A well written, engaging and entertaining book.
I loved the plot, the fleshed out cast of characters and the unusual setting.
The mystery was ok and it kept me guessing till the end.
It was the first book I read by this author and it won't be the last.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all opinions are mine.

A police procedural set in South Africa. I found it difficult at first to figure out what was what with all the unfamiliar terms and locations. Toss in interspersed scenes from 350 years ago and you'll also wonder what the...? Keep reading, as this book uses a seldom used theme as it's vehicle, which turns into a pretty good mystery. My only real complaint is that the ending was too fast/too abrupt.

The Woman in the Blue Cloak by Deon Meyer
Translated from Afrikaans by K.L Seegers
First Published in US by Atlantic Monthly Press / Grove Atlantic Pub Date May 7 2019

4 .75/ 5 stars

Synopsis;
Early on a May morning in the depth of South Africa’s winter, a woman’s naked body, washed in bleach, is discovered on a stone wall beside the N2 highway at the top of Sir Lowry’s Pass, some thirty-five miles from Cape Town. The local investigation stalls, so the case is referred to Captain Benny Griessel and his colorful partner Vaughn Cupido of the Hawks—the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations. The woman proves to be Alicia Lewis, an expert in old Dutch Masters paintings specializing in the recovery of valuable lost art. Discovering the two men she had contacted before coming to South Africa reveals what she was seeking—a rare painting by Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s finest student, not seen since it disappeared from Delft in 1654. But how Lewis died, why, and at whose hand shocks even the two veteran detectives.

OMG!!!!!! I did not put this down, i read this book over coffee and lunch this lovely Sunday, and fans of James Burke, Johnathan Kellerman will enjoy this book immensely. I loved the descriptions of South Africa, and the translation left the local Afrikaan slang and idioms in the dialect. which had me searching online for translation .I adored the element of art history , any book that makes me want to go research and pull out college texts to check accuracy and read more in depth of a subject really intrigues me. The way the author set out a timeline that the art curator searched for the painting, and the investigation into the suspects you had no idea how the book would end, or who committed the murder. One of my fave films of all time was Out of Africa, so few books and movies step into this continent, so few truly try to capture the lives of Africans, I most certainly recommend this book, with the touch of Thomas Crown Affair art heist feel..
The only reason I do not rate this a five star book, is I wish it was longer, with more of the central characters lives portrayed in its pages. Bravo #GroveAtlanticPress you have published a home run. Thank you #Netgalley for my #advancedreadercopy!

The action raced along at such a pace, the most adept at leaping to conclusions would have been left in the dust. I git the fee.ing the author was late for dinner.

A good story but not as good as his earlier work. Worth reading for the insight offered into life in modern South Africa.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this arc.

I have read several previous Benny Griessel books and have really enjoyed them and was really looking forward to reading this one. I was finally able to tuck into it last night and was surprised. While the familiar characters were there in the familiar setting of Cape Town, it certainly didn't feel like a familiar Benny Griessel book. But I found it to be very enjoyable all the same. I thought it was a much gentler story from the previous ones, lacking the intensity and violence an pacing of the earlier books. Benny seemed to be much more reflective and certainly more settled in his personal and professional life. We're all getting older...

This was a short and easy read, a very nice bedtime story.

The Woman in the Blue Cloak by Deon Meyer is an enticing murder mystery. I have read all of Mr. Meyer’s books and this latest one is a treat! The story flows easily and quickly and the dialogue between the two protagonists, Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido, is witty and intelligent.

The threads of the story wove well together: murder-mystery, lost art, Dutch and South African history all created an interesting backdrop to the investigations of the SAPS and Hawks in Cape Town.

Although deemed more a novella, even a short story, rather than a novel, it is succinct, fast-paced and has an ending that is nicely tied up. I enjoyed it immensely!

What's not to love about Deon Meyer? A rich, dark, compelling read set against the tapestry of a world Meyer knows well and depicts as powerfully as no other writer. Don't miss this one!

The Woman In The Blue Cloak is a novella with two detectives, Bennie and Vaughn at the forefront. I have never read this author before, so I had no background information. A woman is found dead. She's from London and was searching for a painting by a student of Rembrandt. The pair investigate and crack the case. Set in South Africa, the author deftly portrays the tensions in the region. The story is short but well written and completely engaging. The characters are likeable and definitely have different personalities. The author accomplishes a lot of characterization in a short space. I liked the story and recommend. It's particularly appealing if you don't have a lot of time but want a more cerebral read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of The Woman in the Blue Cloak.

I did not know this was a novella featuring characters from a mystery series but it worked fine as a standalone.

Captains Benny and Vaughn are members of an elite murder squad in South Africa. The detectives are called in to investigate the murder of a tourist from London, a renowned expert in the world of art recovery.

When the men discover the woman had located a lost masterpiece by one of Rembrandt's students from over two centuries ago, the men must decide who among the few people in town, was aware of her intention.

