Sundays in Pretoria are dangerous for selected women.
A murderer plagued by his childhood, has found a distinctive modus operandi to salve his pathological need to escape the domination of the person who was supposed to cherish him.
As The Bathroom Strangler’s frenzy escalates and the body count mounts, Nico van Staaden, the lead detective on the case, finds himself confronting his own demons as he struggles to solve the murders of the seemingly unconnected victims. The lack of evidence in the sequence of deaths and pressure from his superiors are challenges he must overcome.
The resolution is bloody, savage and merciless.
Excerpt
His hands shook. He wanted them to stop; he wanted everything to stop.
All he could hear was her banging on the piano. It reverberated along the passage, through the tiled floor of his childhood bathroom and into his brain. The feel of the cold, smooth surface of the bath beneath his small curled-up body was soothing and calmed him. It was safe as long as she banged on the piano. The moment the music stopped the real nightmare would begin. Urine ran down the insides of his legs causing his jeans to cling to them. The music stopped. She would be coming soon.
He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the memory.
The car boot slammed shut and brought him back to the present. The street lights above his head flashed on and illuminated the quiet street. A slight though cool breeze played with crisp brown leaves on the ground around his feet; a dog barked down the street, disturbing the quiet suburb. The owner of the dog yelled at it to shut up. Why did people keep dogs to protect them, then stop them from doing their job? It was something he would never understand.
He watched her from the safety of his patrol car. She looked good in her jeans. She was well put together for a woman of her age, but it was on her face that time and alcohol told their story. Her short curly hair was tousled by the wind. He’d watched her for a few days, just as he’d watched the others. The memories flooded and overwhelmed him. They excited and horrified him. They all reminded him of that Bitch. She’d turned him into a monster.
The woman tried to pick up all the boxes piled around her feet. She hadn’t had the brains to pack them flat, and her hands shook too much for her to be able to put them inside each other. Probably needed another drink. Getting out of his car, he slung his rucksack over his shoulder, checked that no one was around to identify him and walked through the open gate towards her. She never remembered to close the gate, probably to the disgust of the other inhabitants of the complex, but it suited his plans.
His hands stopped shaking and the noise in his head grew silent. All he saw was the woman who would soon be joining the others.
His footsteps crunched on the grass. He saw her back stiffen and heave as she took a deep breath before turning around. He sensed her fear and apprehension about being out alone in the dark. She looked around furtively, betraying the usual victim mentality in her every move. She was vulnerable and knew it, which excited him. Her body relaxed the moment she turned around and saw him coming towards her. The uniform always put them at ease. It was almost too easy.
He smiled, flashing his perfect teeth and asked “Hello Auntie, can I help you with those boxes?” His voice was calm and didn’t betray the excitement he felt. He’d been taught that calling an older woman ‘Auntie’ was a sign of respect. Although he wasn’t sure who’d taught him that – it certainly hadn’t been his mother.
Professional Reviews
A knife and a quill
In Requiem in E Sharp De La Haye offers up a chilling look not only at a hate-filled serial killer but at the grim world of modern South Africa. In her novel we glimpse a Pretoria that’s filled with random violence, police corruption and internecine mistrust between racial groups. The book is dedicated to her brother Johan, “who survived 17 bullets.” Against this backdrop a serial killer finds it easy to get away with a string of violent deaths for some time before the police put together the clues — and then elude capture when the lead detective finds himself hampered at every turn by incompetence and outright hostility from his colleagues. Add to the mix his new relationship with Janet, a strikingly beautiful woman but one who’s also wrapped up in her recently suicidal friend Natalie and her often overbearing partner Louis. The women want the guys to get along, the better to patch over the strains of their past. De La Haye offers up a story of twists and psychological turns that will keep you entertained.
Killer Aphrodite
South Africans are reminded on a daily basis that their country is the Crime Capital of the World, but when the Bathroom Strangler starts doing his evil business, it becomes all too real for those people who live in Pretoria. Soon the body count escalates and it’s up to a troubled detective to try and stop the serial killer, who seems to prey on the women of the city. Nico van Staaden unfortunately also has to confront his own demons while he’s working on the case and things simply don’t seem like they want to work out for him on either mission. Will he be able to find the mysterious Bathroom Strangler? Will he be able to overcome his own struggles? Only time will tell…
This is not the first time I’ve read a book by Joan De La Haye and although she might not be a writer that everyone is familiar with, I am hopeful that it will change soon. With a grizzly, gore-filled story that is set in Pretoria, South Africa, De La Haye was able to capture my attention from the first page of the novel and keep it throughout. With some interesting plot twists and nail-biting thrills, I say this is a winner for horror fans and thrill-seekers as far as books are concerned.
As you all may know, Killer Aphrodite is run from Pretoria and we are well aware that sometimes the truth is much more terrifying than fiction… especially around these parts, which means that De La Haye was able to capture the truly gruesome realities that we have to face more often than not and turn it into a book that will give you a proper scare. The character-development is intriguing and although it’s difficult to relate to a South African cop with a few screws loose or a serial killer that probably didn’t get attention from his mother as a child, they are certainly likeable characters and I definitely want more of this disturbing mayhem that De La Haye has to offer.
Frankly, we don’t see very many South African authors on the scene (there’s literally only about 10 independent writers in Pretoria and I’ve only been in contact with about 4 of them) and we don’t see very many of them attempting to bring these types of stories to the table. However, I love the fact that I got the opportunity to read Requiem in E Sharp, because it’s so different to what we usually see in the “serial killer mystery mass market publishing community” (try saying that five times fast). Usually it’s all the same when it comes to serial killers, it’s always set in America or Britain, if we’re lucky we’ll get an Aussie setting, but how often do we get a book set in South Africa? Not often. What’s more is that people don’t realise the difference in serial killers as far as their behaviour is concerned. In other words, our serial killer profiling differ immensely from let’s say the UK’s.
So, if you’re in the mood for some Proudly South African murder mystery goodness, get your hands on this book. It’s different and perhaps you’ll even become a fan of what our authors have to offer.
Tony's Thoughts
I have to start by talking about the title for this book. The use of the word requiem is quite clever but the mention of E# is what really grabbed my interest. At first I thought it was just F. Then a little searching revealed that it is usually a term used to refer to F Natural. It is really an enharmonic note. So the title of this book is almost a puzzle in itself. By my twisted logic it is equivalent to a repose for the dead. Or is it a play on words and re-pose instead? My head was hurting before I’d even started reading the book.
This story is set in Pretoria. I know very little about South Africa outside of the news so I was looking forward to the setting. It was interesting to see how the post-apartheid office politics played out. I thought the way that the author made the daily violence and corruption that hovered in the background of this story seem the norm was very interesting and effective. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any Pretoria tourist board leaflets by Joan De La Haye any time soon.
The story itself is relatively simple. A serial killer with mummy issues tries to get in the head of the police detective in charge. What makes this story so interesting is the interactions of the characters. The relationships and character flaws are so compelling that I just had to find out more. Once you start reading this book there is no turning back. You have to finish it. There are not any huge twists in this story but I wasn’t entirely sure which characters were going to die at the end. Even the main character is at risk because it is hard to tell whether he actually cares about living anymore.
This is not just a thriller by genre, it will keep you reading in to the small hours of the night.
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