‘Not a pious read, it’s an entertaining mystery’ – Rev Canon Advocate Errol Dengler

‘This first-class can’t-put-it-down mystery encompasses the essence of South Africa. Can’t wait for the next in the series.’ - Maureen Miller, Full Stop Editing

‘Val McDermid fans will enjoy this one’ – Susan Germond

LEOPARD IN THE NIGHT
Alec Fergusson hands over the reins of his leading PR agency to Gary Findlay and Viki Dlamini in order to enter a monastery but neither is pleased to be sharing the reins. He is vindicated when they are commissioned to handle a global communications campaign for the imminent launch of an AIDS vaccine that will make history and save millions of lives. The top secret project is a partnership between a Swiss Pharmaceutical company and the South African government.

When two South African researchers are murdered it raises several questions: Has the SA government been hoodwinked by yet another HIV/AIDs scam? Is it industrial espionage or corruption in the corridors of power?

Gary becomes a prime suspect as the ambitious Detective Sergeant Patricia Malapo is assigned to the career-boosting case. The PR agency faces ruin and the country looks set to become a laughing stock in the global AIDS community.

Not least in all this is a little girl struck dumb by the trauma of witnessing her mother’s murder.

BIO

A former political journalist, Loraine Tulleken is an irreverent Anglican/Episcopal priest who trained in Soweto and served as Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane’s international media liaisons and speechwriter for seven years. While the fictitious Archbishop Shakes Khumalo in her mystery series and the rest of the cast of characters bear no resemblance to any real people, her writing is underpinned by a deep understanding of the Church.

As she says, “What a privilege to experience the inner workings of Church as Archbishop Njongo campaigned globally for African countries to be granted debt relief. It was he who persuaded President Bill Clinton to allocate massive AIDS funding for our sub-continent. And there was good reason why doctors at the renowned Baragwanath Perinatal HIV Research Unit hailed him for fighting the government denialism that was depriving millions of South Africans of the treatment they badly needed. I still witness his angst as the Anglican Communion continues to ignore the pain caused by its stance on sexuality. But, as I watched him deal with the mundane and the awful on a daily basis, I learned never to confuse Church with God. As importantly, I learned not to confuse clergy with saints.”