The Steam Pig
AuthorJames McClure
Cover artistPaul Bacon
LanguageEnglish
GenreBlack humor, satire, war fiction, historical fiction
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Publication date
11 November 1961
Publication placeUSA
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages453 pp (1st edition hardback)
ISBN0-684-83339-5
OCLC35231812
813/.54 22
LC ClassPS3558.E476 C3 2004
Followed byClosing Time (1994) 

'The Steam Pig' is a murder mystery novel by the British / South African author James McClure, first published in 1971.

The novel follows an investigation by the Trekkersburg police into the murder of a young coloured woman in apartheid South Africa. Apartheid is a major plot element and the novel skillfully builds a picture of the strange inter-personal relationships between different sections of society during the time. This was the first of eight novels to feature the detective team of Kramer and Zondi.

Synopsis

edit

A young woman thought to have died of natural causes is discovered to have been murdered when she is being prepared for burial.

Crime Writers Association (CWA) Gold Dagger award, 1971.

Category:Debut novels