City of Blood

Johannesburg is fertile ground for a crime writer… Strong and vivid, City of Blood is the coming-of-age story of both Siphiwe and the slightly older Progress… There is plenty of action, but also, amid the chaos and carnage, a sense of redemption

Guardian

Explosive and emotional, a journey to the dark side you won't forget

Dreda Say Mitchell

Shows how a simple act of kindness can have catastrophic consequences... Villiers gives an urgent desperation to the mounting danger as her tale heads towards its grand-scale showdown

Metro

MD. Villiers' remarkable debut novel is a coming-of-age story, fast-moving, thrilling and thought-provoking. Her plot is well-developed, her prose lively, occasionally lyrical but always clear and direct...[she] writes a mean action scene. Her characters too, are a joy

CrimeTime

A quite stunning first novel... weaving together of so many scams, double-crosses, crimes and betrayals committed by a large and fluid cast of characters, that at times I thought Elmore Leonard was directing the plot. It is that good..a superior piece of work

Mike Ripley, Shots Mag

Set in the dangerous and violent streets of Johannesburg. A debut with a stunning evocation of place and an original, engaging hero. Fast-moving and vivid, this thought-provoking thriller is a story of coming of age, revenge and redemption

CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger judges

A human drama in which the crime element sits alongside a coming-of-age story and an exploration of what life’s like for those at the bottom of the pile in the city

CrimeFictionLover