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    Let the Dead Lie
    Let the Dead Lie
    Let the Dead Lie
    Audiobook11 hours

    Let the Dead Lie

    Written by Malla Nunn

    Narrated by Saul Reichlin

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The follow-up to her much-acclaimed debut, A Beautiful Place to Die, Malla Nunn's Let the Dead Lie takes listeners back to 1953 South Africa. When Cooper discovers the body of a young child on the Durban docks, he resists the urge to figure out what happened and leaves it for the local police. But after he is accused of the crime, he has 48 hours to clear his name and find a depraved killer.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJul 23, 2010
    ISBN9781449808617
    Let the Dead Lie
    Author

    Malla Nunn

    Malla Nunn was born in Swaziland, southern Africa, but moved to Australia in the 1970s. She studied theatre in America, where she met her husband and began writing and directing short films, three of which – Fade to White, Sweetbreeze and Servant of the Ancestors – won numerous awards and have been shown at international festivals from Zanzibar to New York City. Her first novel, A Beautiful Place to Die (2009), was published internationally and won the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Novel by an Australian female author. It was also shortlisted in the prestigious US Edgar Awards for Best Novel. Let the Dead Lie was highly commended in the Ellis Peters Historical Crime Awards. Malla and her husband live in Sydney with their two children.

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    Reviews for Let the Dead Lie

