CITY OF BLOOD

A debut literary crime novel set in Johannesburg. it has been compared to The Wire (the HBO drama) in terms of its structure (ie the multiple perspectives) but also in terms of its focus on a particular place and the disparate elements that all vie for life within it. And in this respect, it is also similar to Attica Locke’s Orange shortlisted literary thriller, Black Water Rising, which has as much a political/socio angle as a crime angle. Other comparisons are James Lee Burke in terms of its vivid depiction of a city – in this case, Jo’burg rather than New Orleans – and the film City of God.

McCarthy Letswe, notorious South African crime lord, has finally returned to his home town of Johannesburg, after several years in exile. He is determined to gain his revenge on Abaju – “the Chameleon” - a Nigerian gangster who was responsible for his leaving and who has taken his place at the head of the criminal hierarchy. Caught between these two violent men is 19 year old orphan, Siphiwe Modise, who lives in a homeless shelter and who is haunted by the death of his brother several years earlier. As the war between Letswe and Abaju intensifies, Siphiwe finds his dreams of escape to a better life increasingly compromised. But he finds help in the unlikely form of Adrian, a white South African cop and Progress Zebele, an ambitious foot soldier in McCarthy Letswe’s army. It is a story of survival, revenge and ultimately, redemption, told in prose which is deceptively simple and a cut above. M.D Villiers has written a fantastic and compelling debut crime novel set in a part of the world in which crime readers are becoming increasingly interested and where the threat of violence is ever present.

The author – Martie – is 39 and South African. She has been living in the UK since 2003. She has attended writing courses at City University and has also done an Arvon course (which is where she started writing CITY OF BLOOD). She was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger in 2007. Harvill have commissioned a second novel as well.