Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Random Violence by Jassy Mackenzie

Jassy Mackenzie lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was inspired to document her experience of being carjacked at gunpoint in her driveway.

Random Violence (Soho Crime, 2010) is the first book of five about private investigator Jade DeJong. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mackenzie describes a booming town in the years after the end of apartheid stretched to the breaking point in every conceivable way. Rampant growth has outrun the infrastructure needed to support the swelling population and crime runs amok unchecked.

Those who can afford it live in gated communities and hire private security firms to patrol the grounds because the government law enforcement is inadequate. Carjacking is common, and just stepping out of a vehicle long enough to open security gates can be lethal, as Annette Botha discovers one night. She is shot in her driveway while her four Alstatians on the other side of the gate go berserk trying to reach her.

Jade Dejong returns to Johannesburg after 10 years away. She left after the death of her police commissioner father, and she’s returned because one of the men convicted of his murder is being released from prison. She intends to kill him to avenge her father and enlists the assistance of a career criminal to do so while her father’s former deputy, now promoted to superintendent, requests her help in solving Botha’s murder.

Both story lines reflect an investigator and a country struggling to decide who they are. DeJong is a strong lead with grit and courage. Her willingness to violate the law reminds me of Spenser and other 20^th century PIs who don’t mind breaking the rules when they do not serve justice. The violence of the sprawling city, hair-raising at times, appears to reflect the contemporary reality. (Multiple websites for tourists advise prospective visitors that the crime rate is very high and caution is needed at all times.) Impressive sense of time and place. An intense, absorbing read for fans of formidable female protagonists and of international crime fiction.

Starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.

 

·         Publisher: ‎ Soho Crime; 1st edition (April 1, 2010)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Hardcover: ‎ 336 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 1569476292

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1569476291

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.