

Durban lawyer Teddy Dickerson has run out of ideas. Cynical, single and middle-aged, he’s the very last of his family to still call South Africa home.

When his formidable Aunt Val dies, she leaves him an unusual bequest: her task for Teddy is to post letters to eight of her friends around the world, a job that will take him on a journey into new and unexpected territory. When the replies start flowing in – quirky, unexpected and often hilarious missives from India, Egypt, England, Canada and beyond – Teddy realises there was more to his tough aunt than he’d thought.

Will he take on Aunt Val’s role as confidant and comforter of the lost? Confidant and comforter? Teddy?!

One thing’s for certain: Aunt Val is laughing in her grave.

They’re psychopaths, violent offenders, drug addicts, sexual deviants and social misfits. And these are the good guys. In the notorious military camp known as The Vault, they are considered unfit to wear the South African Defence Force uniform. As part of a brutal rehabilitation programme they become the experimental toys of a rogue psychiatrist.

Into this macabre world conscript Lloyd Norton wanders innocently due to a clerical error. He will never be the same again.

The novel, based on the real apartheid-era camp Greefswald, not only rips open an all but forgotten chapter in a chilling history, but also tells a gripping rites-of-passage story.

In ’n arm gemeenskap waar tik toenemend verwoesting en hartseer veroorsaak, vra drie ma’s al hoe meer wanhopig: wie is skuldig en wie staan dan vir geregtigheid? Maria verloor eers haar man en daarna haar seun. Ook haar suster, Stienie, en hul buurvrou Bettie moet magteloos toekyk hoe hierdie nuwe plaag hul lewens en huise indring, hulle vasketting aan hul uitsiglose omstandighede.

Teenoor die sukkelende bestaan en swaarkry van dié drie gesinne word die luukse en gewetenlose bestaan gestel van die bendeleier Dolf Pistoors, die Groot Beer. Maar daar is wel een man wat hom beywer om die euwel te beveg en hom skaar aan die kant van die vroue, kaptein Wielieboy Mathabola.

’n Onthutsende roman oor die mens se uitgelewerdheid aan magte buite homself en sy stryd om geregtigheid. Wat in die media slegs koerantberigte is, kry onrusbarende gestalte in Phillips se outentieke uitbeelding.

Tristan Hansen is 'n man wat R15 000 per nag vra en die land se mees invloedryke en wêreldwyse vroue soveel plesier gee dat hulle terugkom vir meer. Maar wanneer een van sy kliënte haar eie lewe neem, verander die plesierengel in 'n doodsengel, en bely sy kliënte die een na die ander wat agter toe deure gebeur het. Maar waarom doen hy dit? Beslis nie net vir die geld nie. 'n Sielkundige, Erika Hamilton, ontmoet hom toevallig. Albei van hulle bied op beroepsvlak verligting van neurose, onvervuldheid en frustrasie - die een op akademiese wyse, die ander met lyflike plesier. Wat gebeur wanneer hulle ontmoet?

Daar's 'n moorddossier op inspekteur Kassie Kasselman se lessenaar . . . Van Nigeriese rebellegroepe, dwelmsluikhandel uit Kaapstad wat raak aan die Taliban, en polisiemolle met duister geskiedenisse moet Kassie - posseël- en boeremusiekliefhebber, alleenloper-speurder met 'n ernstige waarskuwing op sy diensrekord - sin maak. Iemand het sleg geknoei, maar hoe hoog op strek die kwaad? Slagyster is 'n debuut-spanningsverhaal deur 'n opwindende nuwe stem in die genre, en vir inspekteur Kasselman sal ons vorentoe weer ontmoet.

In Die Tonnel word die verlamde Ilse deur haar vader se testament verplig om langs vele kronkelpaaie te reis voor sy die eindpunt van die lang, duister tonnel kan bereik en haar droomster kan gryp.

In Keerkring Van Die Hart het Kasper ’n vergeefse droom oor die hooghartige Liesel. Kan dié skugter man tot haar redding kom, al het sy met ’n swierbol getrou?

En in En Die Klippe Sal Uitroep is Emile, kroonprins van modelplaas La Rhône, ’n gesogte vangs onder die skone geslag, maar by nuwe verpleegsuster Miempie, ’n kampvegter vir menseregte, loop hy sy rieme styf .

