Sergeant Jackie Rose joins forces with veteran detective Schalk Laurens, who visits Sydney from South Africa to see his daughter. Schalk was recently suspended after being accused of corruption. But while in Sydney, he vows to make the most of his enforced break to track down a missing teenager who left Cape Town and quickly fell off the radar, much to her family’s intense worry.
Jackie is investigating the death of another young woman, whose body has been found, beaten, tortured and with a tattoo of the sun that appears to be some sort of branding of ownership. The cases seem to be linked. Their investigation exposes corruption and crime that prey on vulnerable youngsters, and as they follow the leads, their investigation puts both of them in mortal danger, and the tentacles of this case seem to reach into the highest levels of society.
Shadow City is gritty crime fiction at its best, and the characterisation of protagonists Jackie and Schalk is first-rate, with a growing attraction between them that is believable and compelling. But how will things end up for them as they get close to the truth?
Karen McMillan
Echo Publishing