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      The second Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper book LET THE DEAD LIE has now been released, following on the from highly praised A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE.LET THE DEAD LIE takes Cooper into different physical circumstances, working in a very bleak city, doing menial labour and nightly surveillance work, there's a sense of loss and depression surrounding him. This rapidly changes to desperation as he is implicated in further murders and has a limited time, and difficult circumstances in which to clear his own name.Readers of the first of the Cooper books will be aware that this series is based within apartheid South Africa in the early 1950's. That's a very bleak, uncomfortable and disturbing location and timeframe for readers to be pushed into. It's made even more discomforting with the move to the urban setting - somehow there's a loss of a sense of some beauty, probably because there's less of the natural world. The vast majority of people that Cooper encounters in this book are down-trodden or controlled totally by their "racial situation". There are some rare exceptions to that of course, and there's certainly some signs of people making the best of an appalling situation - but sadly there are also signs of depravity and prejudice and tensions within racial groups. Somehow this makes the whole apartheid situation, and the nature of South Africa in that time darker, more depressing, more disheartening.Cooper himself remains an interesting, challenging character. Not quite an unreliable narrator, he's certainly a flawed human being. Which is something that really appeals to this reader - central characters that engage, make you think, wince or even dislike on occasions. Especially as Cooper has a good streak - his motivations are good, perhaps his methods less clear and sometimes his own relationships are at best hamfisted or at worst manipulative. But it's that sense of manipulation that is strongest in this book - from the "State" manipulating people's rights and opportunities based on a mindlessly arbitrary classification of "race"; through people within those race groups manipulating their own situation, and those around them; to the way that the race groups do (or do not) co-operate or respect each other as well.Where the circumstances of the setting of the book are so overwhelming, it can sometimes be that the narrative can get a little lost in the crowd. It's an interesting thing that in LET THE DEAD LIE, there is sufficient description and background to the world in which Cooper is operating to give a clear indication of what it must have been like, without losing too much impetus in the investigation. That investigation also twists and turns nicely and quite realistically giving the reader a sneaking suspicion that whilst some things are obvious, others may not be as they seem. Undoubtedly reading these stories isn't a particularly easy or pleasant task. The world is unpalatable, the society confrontational and profoundly shocking. Cooper himself isn't a knight in shining armour. He is, however, a great survivor and let's hope this series survives with him.
    • 2/5
      Nunn once again gives us a very revealing glimpse into South African life under the ruling National Party's segregation laws. I thought the first book in the series, A Beautiful Place to Die, was excellent. Unfortunately this second book was a struggle to read due to the inclusion of too much from the previous book and an absolutely glacial pace. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement; however, because of that first book, I will continue with the series.
    • 3/5
      In the sequel to A Beautiful Place to Die, Emmanuel Cooper, no longer a detective, is working undercover for his former major when he stumbles across the body of a young boy; he can't resist working the case, which results in his being framed for three murders, and he must work against the clock to identify the real killer.This is more of a thriller than a mystery/police procedural, as A Beautiful Place to Die was, although they should be read in order as characters and plot points from the first book are important in the sequel, and a reader new to the series would probably feel lost. The historical setting of Durban, South Africa, in the mid-1950s was vividly portrayed, playing up the awful racial stratifications of the country at the time. However, the plot wasn't as compelling as I would like, despite the "race against time" aspect of it, because it unwound more as a spy thriller than a mystery, and I wasn't that invested in the outcome. I probably won't continue with this series.Beach read 2015.
    • 5/5
      LET THE DEAD LIE takes place in Durban, South Africa, in May 1953, 8 months after the action of Malla Nunn's debut crime novel A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE which I reviewed earlier this year. Events moved on after the conclusion of the action covered in that novel. Apartheid has become deeper entrenched in Souther Africa, and just 6 months earlier Emmanuel Cooper lost his job in the police force because he upset the Security forces. He now works for his former boss in an undercover role.Among the characters in LET THE DEAD LIE, and important to understanding the plot are Russians who were close to Josef Stalin, by this time dead. The writing style of LET THE DEAD LIE has a modern feel about it, and I kept forgetting that the action was taking place in 1953. The plot is many stranded and complex. Adding to the complexity are details from Cooper's past, some going back to his childhood, and some from his experiences in Paris in 1945 at the end of the war.I was glad to meet up again with Zweigman, the German doctor, and Shabalala, the Zulu police constable from A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE. I commented in my review of A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE about the sergeant major who offers Cooper advice in times of stress, particularly when he has a migraine coming on. He plays with Cooper's head in LET THE DEAD LIE too.It would have been remarkable if Australian author Malla Nunn had been able to achieve the same level of writing in LET THE DEAD LIE as she did in A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE. However, I do think this second novel has a level of complexity that the first didn't, and is therefore a more difficult read, and I struggled at times to know what was going on.
    • 4/5
      Let the Dead Lie is the exciting second novel from Malla Nunn featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper series, following on from A Beautiful Place To Die. This crime series, set in Southern Africa in the 1950′s, has a gritty, dark realism that explores the political and social system of the period.Detective Emmanuel Cooper is working on the docks in the port city of Durban having been forced to resign his position and accept a reclassification as ‘mixed race’ after the events in Jacob’s Rest. Despite his status, he has been recruited by Major van Niekerk to surveil criminal activity at the dock, which leads him to discover the body of a young boy with his throat slit. Emmanuel doesn’t have any faith that the police will solve the murder and begins his own unsanctioned investigation but his curiosity turns him into a prime suspect after his landlady and his maid are murdered. Emmanuel has just 48 hours to solve the crimes or be arrested and charged with the triple homicide. Unraveling the mystery sees Emmanuel face international intrigue, police corruption, turf wars, smugglers, and his own ghosts.In Let The Dead Lie, Emmanuel struggles against himself as much as he does the corruption and crime of Southern Africa. The body of the dead boy affects him so strongly partly because Emmanuel was once a child of the slums, struggling to survive poverty and violence. Emmanuel is not the type of man to ignore a brutal murder, even when it is in his best interests. Led by his conscience, with a moral compass that chafes against the restrictions of 1950′s South African society, Emmanuel is determined to find justice for the murdered boy, no matter the personal cost. Even with just 48 hours to exonerate himself his focus remains on finding the murderer responsible for the child’s death, rather than the man who could set him free. It’s a subtle distinction but an important one because of what it tells you about Emmanuel’s character. Emmanuel would likely do as he pleased and damn the consequences if it wasn’t for the fact that others would be the ones to pay the price for his behaviour. Emmanuel believes himself to be irredeemably flawed and seems to court punishment, which he feels he deserves because of his failure to save his mother and his experiences during the war. He is constantly surprised by the loyalty of Constable Shabalala and Doctor Zwiegman. He doesn’t recognise the positive traits within himself that the men respond to with respect.The action in Let The Dead Lie is fast paced with the bulk of the action taking place within the 48 hour window Emmanuel has to solve the crimes. Suspects are considered, some dismissed quickly, others studied for longer, but as the case grows more complicated the tension mounts. Investigating the boy’s murder leads Emmanuel into the middle of a turf war between Indian drug smugglers and an Underworld boss, and a Secret Police search for Russian traitors while staying ahead of the police who want their pound of flesh. Emmanuel is convinced the connections are there but can’t figure out how everything fits together. The plot is multilayered and complex but the links resolve into a satisfying conclusion.The urban setting for Let The Dead Lie is as vivid as the stark country side of Jacob’s Rest, from the bustling, seedy port, to the Durban slums to the gated houses of the white aristocracy. The cultural framework of the novel though is what really sets this series apart from other crime novels. The tenants of apartheid makes my skin crawl and Nunn accurately and honestly portrays the disturbing racism and inequality of Southern Africa at the time. The characters that populate her novels are very much the products of such a twisted regime. Having experienced life with status and without, Emmanuel is more sensitive than most to the unfairness of the social system that determines every aspect of life by the colour of a person’s skin.Once I had started Let The Dead Lie I found it difficult to put it down, engrossed in the thrilling action, strong characters and fascinating setting. This is a terrific, fast paced read that I highly recommend for readers of crime fiction. Personally I was so eager to prolong the experience I dived straight into the third installment, Silent Valley and wasn’t disappointed.
    • 4/5
      Cooper goes undercover to document police corruption in Durban and gets accused of murdering 11-year-old Jolly and others. Atmospheric view of Durban underworld and taut sense of danger. Message about segregation laws and prejudice . Great setting and description
    • 5/5
      Let the Dead Lie is set in 1950s port town of Durban, South Africa where former Detective Emmanuel Cooper is dealing with the aftermath of inflaming the Security Branch in A Beautiful Place to Die. With no police badge and a different race identification card, Cooper now works undercover in the Victory Shipyards doing surveillance for his former boss, Colonel Van Niekerk.

      When Emmanuel discovers the dead body of a ten-year old white errand boy, he cannot let the crime go even though he know it will cause him serious problems. As he becomes a suspect in the crime he's given 48 hours to solve it or end up in jail as the murderer. Several complications and interwoven connections expose layers of corruption and danger. The plot takes so many twists and turns that it isn't possible to guess the outcome. The story gets more and more intriguing as the real facts of the boy's killing are exposed with countless characters, policemen and spies. The boy's killing is only a small part of this story.

      This suspenseful novel is taut, well written and tightly paced. The reader is immersed into the culture and the atmospherics of the unjust and complex color dynamics of South Africa. Throughout the novel, we are confronted with the race laws and the cruel realities of living at a time where identity is granted only through being officially white. This book develops the series with a more intimate look at Emmanuel Cooper and moves the series forward in a new and interesting plot twist. The insights into his character become even more fascinating here as past and present combine to create one of the most fascinating literary characters I've ever read about. Sometimes an author's work will just “grab” you. This has been my experience so I can't recommend this series enough.