Now that Christmas is over, it's time to sort through all your wanted and unwanted Christmas presents. If you're lucky, you will have at least one bookshop gift voucher in your stash. If I'm lucky, you will wonder how to spend it.

So here is one idea: spend the voucher on "Murder . Work" by Yvonne Eve Walus (Echelon Press 2004, ISBN: 1590803256). And if you think the idea is cheeky, wait till you read the book! :-)

"Murder . Work" is an office who-dunnit, set in South Africa during the period of transition from an apartheid government to democracy. Although not a political thriller, it captures the flavour of the socio-political atmosphere. Apartheid in South Africa was not only about race, it was about gender, too. The book shows how people of the "old school of thinking" adapted to the new reality of a woman being allowed to walk into a bar or own a house without her husband's permission.

Christine Chamberlain doesn't want much from life: a steady job, a baby, and a Fields Medal. Her boss, however, wants money and he's willing to do anything to get his way, even if it means getting Christine involved in a project that not only jeopardises her dreams, but also her life. When Christine complains to her colleagues, they joke about killing the boss to solve the problem. Almost everybody has an obvious motive to get rid of the boss from hell... and a few hidden ones they don't share. The next day, Christine brings fennel oil to work. It’s not the world's deadliest poison, and Christine would of course never dream to use it as such. Or would she?

Murder . Work is a very hard book to put down, and is a great weekend read. The chapters are short and you quickly make progress. The characters are engaging, and well constructed, the plot is more complex than it first seems, and it will have you guessing until the last page. There are good insights into the new South Africa and the old one plus the people who have failed to make the transition between the two. Some good humour and Walus’s unusual style makes for an entertaining, fascinating and riveting mystery ~ Stephen Clark

Or, how about: “Small Price To Pay”
Publisher: Echelon Press,
Date: 2007
ISBN: 1-59080-536-4
Available from Fictionwise.com

When a woman overhears her husband planning a tryst with his lover, it isn't his infidelity that sets her on a course to rediscovery, but a simple comment, not meant for her ears…"She's too vain to have an affair when she's fat." In that moment, she decides to take her life back…no matter what the price!

"Loads of fun, and an absolutely witty take on the meanings of revenge and pleasure. Yvonne turns the conventions upside-down to make a wonderfully entertaining read! " ~Heather S. Ingemar