First Line: For an undertaker George Henry Abbott was a sad man.In this first book in the Kramer and Zondi mystery series set in South Africa and originally published in 1971, a beautiful blonde has been killed by a bicycle spoke to the heart. The use of bicycle spokes as murder weapons is the signature of Bantu gangsters. Why would the Bantu kill a white woman in this manner? It's something that Kramer and his Bantu partner, Zondi, are going to have to find out.This is a series that I've been meaning to sample for a long time because I've heard so many good things about it. Although I found McClure's gritty, almost terse, writing style a bit confusing from time to time and his characters not very well fleshed out, I found a lot to like about The Steam Pig.I found the well-paced plot to contain several surprises, but more than anything I loved McClure's subtlety. This book was written during the time of apartheid, and McClure's books were wildly popular in South Africa when they were first published. This means that these mysteries had to appeal to both supporters and opponents of the system of racial segregation that finally came to an end in 1994.You can find the language of racism in The Steam Pig. There are kaffirs, "boys", etc.-- but the language is applied with a light touch. The races are segregated. The laws are being upheld. But they are being upheld by a mixed race partnership that is really a friendship if you take the time to look deep enough. And it will take time because Kramer and Zondi are experts at toeing the "boss and boy" line when in company. They don't stand out; they blend in. But for anyone who cares to observe closely, it's easy to see that the laws Kramer and Zondi insist upon being upheld first aren't the laws of racial segregation; they're the laws of human decency and finding killers regardless of the color of the victim's skin.Although I really wish Kramer and Zondi had been fleshed out a bit more, I was-- and still am-- in awe of McClure's skill. He put together an engrossing mystery that's all about what's beneath the surface. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series.
Set in Trekkersburg, a small unfashionable town just north of Durban, South Africa this police drama sets itself down smack dab in the middle of 1960’s apartheid. Bantu gangsters fill the town with crime which Kramer and his surprising side kick, Sergeant Zondi, a Bantu native get to solve. Zondi is able to get the other kaffirs to open up to him where they would not have to a white police officer and so the remarkable team gains a foothold on local crime.The surprise we find in The Steam Pig is that the criminals are local politicians who get themselves mixed up with a Miss Le Roux, who it turns out is a mixed-race female passing herself off as white. Unable to face that they have had a relationship with the young lady she turns up on the slab at the mortuary.Kramer seems to stumble through the mystery, the debut novel in a series starring the two policemen, as clues seem to get dropped at his feet. Luckily for him he is astute enough to recognize them and along with the information passed on from the Bantu informant, the unfortunate Shoe Shoe, and the invalid Indian Moosa, who watches the neighborhood from his upstairs bedroom window, the mystery begins to unravel as the pieces fall in place.Just the title alone, The Steam Pig, spoke of a juicy, mouth-watering story. I knew in an instance that is somehow referred to the beautiful blonde laying on the stone slab, but McClure keeps the secret literally until the last page. A taut, secretive story that leans on the hate of an apartheid society, to the shocking conclusion that shows that nothing is as it appears, and that even a mother cannot grieve publically for her daughter in case the secret of their life is revealed
What do You think about The Steam Pig (1972)?
McClure writes with in an unapologetic style about life and death in South Africa in the 1970's. As with any story of South Africa, from this time, racism tends to take the center stage whether intended by the author or not. But, in this case the author does not preach, he reports, and you are left to judge.The story twists and turns but is somewhat predictable none the less. The characterization is good, the telling of time and place is good as well. I found the shifts in point-of-view to be too frequent and consequently a distraction and a minor annoyance rather than an added dimension. But, all in all, I thought it a good opening book and will be buying another book in this series soon.
—Francis
A great little crime story about a white South African police Lieutenant and his black partner during Apartheid. I read this for the first time back in '91 after getting a copy of it from my aunt, and I remember liking it but I couldn't remember much other than the basic premise. I find the apartheid era rather fascinating to read about, and this book was my first real taste of it. Kramer is pretty well developed, but Zondi is still just kind of the main side character to go along with all the others. The criminal enterprise was rather clever, I thought. And all things didn't get wrapped up in the end, the story did move along at a nice quick pace.The paperback (faber & faber) was formatted somewhat oddly. The font was quite small leaving large border areas. There were no obvious spelling/grammar mistakes but the foreign spelling of some words was somewhat interesting at times.
—Kamas Kirian
Published in 1971 and winner of the CWA Gold Dagger, The Steam Pig is a police procedural set in South Africa. The book is noted for its depiction of apartheid in South Africa in three respects. First, its matter of fact depiction of how apartheid was expressed on a daily basis and how it structured social relations and led to distinct geographies. Second, the complex relationship between Afrikaans ‘Tromp’ Kramer and his Bantu Sergeant Mickey Zondi, which is infused with asymmetrical power relations but also friendship and respect. Third, its complex plot that mixes polite white society with Bantu gangs, Indian shopkeepers, and colored families. Indeed, McClure doesn’t pull any punches in a book that interestingly can be read in different ways -- as an anti-apartheid tale and as an affirmation of the status quo (hence its popularity in South Africa). The result is an absorbing book with respect to the setting, politics and social relations, and the case that Kramer and Zondi are trying to solve. A big plus in its telling is the somewhat ambiguous relationship between Kramer and Zondi and their interaction. That said, due to the focus on the plot, neither character is that well developed and their back stories are barely explored. Moreover, the story stuttered at certain points and the end of the tale seemed overly rushed and little over-dramatic and it would have benefitted from an epilogue or a little more explication as to the fallout. Overall, a fascinating and entertaining tale of South Africa in the early 1970s.
—Rob Kitchin
