It's a searing hot day in the middle of a Namibian summer, and a white man is watering the garden of his luxurious villa while his daughter plays nearby. The peaceful scene is shattered by the single shot that kills Van Zyl and sets in motion a breath-taking political thriller that clocks up 5 murders. The principal characters are real, and some are still living, all of which adds an extra frisson to this fascinating story.The heroine is Clemencia Garises, an African detective whose compassion and commitment mark her out from the men in the story, whose behaviour is usually lazy, deceitful, or criminal.

All, that is, except for the blond German journalist who gently courts her, and whose investigative skills assist her in unravelling the complexities of this series of murders, which are all related to the assassination in 1989 of a supporter of Namibian independence. The assassination really happened, and Jaumann has created a fictional history in its wake - a novel that asks What if..?, with an ingenious plot.