Leo - by Deon Meyer (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In a corrupt South Africa, the criminals are as likely to be in government-or even in the police-as on the streets. Two decorated detectives must put their careers on the line to find the link between three seemingly unrelated homicides in the latest thriller in the #1 internationally bestselling series. Detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido are languishing in Stellenbosch. Run-of-the-mill police work in the leafy university town is a far cry from their previous life in Cape Town fighting crime and government corruption at the highest level. Then a student is found dead on a mountain trail, and the key suspect, a local businessman, is found murdered in what looks like a professional hit delivering a message-suffocated by fast-action filler foam sprayed down his throat. On the other side of the country, a beautiful wildlife guide is recruited by a group of special forces soldiers to act as a honeytrap, part of a dangerous multimillion-dollar heist that goes tragically wrong. A single link connects the murdered businessman to the special forces, making Benny and Vaughn's case all the more mysterious. Another former soldier is soon killed, as is an agent of the country's disgraced former president; and then the heist crew reorganizes with an even more audacious theft in mind. Following leads as they fly at them, not sure exactly who to trust and struggling to connect the dots as the motives don't seem to add up, Benny and Vaughn find their case increasingly points to the corruption polluting the country. They know the clock is ticking-and Benny also has to be at the altar on time for his anxiously-anticipated wedding day"--

Book Synopsis

"Deon Meyer is one of the unsung masters."--Michael Connelly

"Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best."--Tess Gerritsen

In a corrupt South Africa, the criminals are as likely to be in government--or even in the police--as on the streets.

Two decorated detectives must put their careers on the line to find the link between three seemingly-unrelated homicides in the latest thriller in the #1 internationally bestselling series

Detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido are languishing in Stellenbosch. Run-of-the-mill police work in the leafy university town is a far cry from their previous life in Cape Town fighting crime and government corruption at the highest level. Then a student is found dead on a mountain trail, and the key suspect, a local businessman, is found murdered in what looks like a professional hit delivering a message--suffocated by fast-action filler foam sprayed down his throat.

On the other side of the country, a beautiful wildlife guide is recruited by a group of special forces soldiers to act as a honeytrap, part of a dangerous multi-million-dollar heist that goes tragically wrong. A single link connects the murdered businessman to the special forces, making Benny and Vaughn's case all the more mysterious. Another former soldier is soon killed, as is an agent of the country's disgraced former president; and then the heist crew reorganizes with an even more audacious theft in mind.

Following leads as they fly at them, not sure exactly who to trust and struggling to connect the dots as the motives don't seem to add up, Benny and Vaughn find their case increasingly points to the corruption polluting the country. They know the clock is ticking--and Benny also has to be at the altar on time for his anxiously-anticipated wedding day.

Review Quotes

Praise for Leo:

Winner of the ATKV-Woordveertjies Prize for Best Afrikaans Thriller
Shortlisted for South African Book Awards (Fiction)
A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2025


A Sunday Times Best Thriller of 2025
A Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine Best Mystery of the Past 25 Years

"This South African series has everything--an exotic setting, a great plot and the talents of detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido as they put their careers on the line to find the link between three seemingly unrelated homicides."--Globe and Mail (Canada)
"Engrossing . . . Meyer is unusually adept at weaving plotlines together and making them all equally engaging."--Lisa Henricksson, Air Mail

"Meyer expertly interlaces his main narrative threads in shrewd and unpredictable ways, remaining one step ahead of readers as he ushers the plot to a rollicking conclusion. This intelligent page-turner confirms Meyer's reputation as a master of the police procedural."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Meyer draws from South Africa's recent political turmoil in this eighth Benny Griessel procedural, expertly crafting parallel plots that explore binding loyalty . . . Meyer blends riveting plots at the perfect moment here: a series standout."--Booklist

"Deon Meyer, who is not just the finest crime writer in South Africa but one of the best anywhere, juggles labyrinthine plot strands with a mass of local detail and sociopolitical commentary . . . The plotting is nonpareil, but it's the two bloody-minded detectives who grip our attention."--Barry Forshaw, Financial Times

