Get him to the church on time – and don’t let murder get in the way

Review: Vivien Horler

Leo, by Deon Meyer (Hodder & Stoughton)

Just over two years ago the mysterious Russian cargo ship Lady R docked in Simon’s Town. Its arrival was unexpected since it had turned off its marine tracking system somewhere near Cape Agulhas.

The ship was one of two Russian cargo ships officially sanctioned by the US for involvement in the transport of munitions to Russia to support that country’s war in Ukraine.

Lorries brought containers to Simon’s Town and,  during loadshedding on the night of December 8, 2022, the ship  was loaded in the dark. It sailed for Tanzania early on December 9.

There was enormous speculation – and public disapproval – of the incident, and to this day no satisfactory explanation has ever been made by the SA government. So what really happened?

What if a stash of gold bullion – not munititions – was loaded aboard the ship?

I have no idea how long it takes SA’s prolific and celebrated Deon Meyer to research and write one of his addictive Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido crime thriller novels – but maybe two years is enough? And maybe that’s exactly what happened.

Apart from the stash that was stolen…

The latest Benny and Vaughn novel opens in the bushveld, with beautiful, blonde game ranger Chrissie, who takes people on bushwalks, telling tourists what not do if they’re charged by a lion. (You don’t run, you stand your ground and make yourself look as big as possible. Apparently.)

But Chrissie has a darker side, and is about to be involved in a major heist with a group of serious ne’er do wells, including the rather fanciable Igen Rousseau. (We are never told how to pronounce the first name, but they do occasionally refer to him as Ig.)

It’s all carefully planned, but there’s a major snafu resulting in a lot of dead bodies. Chrissie takes her much diminished share of the loot and heads off to Italy.

But then Igen gets in touch again. Is she up for taking part in a big gold heist?

Meanwhile, back in Stellenbosch, Benny and Vaughn are still hoping to be sent back to the Hawks. It’s also a stressful time for Benny as he’s about to get married, and while he has no doubts about his love, marriage seems to be a big step.

Then the body of a young student, a runner, is found near a mountain trail, and Benny and Vaughn are on the case. She has nasty bites and scratches, and at first glance it looks as though she mighty have been attacked by a Cape leopard.

Except the scratches look wrong, and besides, Cape leopards are vanishingly unlikely to attack people.

The investigation leads to the Stellenbosch home of a former Recce who himself is found dead a few days later. He has been suffocated by someone spraying fast-acting filler foam down his throat.

This looks like the work of professionals who want to send a message.

Benny and Vaughn are up for it all, but then the case is mysteriously taken away from them by high-ups in the police. Something very unsavoury is going on.

You want Benny and Vaughn to beat the baddies, but some of the baddies are extremely engaging, and part of you is hoping they don’t come to too sticky an end.

I can’t say more, other than to proclaim Leo a fiendishly clever, layered, and ingewikkelde story, set in immediately identifiable Western Cape landscapes. I thought it was a great read.

And I’m not the only one – the Afrikaans version of Leo is the winner of the AKTV prize for best Afrikaans thriller of 2024.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *