Today its the turn of To Become An Outlaw by Peter Murphy on the blog. Thanks to Random Things Tours and No Exit Press for my copy of the book.
‘When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw’ – Nelson Mandela
1964, Apartheid South Africa. Danie du Plessis, the son of a conservative Afrikaner family, is poised to start a glittering legal academic career at one of South Africa’s leading universities, when he falls in love with a student, Amy Coetzee. But there’s a problem: he’s white, she’s not. Facing arrest, imprisonment and ruin, the couple flee South Africa, and settle in Cambridge, where friends find them positions at the University. They marry and have two children, and have seemingly put the past, and South Africa, behind them. But in 1968 Art Pienaar enters their lives, and, insisting that they have a duty to fight back, enlists their help in increasingly dangerous schemes to undermine the South African regime.When Pienaar and a notorious drug dealer, Vince Cummings, are found murdered together, Danie’s activities come to light, and he and his family find themselves in mortal danger. Danie is also threatened with criminal prosecution on behalf of a government desperate to maintain good relations with the apartheid regime. Danie knows he’s sailed close to the wind. But has he become an outlaw? Can Ben Schroeder persuade a jury that the answer is no?
To Become an Outlaw is the eighth book in the Ben Schroeder legal thriller series. I happen to have read one previous book of Peter Murphy’s A Statue for Jacob. Not part of the Ben Schroeder series but a book that I found emotional and educating too. This is the first time I have encountered this series. I just hoped it would read OK, as I didn’t realise it was so far into a series.
It reads great as a standalone, featuring barrister Ben Schroeder and set in 1970s in South Africa, a time when apartheid is a normal way of life. Danie Du Plessis, from a Conservative family but raised by Hilda, a black maid, who he loves. He begins a great career as a university lecturer and while working he falls for a student, Amy Coetzee, who is classified as a Cape Coloured, which makes their relationship illegal. They flee the country to the U.K and get married have children and good jobs.
Danie becomes involved with attempting to bring the apartheid system down. After the bodies of Art, the lawyer who asked him to get involved, and Vincent, a donor who had been worrying Danie, are found in a hotel, both shot dead. Danie and his family find themselves in danger from the South African Bureau for State Security. Britain puts Danie on trial to keep relations good with South Africa. Ben Schroeder is the one to defend him, can he make the difference for Danie, or will he be made the criminal out of this?
Legal thrillers are a genre that I have always thoroughly enjoyed and I have now added Peter Murphy to my legal thriller go-to authors. Apartheid was a nightmare and to feel like I was in the grips of this regime as I read, was eye opening. To see the lengths that people such as Danie and Amy go to in order to help bring the regime down was humbling.
I was gripped by the emotion I could feel as I went on Danie and Amy’s journey through life. The hatred of the regime pours of the pages. The courtroom trial was so believable, with the Jurors and how they thought, back in a time when being black was more than a challenge here in the U.K, it all makes for an immersive experience. I don’t know how I missed this series. It is one I will have to add to my toppling tbr pile.
Peter Murphy successfully made me emotionally connect with Danie and his family, their story tore my heart apart as I could imagine plenty of South Africans had come up against these issues with apartheid. Connie, a black female police officer did the same as I saw her troubles within the Metropolitan police force as a black female, being both black and female in the 70s was trouble anywhere, but in the police force it was so much more.
Definitely an eye opening, emotional book, with relatable characters and an atmospheric read.
Author Bio
Peter Murphy was born in 1946. After graduating from Cambridge University he spent a career in the law, as an advocate and teacher, both in England and the United States. His legal work included a number of years in The Hague as defence counsel at the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal. He lives with his wife, Chris, in Cambridgeshire.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 