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1899: The Boer war brings more than death and destruction…
No Ordinary Killing
What you need to know before your trail
As the Boer War rages, Captain Ingo Finch of the Royal Army Medical Corps pieces together casualties at the front. Then, recovering in Cape Town, he is woken by local police. A British officer has been murdered, and an RAMC signature is required for the post-mortem.
Shocked by the identity of the victim, the bizarre nature of the crime and what appears a too-convenient resolution, Finch turns detective. He is soon thrust into a perilous maze of espionage and murder.
Along with an Australian nurse, Annie, and an escaped diamond miner, Mbutu, Finch finds he has stumbled on a terrifying secret, one that will shake the Empire to its core…
Travel Guide
Magersfontein
The Boer Heartland as we read in the book. The Magersfontein and the Spyfontein ridges are the ones which dominate the landscape and are referred to in the novel as being close to the Boer camps.
For the British they were the Boer Wars, for the Boers, the Wars of Independence. Many Afrikaaners today refer to them as the Anglo-Boer Wars to denote the official warring parties. ‘Boers’, is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmers
This is the time of the building of the railways. the landscape is changing in every which way:
Cape Town
“The narrow gauge railways of the Cape – built to allow engineers easier penetration of the solid rock of the northern mining areas – lending a certain sense of Toy Town miniaturization.
The native African peoples were caught in a nightmare as Mbutu is in the novel.
The overall setting of the Boer war and the rich, layered hot and dusty landscape is intense.
Streetview Maps
C) South Africa - Northern Cape - Hopetown
E) South Africa - Cape Town
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
I got paper cuts from this novel, the pages turned so fast with all the action packed inside it! It’s a murder mystery against the backdrop of the Boer War and it really works. I didn’t expect to learn so much history about the war either which was a nice surprise as although the action and plot rattle along,the history keeps pace by its side and surprises you when you least expect it.
The Boer War as it turns out has some very interesting stories to tell and acting as the back drop to this story allows the author to explore the world around his characters, the prelude to apartheid, the British rule and the changing face of warfare. He does all this with aplomb I have to say and that’s coming from someone who often shies away from full on action adventure style books.
The characters were very nicely drawn ; Finch, an RAMC captain, and Annie, an RAMC nurse and their involvement with the Military Foot Police, the secrets between those fighting in the Boer war….
There is a LOT to this book so I did get a bit lost towards the end – it gets a bit over the top for me but overall, it’s a cracking read. But then I read that he’s also written a non-fiction book about Quentin Tarantino and the cinema of Cool. If this is on the big screen one day…
Booktrail Boarding Pass: No Ordinary Killing
Destination : South Africa Author/Guide: Jeff Dawson Departure Time: 1899
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