Martin Steyn

[English version follows below ...] Martin Steyn het begin skryf as gevolg van Stephen King. Nadat hy THE DARK HALF gelees het, was hy selde sonder ’n boek met Stephen King se naam voorop. En toe tel hy ’n potlood op en skryf ’n storie van sy eie. ’n Paar jaar later het reeksmoordenaars hom na die misdaadgenre toe gelok. Dit het Steyn gefassineer dat hierdie mans vreemdelinge vir hulle plesier jag en hy het begin om boeke oor Jeffrey Dahmer en Andrei Chikatilo te lees, terwyl hy die plaaslike koerant dophou vir berigte oor ’n reeksmoordenaar wat die liggame van jong seuns tussen die duine los, skaars 30 km van Steyn se huis af. Hy het Sielkunde en Kriminologie deur die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika studeer, en ’n honneursgraad in eersgenoemde verwerf. Daarna het hy reeksmoordenaars en profielsamestelling in erns bestudeer en dit opgevolg met navorsing oor misdaadondersoek in Suid-Afrika. Tussendeur het hy ook sewe artikels oor Suid-Afrikaanse misdade vir die Crime Library geskryf, onder meer oor die reeksmoordenaar Moses Sithole. In 2014 word Steyn se eerste misdaadriller, DONKER SPOOR, deur LAPA Uitgewers gepubliseer. Daarna volg SKULDIG (2015), SWARTVAL (2016), LOSPRYS (2018) en DONKER WATER (2024). Intussen word DONKER SPOOR in 2015 met die ATKV-Woordveertjie vir Spanningslektuur bekroon, en SKULDIG ontvang dieselfde toekenning in 2016. Steyn heg groot waarde aan realisme en wanneer hy nie voor sy rekenaar sit nie, is dit baie moontlik dat hy by ’n speurder of forensiese deskundige is. Dit herinner hom telkens dat dit gewone mense is wat die stryd voer om geregtigheid te kry vir dié wie se laaste hoofstuk in 'n moorddossier neergeskryf word. -- Martin Steyn got into writing because of Stephen King. After reading THE DARK HALF he was constantly lost in one of King’s worlds until, one day, he picked up a pencil and wrote a story of his own. A few years later, serial killers got him into crime writing. Fascinated by how these men came to hunt strangers for pleasure, Steyn began reading books about Jeffrey Dahmer and Andrei Chikatilo, while scanning the local paper for reports on the serial killer dumping the bodies of young boys in the dunes a mere 30 km from where Steyn lived. He studied Psychology and Criminology at the University of South Africa, obtaining an honours degree in the former. Then he studied serial killers and profiling in earnest, following it up with research into the investigation of violent crime in South Africa. He also wrote seven articles about South African crimes for the Crime Library website, including one about the serial killer Moses Sithole. In 2014 Steyn’s first crime thriller, DONKER SPOOR, was published in Afrikaans by LAPA Publishers. It was followed by SKULDIG (2015), SWARTVAL (2016), LOSPRYS (2018) and, most recently, DONKER WATER (2024). In 2015 DONKER SPOOR was awarded the ATKV Woordveertjie for Suspense Fiction. SKULDIG received the same award in 2016. In 2017 DONKER SPOOR was published in English as DARK TRACES, receiving a starred review from Kirkus. Steyn places a premium on realism and when not behind his PC, can often be found questioning a detective or forensic expert, a constant reminder that it is normal people who fight to get justice for those whose final chapter ends up being written in a murder docket.