I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for a review copy of Apostle Lodge, the fourth novel to feature Colonel Vaughn de Vries of the Cape Town Police.

De Vries is happily trying to rekindle his relationship with forensic psychologist Dr Grace Bellingham when he gets called to attend a murder scene. What he sees there sickens him and makes him think serial killer although he has no evidence of that.His hunt is made harder by a lack of resources as most police officers are investigating a serious bombing in the tourist area.

I thoroughly enjoyed Apostle Lodge which is an absorbing read in an exotic (to me) location. The plot has plenty of twists and turns and a likeable, if grumpy, protagonist. Mr Mendelson is not breaking new ground with his serial killer hunt but he handles it well. I love the way he manages to incorporate the politics of policing in modern South Africa and relationships with the press into it. It makes for interesting reading.

The big draw, however, for me in this series is not the plot but the picture of South Africa and the atmosphere created which I think are a tour de force. The atmosphere is the easiest to describe. Cape Town is sweltering in unprecedented temperatures and I felt the heat oozing off the pages and the desperate hunt for air conditioning. It is uncomfortable and reflects de Vries's mental state. De Vries is basically a dinosaur, a white man with a senior position in the police. Many people would like to see him fail or fall so he is often walking a tightrope, frequently only saved by his boss, Du Toit. It is a hard working life for a man who doesn't care for politics and only wants to do his job. I think the racial politics in the novel adds spice and an extra dimension to the read. It's something I know nothing about or have experienced so I find it absolutely fascinating. Obviously I cannot judge how realistically it is painted but it seems authentic.

I also like that Dr Grace Bellingham is burned out and does her best to refuse to help. It is a novel twist in fiction to see an unwilling and damaged profiler, mostly they are portrayed as very eager. Again it makes for interesting reading.

It should be noted that not all plot lines in the novel are fully resolved. They are not cliffhangers as such, more teasers of possible future developments as the plots are explained.

Apostle Lodge is a great read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is the fourth in the Colonel Vaughn De Vries series set in the record breaking oppressive heat of Cape Town in South Africa, but it is my first book and I think it can be read as a standalone. There are two storylines, firstly, in a long empty home, Apostle Lodge, designed by an award winning German architect, children discover the starved and gruesomely murdered body of a woman with her eyes removed and placed on a chair. The specially formed Serious Crimes Unit of the South African Police Service headed by Henrik de Toit investigates the case, led by De Vries. In Long Street, a van explodes killing a number of people and injuring many others. Lieutenant Mike Solarin, of the Major Crimes Unit, works with the terrorism section to find the perpetrators of the bombing.

It turns out to be a difficult and complex case, the victim is identified as Bethany Miles, a mother abducted from her vehicle. Before long, details of another case with a similar MO are uncovered, and it seems de Vries has a serial killer on his hands. The police team look into the residents around the lodge and the estate agency charged with selling the house. It soon emerges that the Apostle Lodge murder may not have been the first murder to take place in the house and that there may be more than one killer at large. A recently set up newspaper are remarkably well informed of the case, and a journalist, Ali Selani, is reticent about her sources for her articles. The return of profiler, Grace Bellingham, does not result in the return of their close relationship for De Vries, a source of deep disappointment for him. Grace is a damaged woman who expresses the desire to never return to her professional role and help the police, but the intense pressure on De Vries eventually has her helping him to identify the killer. Mike Solarin finds himself on a bewildering investigation where the evidence is not being followed up and he is being warned to toe the line and accept a contentious conclusion that is far from the truth. He is not a man to let this go and he takes his concerns to de Vries.

I am thrilled to have discovered this atmospheric series with De Vries, set in a South Africa with all its turbulent history on apartheid, and the problematic rise in crime that worries the authorities and its consequent impact on the tourist industry. Mendelson gives us a detailed study and descriptions of Cape Town and the issues that arise within it, such as the limited resources available for policing, and the politics and intrigue. What I liked was the character driven nature of the story, and the in depth development of the stubborn and determined De Vries, who has reached that stage in his life where he is just not susceptible to being forced to follow the corrupt orders of those in power. A wonderfully engaging, entertaining and tense novel set in a contemporary South Africa that I am fascinated by. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

3.5 stars

I loved Mendelson's earlier books in this series for their sophisticated and complicated portrait of post-apartheid Cape Town, focalised largely via Colonel Vaughan de Vries of the South African police. Sadly, this book feels like a throwback to the 1990s psychopathic serial killer genre, where the victims are raped and tortured women - if I'd known that, I wouldn't have chosen to read it.

To be fair, M's writing and characterization is slick and professional but the qualities that made the earlier books stand out for me - not least the uneasy relationship between de Vries and young, black, educated officers like Don February - is gone.

90% of the book is the serial killer plot, with an odd 10% given to a political side-plot that had the potential to be far more interesting if given space to breath.

It's a shame as M's writing and politicised vision are better than this: 3.5 stars for a seen-it-before-plot in a book that could have been so much better.