'The Shining Path' is a riveting read with a clever and engaging plot, excellent characterisations, seamless dialogue and an intrigue with as many twists and turns as the Amazon River, along which most of the action takes place.

The Shining Path - a Bernie Bernard Crime Thriller by Monty Roodt, author and Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Rhodes University, is, the cover informs us, number two in the series of the Bathurst Chronicles featuring backwater Eastern Cape sleuth Bernie Bernard (I have read number one - more on that later).

Crime thrillers are among the most popular fiction genres and South Africa is lucky to have a few of the finer practitioners of the art, including, of course, Deon Meyer, Lauren Beukes and Mike Nicol. In fact, you'd have to be a pretty mediocre writer not to make at least some dent on the market.

Then again, getting published is a very hard road and self-publishing - while attractive to many prospective authors - has its pitfalls and barriers. Roodt has chosen the self-publishing route, and kudos to him, because he's done it well... this time.

When self-publishing, it's normal to lean on friends and call in favours to get...