The novella is quite short, less than 200 pages and a quick read, yet despite its brevity, I was able to get a sense of Benny and Vaughn as individuals, as men, as partners, with hints of their respective personal lives.

Benny is a recovering alcoholic who met his soon to be fiancee in AA; here he is struggling to afford a beautiful ring for his beloved, who used to be a famous singer.

Vaughn is Benny's opposite; a dapper dresser, a ladies' man with a hot temper and abrupt manner yet both men work well together and are a formidable team as their reputation precedes them when they begin investigating the case.

I enjoyed the South African setting, a nice change of pace over the usual mysteries I read and the brief art history lesson given in relation to the artwork the murder victim was interested in.

A quick and decent read!

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, atmosphere, and characters. I would recommend the book to friends and family for their reading pleasure.

This is a short book but none the worse for that. A body found draped over a wall begins a case for Captains Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido which will introduce them to the world of fine art and those who discover its whereabouts.

There is a series of books about Benny Griessel but not having read them doesn't detract from the enjoyment of this shorter story. This isn't a tale of red herrings or false confession instead it shows how two successful, elite detectives work with the information they have to crack a case through effective, efficient police work and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley in return for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who prefers police procedure with very little prevarication or well written shorter stories which only take an evening to read. This book also makes me wonder what the longer novels are like and so plan to read the first in the Benny Griessel arc very soon.

Deon Meyer is back with a compact thriller set in South Africa. The Woman in the Blue Cloak is a great read!

The value of this novella for me was the picture of contemporary police work in South Africa and the description of rural life among the Afrikans community. The story itself is uncomplicated, i.e. no plot twists, and moves quickly to denouement. The English translation is good prose,

A short book, possibly even a short story written by the South African author Deon Meyer and featuring detectives Benny Griessel with his partner Vaughn Cupido. The two are described replete with their usual back and forth kidding and the setting in Capetown. The plot involves the murder of a woman, originally an American, currently living in London and visiting South Africa for the first time. She has been found dead, her body naked and draped across a rock.
Benny and Vaughn are assigned the case and involve the up to date scientific methods utilized by modern police departments to work it. A pleasant side bar to the detective work is Benny's financial problems in buying an engagement ring for his live in girl friend. We get to the end of the novel with a solution which utilizes Mr Meyer's knowledge of the art world.
The story is entertaining, easy enough to read in a few pleasant hours, but far from Deon Meyer's normal novels featuring Benny and Vaughn. The author has already introduced his audience to his main characters so that there is no surprise in their investigations. But there is nothing in the telling of the story that makes it anything but a pleasant way to spend a few spare hours. Those readers familiar with the detectives should certainly continue to seek out future books involving them, and the entertaining style invite back new readers not enthralled with them.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the eARC.
An enjoyable novella by Deon Meyer, a unique voice in the mystery genre. His South African detectives, Griessel and Cupido, are investigating the strange death of a woman, found draped on a rock, her entire body cleaned with bleach. She was an American woman who had lived and worked in London and was an expert in the world of Dutch master paintings. They discover that she was on the trail of a painting by Fabricius, a pupil of Rembrandt.
The atmosphere of modern day S. Africa and the banter by the two detectives, plus the complex mystery of the murder, make for a page turner. I love this author and can't wait for his next (hopefully longer) book. Highly recommended.

The Oppressive heat of the day combined with swirls of constant dust against the windshield makes the tour bus driver squirm with frustration behind the wheel. He only wants to return safely with his cargo of thirteen shifting women to the end of their destination. But a scream erupts at the back of the bus. There from the bus window, in plain view, is the body of a dead woman perched, as if displayed, on the top of a wall alongside the road. Too late to "unsee" the seen.

Cape Town's Captain Benny Griessel and his partner, Vaughn Cupido, are called in to the scene of the crime. They are known as the Hawks within the SAPS and have plenty of notches on their crime solving belts. But this one is going to be a rough one. The pathologist states that the cause of death as blunt force trauma. And this killer knew just how to rid the body of DNA. A strong smell of household bleach fills the air as they approach.

As the investigation moves on, the stakes are raised higher. The body is that of an American woman who worked for many years with Restore recovering lost artwork. This could be quite the international fiasco in the making. Time is of the essence.

The Woman in Blue is my introduction to Deon Meyer and his two saavy detectives hitting the streets of South Africa. The banter between the two is delightful with humorous darts hitting their target at just the right moments. Meyer allows you to view their weaknesses and touch the scars of their experiential backgrounds. There's a lot of worn leather on the bottom of their shoes.

Deon Meyer weaves an additional thread through this storyline involving a mysterious work by Carel Fabritius, a pupil of Rembrandt. Pages turn swiftly as we readers are given a glimpse into the art world revolving from today into the long lost corridors of the past. My interest has been piqued as I search out previous books in the Benny Griessel Series set in Cape Town. Perhaps you will, too.

I received a copy of The Woman in the Blue Cloak through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Atlantic Monthly Press and Deon Meyer for the opportunity.