Death On The Limpopo (Paperback)

Reviews

"My review" by Elite Reviewing G. - 20 July 2020

A more serious Tannie Maria tells us this story. It’s a Friday, and Tannie Maria van Harten is alone in the office as Harriet Christie, the manager of the Klein Karoo Gazette, was at the bank and Jessie Mostert the paper’s journalist out investigating why women are getting sick. Could it be from the pesticides that the farmers are using? She hears the roar of a motorbike stop outside the building followed by a knock on the door. Standing in front of her is Zabanguni Kani, a beautiful, tall black woman. Little does Tannie Maria realise at the time that this meeting is going to change her life in ways she could never have imagined. Zaba talks Maria into going on a trip to the Limpopo with her. The journalist who was going to accompany her is blown up by a car bomb near Maria’s house. The journey is fraught with dangers and Detective Lieutenant Henk Kannemeyer, Maria’s boyfriend is frantic with worry because every time he manages to speak to Maria, some new disaster has struck. I’ve waited such a long time for this third Tannie Maria book to be published. The first two, Recipes for Love and Murder and Tannie Maria and the Satanic Mechanic, left me often crying with laughter. Not this time. This new novel is more serious, relating to Maria’s father, and his death under mysterious circumstances. As an ex-South African living now living in the UK, I got particularly heartsore as she and Zaba travel from Ladismith first on the famous Route 62 to the Limpopo, then through the beautiful countryside. Maria captures the landscape, the “klein dorpies” (small towns) and their occupants with perfection. Heartsore because Covid-19 has left many of us wondering whether we’ll ever be able to fly again, which means that I might never again see the beautiful countryside that one passes on that long journey from the Cape to the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana. The only thing that might ease the pain is the recipes which she has so generously included in the book. One, in particular, the butternut cake – sounds like melt in your mouth perfection! Rony Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

"Tannie Maria is a delight!" by Alexandra F. - 28 September 2019

So pleased that Tannie Maria is back ... in her velskoene & with recipes to back up the warmhearted advice she gives to readers of her column in The Klein Karoo Gazette. With her characteristic insight & good salt of the Earth humour, Tannie Maria subtly facilitates mutual understanding & respect across socio-economic, racial and cultural boundaries. Highly recommended to delight South Africans here & abroad