‘Everyone has a dark side.’

When death comes unexpectedly and violently, is it really better to go quickly, without suffering? Do most people not need these final moments to confess and beg forgiveness?

Hello, and welcome to my newsletter.

My second crime thriller, Guilty, is coming in September.

A middle-aged dentist found executed in his living room. On the wall, a single word, written in blood. Warrant Officer Colin Menck looks about the ‘clean’ scene and is convinced that it was the work of a professional killer.

Who hired him? The main suspect is the victim’s wife, who seems just a bit too unaffected by the murder. But what did he do to deserve such a death?

Less than a week later, Menck finds himself looking at another wall with six bloody letters written on it. The only connection is another unhappy woman, an ex this time, their son a constant source of conflict.

How many names remain on this killer’s list? How many men still have to write GUILTY in their own blood?

The research is always a highlight and for this one I had the privilege of visiting The South African Police Service’s impressive Forensic Science Laboratory in Plattekloof, specifically the Ballistics Section. Here bullets are retrieved from suspect weapons and scanned into IBIS (the Integrated Ballistic Identification System) to compare with those that have been used during the commission of a crime. I also revisited the forensic pathologists and the Salt River Forensic Pathology Laboratory. And there was some fascinating research into a subject that would be a massive spoiler if revealed …

In my next newsletter, I’ll tell you a bit more about the investigating officer, WO Colin Menck.

Thank you for reading.

m.s.