A dark thriller set in Cape Town, South Africa

17th February 2018

Apostle Lodge by Paul Mendelson, dark thriller set in Cape Town.

Apostle Lodge is the fourth book in Paul Mendelson’s Colonel Vaughn de Vries South African crime thriller series. It is a well written and well constructed story. There are two parallel plots. The first (and, possibly, lesser one…) concerns the investigation into a car bomb exploded in a busy Cape Town street. The teams carrying out the investigation are kept in silos, with only the most senior officers knowing the extent of the discoveries. There are suspicions that all might not be as it seems… We are told that the explosion was carried out by Islamic extremists, but is that the case? Who might be trying to cover up what?

The second (and, most likely, principle) plot concerns a series of sadistic attacks and murders on women. The first victim to be discovered is found in the Apostle Lodge of the title – a stark and mysterious house, designed by a German architect, perched high above very smart Camps Bay on the outskirts of Cape Town. She has her eyes gauged out and placed on a chair looking at her body. Her mouth is post mortem fixed to look as though she was screaming… She had died a painful death over several days. As de Vries looks into the case, he finds previous cases – not necessarily where someone was killed – that appear to follow the same pattern. Why is the attacker picking on the victims he is picking on?  The women have no obvious connection, and they are from quite a wide geographical area. He involves Dr Grace Bellingham, a criminal profiler, with whom in the past he has had a romantic attachment. The pepetrator is eventually tracked down, and another life is saved. It is an exciting and fast moving story.

What is absolutely great about Apostle Lodge (and the whole series) is the way in which Paul’s love of, and understanding of, Cape Town comes through so clearly. The book is the absolute essence of TripFiction – a brilliant story firmly set in a fabulous location. Yesterday, we published a ‘#Talking LocationWith…‘ blog written by Paul in which he describes the city and the drive along the 300 km Garden Route where part of the action takes place. And on Sunday 25th, we have – courtesy of the publisher – five copies of Apostle Lodge (which is being published on 22nd February) to give away in an easy to enter competition.

Tony for the TripFiction team

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