Riotous Assembly Av Tom Sharpe

<p>When Miss Hazelstone of Jacaranda Park kills her Zulu cook in a sensational crime passionel, the gallant members of the South African police force are soon on the scene: Kommandant van Heerden, whose secret longing for the heart of an English gentleman leads to the most memorable transplant operation yet recorded; Luitenant Verkramp of the Security Branch, ever active in the pursuit of Communist cells; Konstabel Els, with his propensity for shooting first and not thinking later - and also for forcing himself upon African women in a manner legally reserved for male members of their own race. <br><br>In the course of the strange events which follow, we encounter some very esoteric perversions when the Kommandant is held captive in Miss Hazelstone''s remarkable rubber room; and some even more amazing perversions of justice when Miss Hazelstone''s brother, the Bishop of Barotseland, is sentenced to be hanged on the ancient gallows in the local prison. <br><br>Not a ''political'' novel in any previously imagined sense, <i>Riotous Assembly</i> provided a completely fresh approach to the South African scene - an approach startling in its deadpan savagery and yet also outrageously funny.</p>