Maybe it was an error for crime reporter Maggie Cloete to ignore the call from the softly-spoken man. Now he is dead. Someone put four bullets in Balthasar's chest. It is post-apartheid South Africa, at the turn of the century. In Pietermaritzburg, capital of KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC rules. However, in the townships and villages, fear and superstition rule too. Is it a political murder? Maggie's instincts are on red alarm, and during the search for the truth, she comes up against both gangsters and politicians - and has their henchmen on her tail. However threats and attacks against her make her even more stubborn and determined. She learns too much about Balthasar's life and his work at the AIDS Mission to be distant and professional. She is deeply, and dangerously, involved. Balthasar's Gift continues the tradition of pacy, hard-boiled South African crime fiction.