Op 'n fynbosplaas in die Langkloof word die oorskot van vier jongmense gevind. Onder die wat antwoorde soek, is die amper-afgetrede joernalis Luther en die Struggle-veteraan Mosman, nou direkteur van 'n obskure intelligensieafdeling bemoeid met die identifikasie van die oorskot van die wat verdwyn het tydens die geweldadige doodsnikke van apartheid en die opsporing van hul moordenaars. 'n Naam in 'n sprokiesboek lei hul na Luca Thom, marinebioloog en seun van die polisieberader Eddie Thom en die oudaktrise Carlita Rosati, en na die jaar waarin Luca sy pa verloor het.

Harold Cummings, retired mechanical engineer, has everything he wants: a house, a devoted wife, Millie, and two children, whom he barely sees, but it’s everything he has wanted and as his friend Chippie says, ‘Hey, lighten up. You’ve got Millie. Kids, a grandson. A few shekels in the bank. You got your rewards’.

A distant friend dies and Harold is asked to give a Eulogy at the funeral that triggers his boredom at his life. When Millie leaves town to care for her ill sister, Harold’s behaviour begins to spiral downwards. He gets involved in theft, other crime, has a tattoo done, begins drinking heavily, experiments with drugs, meets a prostitute named Rose and falls foul of her pimp.

This is a gripping tale of stepping out of your comfort zone, beating the mundane into submission and watching one respectable man’s journey to the underbelly of life with a mixture of enthusiasm and horror.

Paul du Toit het hom in die Verenigde Koninkryk kom vestig nadat hy Suid-Afrika tien jaar tevore onder 'n wolk verlaat het. Nou is hy geskei en middeljarig, verstrengel in 'n vervelige werk en 'n sukkelende verhouding.

Hy aanvaar dus geredelik 'n maklike – of so dink hy – opdrag van 'n ryk Londense finansier wat hom na Suid-Afrika terugneem. Maar die land het verander, en die terrein is verraderlik.

Skielik moet Paul nie net met die skaduwees van sy eie lewe veg nie, maar ook met die versteekte magte wat Suid-Afrika beheer.

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.

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.

Plekkie in die son, dis al wat Karen Viljoen vra. Maar die pragtige donkerkop is melaats verklaar … Die oordeel dryf haar uit haar huis, haar droomhuwelik met Otto, haar baba – tot in Genadendal, inrigting vir melaatses. Kan Otto se liefde die vuurproef deurstaan? Daar is Beatrice, en die wette van die natuur. Selfs al word Karen dalk eendag genees verklaar, sal die gemeenskap haar nie maar weer verwerp nie? Eenmaal melaats, altyd melaats. In Genadendal, en by ’n simpatieke dr. Tertius Louw, vind Karen God se genade is tog genoeg – ook vir melaatses. Maar waar is haar eie plekkie in die son?

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.

A corrupt cop, a gangbanger, and an ex-marine sitting on three million dollars in stolen cash find themselves entangled in this "cinematic cape town thriller" ("Bookpage").

Reluctant bank robber Jack Burn is on the run after a heist in the United States that left three million dollars missing and one cop dead. Hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, he is desperate to build a new life for his pregnant wife and young son. But on a tranquil evening in their new suburban neighborhood, they are the victims of a random gangland break-in. Benny Mongrel, an ex-con night watchman, knows who went into Burn's house, and what the American did to them. Burn's actions soon trap them both in a cat-and-mouse game with Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard, a corrupt Afrikaner cop. Once Gatsby smells those missing American millions, the men are drawn into a web of murder and vengeance that builds to an unforgettable conclusion.

Thalia, adrift in a small university town in South Africa in the nineties, heads to New York to study photography and to pick up the faint trail left for her by someone she has never known. The city helps her to find her way as an artist, but it never quite provides the answers she is seeking. Only years later in Johannesburg is she able to make sense of who she is and what her work might mean.

Robert is a photographer in New York in the 1970s, desperate to make memorable images in a time of spectacular experimentation in dance, music and theatre. He intuits the importance of what he is photographing, but finds it almost impossible to transcend the troubles of his own life and achieve something great through his work.

Paige leaves South Africa in the seventies to pursue her dream of being a ballet dancer. She does not anticipate the ways in which this pursuit will challenge her understanding of the art that she has known and practised all her life, and she is ill prepared for the catastrophic moment that will undo everything she has worked for.

Unbeknownst to them, Thalia, Robert and Paige share a story that links them to one another, to the turbulent worlds of New York in the 1970s and South Africa in the 1990s and, finally, to the photographs that hold the secrets of their lives.

Notes on Falling is about the hope that art will challenge perceptions and orthodoxy so that the world can be reinvented through new forms. It is also about trying to reconcile the large pictures of history with the small snapshots of our individual lives.