{"id":272725,"date":"2025-08-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/?p=272725"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:45:14","slug":"debut-authors-murder-mystery-keeps-the-pages-turning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/debut-authors-murder-mystery-keeps-the-pages-turning\/","title":{"rendered":"Debut author’s murder mystery keeps the pages turning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Book review: Unsolicited<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Andrea Shaw<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher: Jacana<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This debut murder mystery<\/a> by Cape Town author Andrea Shaw kept me guessing until the last page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaw cleverly hid the whodunnit clues in a layered plot with plenty of red herrings, romantic subplots and nerdy publishing jokes \u2013 such as the name of fictional publisher that the plot pivots around; Hadeda Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the story, Cape Town detective Fatima Matthews investigates the murder of a young publishing assistant. She\u2019s hampered by nepotism, a visit by her son\u2019s uptight Brazilian in-laws, unresolved trauma from her past and her own menopausal hormones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, driven by her conscience, Fatima goes rogue to solve the case solo, putting her teetering career in jeopardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The twisty plot was complicated enough to keep me intrigued but Fatima\u2019s character made me uncomfortable. I like to see strong female characters of colour<\/a> but it would be better if the characters were written by authors of the same culture. Shaw has a very different frame of reference, so Fatima\u2019s character feels a little fake \u2013 like a size 42 jacket you bought online that fits like a 38. The character\u2019s cultural fit just wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two cringe-worthy examples: no self-respecting son would ask his Muslim mother: \u201cWhat kine?\u201d It didn\u2019t help that Shaw wrote \u201cWhat kind, Mommy?\u201d when Fatima\u2019s son was asking her \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d. Fatima also flings the p-word around like it is a culturally accepted norm in the character\u2019s circles \u2013 which it isn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were also too many plot mysteries left unresolved. Fatima catches the killer but we are never told what happened to her husband, why she is non-religious, nor the details of her repressed trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fatima is the main character and features in most of the story but the reader is never given the satisfaction of peeling back the layers of her ill-fitting character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Unsolicited
Unsolicited is Capetonian author Andrea Shaw’s debut novel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debut author cleverly hides whodunnit clues in a layered plot with plenty of red herrings, romantic subplots and nerdy publishing 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author's murder mystery keeps the pages turning | TygerBurger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover why the debut murder mystery by Cape Town author is a page turner, filled with red herrings, romantic subplots and nerdy publishing jokes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/debut-authors-murder-mystery-keeps-the-pages-turning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Debut author's murder mystery keeps the pages turning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover why the debut murder mystery by Cape Town author is a page turner, filled with red herrings, romantic subplots and nerdy publishing jokes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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