In turn he questions, works with, and works against the native policeman, Shabalala, the Jewish doctor turned tradesman, the uncontrollably violent sons of the murdered man, the vast array of “coloureds” who populate the town. He draws out their insecurities, their sympathies, and gradually their secrets. Cooper is a man who understands the complex posturings and prejudices of the other characters. So he continues his own search for whoever killed Wilhelm Pretorius by turning over the rocks that hide the village secrets. He is convinced that the truth lies not in national politics but rather in local interconnections and relationships. Their methodology is simple and direct–to plant evidence and to extract so-called confessions by means of torture.Ĭooper refuses to cooperate. Instead, the Security Branch wants to pin the crime on blacks and/or communists. Soon, however, a team from what is called the Security Branch arrives to take over the investigation, relegating Cooper to a back-up role and ensuring that no white or Afrikaner person will be accused. Caught in the middle is Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper, who has been sent to solve the crime. The murder of a rural Afrikaner police officer sets in motion a series of explosive encounters and events between white, blacks, “coloureds,” and the local Afrikaner community.

A Beautiful Place to Die brings to life a 1950s South Africa, when new apartheid laws have just been enacted and when justice is in turmoil.

A beautiful place to die by malla nunn