The Scent of Oranges

I want to thank Lisa Roe for sending me this book.


Linda returns to South Africa to attend her father’s funeral. A lot has changed since Linda has been away. At least one thing Linda can still come home to is….her family’s orange farm. Before Linda’s father passed away, he wrote her a letter. The contents of the letter will change forever change Linda’s life.

Her father tells her that years ago, when her brother, Hannes was murdered that her father was so outraged. He wanted justice for Hannes’s murder and didn’t care what methods the police took to capture the killer. Within twelve hours, the police had arrested three black men and they were sentenced to death. Later Linda’s father learned that the police co-horsed the young men into signing a document admitting they were guilty. Now Linda must undertake the difficult mission of locating her brother’s real killer. It won’t be easy as South Africa is ruled by a democracy of ruthless men, who seek power and wish to keep secrets buried.

It was a great surprise how smoothly this story read. The Scent of Oranges by Joan Zawatzky is the first book I read by this author but hope to read more. I really enjoyed how each section was split out and had the theme of an orange. Right away I was transported to South Africa. I could picture everything Linda saw as if I were her. Joan captures the essence of South Africa with the mystery and intrigue of a murder. The Scent of Oranges just goes to show you that great books can be born from some unknown authors.