Natalie Conyer

My crime novel, Present Tense, is set in Cape Town, South Africa. Since it was published, many readers have wanted to know more about crime fiction in that country, and asked me to recommend some good crime novels set there. So here’s a brief rundown, and pointers to some absolutely wonderful South African crime writers.

Like Australia, South Africa has a long tradition of crime writing, going back to the late nineteenth century. During apartheid (1948 – 1994) the country produced little crime fiction but after apartheid ended the genre took off and today crime fiction is very popular. Here are ten of my favourite South African crime writers, not in any particular order:

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From time to time, Atlin Merrick (author and redoubtable editor of Improbable Press) and I write joint blogs. We often disagree, but not this time. Here’s our latest, on writing what you know:

I am thrilled to announce that Present Tense has won the 2020 Ned Kelly award for best debut crime novel. These awards (we call them the Neddies) are given by the Australian Crime Writers Association. Here’s the announcement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De4c-VYFGKk&feature=youtu.be

Along with being shortlisted for the Davitt Awards, that makes for some ritzy stickers on the cover.

Here’s a piece I did for Sisters in Crime Australia.

Like many of us, Sydney author, Natalie Conyer,  has been watching a lot of TV crime during the pandemic and it has prompted her to reflect on the wonderful women appearing in supporting roles. Read more here

I’m thrilled! Present Tense has been shortlisted for the 2020 Ned Kelly Awards, for debut crime fiction. This clip has the full list

What if Sherlock Holmes were Polish? What if he and/or John Watson were Indian or Irish or Australian or Japanese? How would their worlds look if one or both was from a completely different background? That’s the brief I was given when I was asked to contribute a story to this anthology, soon to hit the shelves.

You can read more about it here

This is one of a series of joint posts in the She Said/She Said series, in which Atlin Merrick and I muse on writing topics. Atlin is publisher of Improbable Press and author of The Night They Met and The Day They Met. 

You can find the post here: https://improbablepress.co.uk/blogs/improbable-press/stop-editing-your-book-and-start-writing-rubbish

I’m delighted that Present Tense has made it to the shortlist of this year’s Davitt Crime Fiction Awards – and in such great company.  Here’s the announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP9S9rU_-lw&feature=youtu.be

This is the last of three blogs on reading.

Does where you read a book affect your understanding of it?

I ask because of a conversation I had with a friend. We were discussing books, and I said I was reading Olive Kitteridge. She said she’d read it but hadn’t enjoyed it. She’d been in Bali at the time, she added, and perhaps that had affected her evaluation.

So I started to think about what reading in a specific place brings to the experience. (more…)

Some of the world’s best crime writers (among them Lee Child, Val McDermid, Sara Paretsky) talk about their detectives – and how hard it is to kill them off.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/27/me-and-my-detective-by-lee-child-attica-locke-sara-paretsky-jo-nesb-and-more?CMP=share_btn_link