The Chanteuse From Cape Town
by John Constable
[Book Tour]
Synopsis
When Sol Nemo, a rich but mentally-troubled private investigator, learns of the kidnap of the wife of the man who’s been like a father to him, he responds instinctively to the call for help. But, unfortunately, Sol’s bargained without the betrayal of his trust and the life-threatening consequences that follow.
So begins this intriguing tale of murder and revenge set against the backdrop of South Africa’s breathtaking landscapes and the vibrant cities of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Step by step, as the story unfolds, Sol has to confront a web of deceit and corruption with which he must wrestle; just as he must wrestle with the crippling anxiety that periodically overwhelms him. And, as if this wasn’t enough, Sol must also decide his response to his on-off lover’s recent overtures. Is her sudden rekindled interest no more than the lure of his vast inheritance or does she really wish to cement a long-term future together?
From all this, Sol emerges as a protagonist with many of the doubts and weaknesses that afflict us all but, in the final reckoning, he too must answer the question: How far will I go to take revenge?
Review
I was kindly offered by LiterallyPR to partake in this wonderful book tour and I am so glad that I took up this opportunity because Sol Nemo had a lot in store for me. I have read quite a few crime novels in my 26 years, but this one was like peeling the layers of an onion. The deeper I dived, the more immersed I found myself.
The story begins like most other crime novels, a troubled private detective called in to help with a personal crisis but that is where the comparison to other novels stops as this has a perfectly complex storyline that deliciously keeps on giving. Sol is a retired South African Police officer, but following their ongoing corruption, he decided to tackle crimes by himself. The story is set in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, John does a fantastic job of setting the landscape, so much so that I felt like I have been living there this past week whilst reading this novel. The main character Sol Nemo, finds himself tangled up in the kidnapping of a loved one's wife and despite Sol Nemo's thoughts on the wife Mira, he feels he owes this favour to the man who saved Sol Nemo and got him on the right track.
Sol Nemo is entangled in a web of lies and deceit, he has to trust no one, not even the police force that is there to protect him. He is willing to lay down his life to figure out the mystery of this kidnapping as the motive first appears to be very unclear. Unfortunately for Sol, things take a downward spiral, he finds himself in a whole different world of crime and murder and with no one to watch his back, he is treading on very thin ice. There were many moments whilst reading this that I could feel my body tense up and not wanting to know what happens next in fear of the worst, but the need to know was too intense.
If you enjoy books about crime, corruption and mystery where the plot is very different to other books of this genre, then you are going to love this one!.
I am very much looking forward to reading more about Sol Nemo in the hopefully near future.
About the author
I've been writing for a while. In fact, it’s been a long while as I completed my first novel when I was around 20 years of age. I don’t remember much about it now except that it was set in the UK and concerned a plot to extort money from the Government. Some of my research for it though evidently caused a chilly breeze to blow in establishment circles which resulted, one sunny afternoon, in police officers paying me a courtesy visit. Having let them have sight of my partially completed manuscript they quickly departed, satisfied I wasn’t a reincarnation of Guy Fawkes or whoever was trending on the terrorist watch lists in those days.
Since those early times, I have written on and off over the years. In truth, there have been long gaps between books because I was doing other things. The one that occupied me most was as a serial entrepreneur in the recruitment industry. If you know anything about the sector, you don’t need me to tell you about long hours and hard work, particularly in times of recession. I survived two of them before quitting for good; after all you can have too much of a good thing.
Along the way, there have been other novels including one about a plot to assassinate Hitler at his headquarters on the Eastern Front; I seem to remember doing a lot of research for that one!
Regrettably, none of these efforts saw the light of day, though there is a crime thriller which I could think about publishing as a stand-alone in due course. By contemporary standards, it’s a trifle on the short side and it would need editing again.
The character of Sol Nemo grew out of my various trips to South Africa in recent years. My wife hails from Port Elizabeth, where Sol is based, and gradually as I absorbed something of the place and its people, my creative brain began to distil a character and a plot. Not much in the way of crime fiction is set in the RSA so it was my feeling that the market was about ready for something different. I can only hope you agree.
My interests include voluntary work with a particular focus on housing and money issues; collecting modern first editions; reading anything and everything, the welfare of Gerry the gerbil; and occasional golf which I play with an embarrassing level of ineptitude despite years of patient coaching.
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