"Despite his unsentimental eye, Meyer makes you care for his characters' fates as they face ambushes and double-crosses before an Italian Job-style climax in the bush. His thrillers are portraits of a country in deep crisis and Leo may be his best yet."--James Owen, The Times (UK)

"Explosive . . . Deon Meyer, an expert in narrative gear shifts, turns the investigation into a caper / heist thriller with a deadly political dimension in the new South Africa . . . Literary escapism at its absolute zenith. To miss the return of our South African detectives would be a crime. Highly recommended."--Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

Praise for the Benny Griessel Series:

"I love Deon Meyer novels. It's global storytelling at its best, with the undeniable hallmarks of gritty realism and deep character building. If Harry Bosch had to pick someone to go through a door with, it would be his brother from another mother, Benny Griessel."--Michael Connelly

"Deon Meyer is the monarch of South African crime novelists."--Financial Times

"[An] outstanding series . . . In word, deed, and spirit, Mr. Meyer's humane and engaging characters are indeed among 'the best of the best.'"--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal, on The Last Hunt

"Deon Meyer is not just South Africa's greatest crime writer, he's up there with the best in the world."--The Times

"The undisputed champion of South African crime. Meyer grabs you by the throat and never lets you go."--Wilbur Smith, bestselling author of Courtney's War

"One of the best crime writers on the planet."--Mail on Sunday

"Deon Meyer is one of the giants of crime fiction."--El Mundo

"Mr. Meyer, the leading thriller writer in his native country, traffics in crime-novel situations familiar the world over: drunken cops, charming robbers, dangerous murderers, sudden violence--and sometimes, issues of race. Mr. Meyer's South Africa, however, is unique. His books, translated from Afrikaans, are usually set in the Cape Town region, where mountains spectacularly meet the sea on the Horn of Africa. Amid these vistas his detective confronts his own--and his country's--tortured past and the legacy of Apartheid."--Wall Street Journal, on Cobra

"Meyer . . . vividly depicts the story of South Africa in his novels, from the hope and turmoil of the fall of apartheid to the corrupt and desperate aspects of present-day Cape Town . . . Meyer's novels have an insistent forward motion, and the ones featuring Captain Griessel in particular have a pleasing relentlessness."--Los Angeles Review of Books, on Cobra

"A serious writer who richly deserves the international reputation he has built."--Washington Post, on Cobra

"Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best."--Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Playing with Fire, on Icarus

"Deon Meyer's South Africa is laid bare in Icarus; it is as glittering and hard as the diamonds his country is famous for . . . Meyer utilizes the crime fiction genre as an apparatus to create a multifaceted, unsparing picture of his country."--Independent

"South African author Deon Meyer's Benny Griessel series is one of the high points of contemporary crime fiction, and the fifth title, Icarus, is his best yet . . . [An] expertly engineered tale of sex, lies, and fraud."--Guardian (Best Recent Crime Fiction Novels)

"Deon Meyer continues his string of superb, tightly constructed timeline thrillers. Coming on the heels of the breath-holding Thirteen Hours, Seven Days takes us into the heart of a major police hunt for a killer targeting policemen as he demands the investigation of a seemingly unsolvable cold case."--Globe and Mail

"Thirteen Hours has breathtaking suspense, psychological understanding, and one of the most inspiring detectives ever. Deon Meyer deserves his international reputation."--Thomas Perry, author of The Burglar

"A smashing story. Imposing a strict time limit and a tight location on his plot, [Meyer] ramps up the suspense to an unbearable degree. Best of all, his sharply drawn characters really feel part of the new South Africa, where loyalties and beliefs must always be questioned."--Financial Times, on Thirteen Hours

About the Author

DEON MEYER is the internationally acclaimed, prizewinning author of fourteen thrillers, including The Dark Flood, The Last Hunt, The Woman in the Blue Cloak, Fever, Icarus, Cobra, Seven Days, and the Barry Award-winning Thirteen Hours. His books have been published in twenty-eight languages. He lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa.