Present Tense deservedly won the Ned Kelly Award for best debut book in 2020 and it’s wonderful that Natalie Conyer’s new publisher has decided to republish it, in the wake of releasing the second in the series, Shadow City.
And generously, Echo Publishing is offering 20 copies to Sisters in Crime members for the December Crime Stack. A perfect read for the festive season.
Present Tense introduces veteran cop Schalk Lourens who is trying to forget the past in post-apartheid South Africa. The action starts on the first page with the murder of retired police chief Piet Pieterse who has been ‘necklaced’, an execution from the apartheid era and one generally confined to collaborators. When Schalk is assigned to the case, he finds the past has a way of infecting the present. He must tread a difficult path between the new regime and the old, between the personal and the professional, between justice and revenge. This investigation will change his life and could alter his country’s future.
Besides the superb plotting, the book is the length of a crime paperback from the olden days. Conyer creates a ripping read in 336 pages.
More info here.
The Crime Stack is a benefit for Sisters in Crime members. Every month there are 20 books to win in a random draw of members.
Join now and be in the running for a complimentary paperback copy of Present Tense.