Silent Valley

Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper, Book 3

By: Malla Nunn

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Please note: Silent Valley has also been published under the alternate title Blessed Are the Dead.

A remote town. A girl of rare and exquisite beauty. A murder that silences a whole community.

The body of a 17-year-old girl has been found covered in wildflowers on a hillside in the Drakensberg Mountains, near Durban. She is the daughter of a Zulu chief, destined to fetch a high bride price. Was Amahle as innocent as her family claims, or is her murder a sign that she lived a secret life?

Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper is sent to investigate. He must enter the guarded worlds of a traditional Zulu clan and a white farming community to gather up the clues Amahle left behind and bring her murderer to justice. But the silence in the valley is deafening, and it seems that everyone - from the uncooperative local police officer, to the white farm boy who seems obsessed with the dead girl - has something to hide.

With no cause of death and no motive, Cooper's investigation is blocked at each turn. Can he tough it out, or will the small-town politics that stir up his feelings about the past be more than he can bear?

In this pause-resisting tale of murder and mystery, Nunn entangles us in a rich and complex web of witchcraft, tribalism, taboo relationships...and plain old-fashioned greed.

©2012 Malla Nunn (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"One of our best crime writers." ( SA Life)

"Will ... resonate in your mind long after you have turned the last page." ( Courier Mail)

Love this series

The setting, the characters, the societal history lesson are all amazing. Humphrey Bower as narrator is icing on the cake.

GOOD JOB MALLA NUNN

Would you listen to Silent Valley again? Why?

The short answer is the combination of Malla Nunn and her story telling prowess and the top narrator on the planet…Humphrey Bower

What other book might you compare Silent Valley to and why?

The other two Emmanuel Cooper books.

Have you listened to any of Humphrey Bower’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Malla Nunn would be foolish in the extreme if she used anyone else.
There is no-one in the class of Humphrey Bower.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES

Any additional comments?

Both Bower and Nunn paint the picture very well.