Praise for LIKE CLOCKWORK

Source: Cape Times
Author: Jennifer Crocker

'Gritty, fast paced and violently realistic, Orford has created a Cape Town underworld whose depths reach into the far recesses of human depravity. .... definitely a recommended read. I look forward to reading more from this promising author.' Angelique Serrao, Saturday Star 'A fantastic serial killer crime novel from Margie Orford... The pace of LIKE CLOCKWORK ticks along perfectly for the reader, although some more sensitive souls might prefer to read it during the daylight hours. It is a great book and catapults Orford to the top of the class of crime writing in South Africa for me thus far. This is largely due to her ability to write with a sense of true humanity and yet maintain a pacey sexy style.'

Crime novels from home (Like Clockwork)

Source: Business Day - The Weekender
Publication Date: 27 May 2007
Author: Rehana Rossouw

Margie Orford has another book in the making - I hope. Her novel’s cover signals it is a “Clare Hart thriller”, and Hart is complex and clever enough to win fans.

Like Clockwork was inspired by an article Orford wrote about the trafficking of women and children into Cape Town’s sex industry, and is about a serial killer targeting young girls and symbolically arranging their bodies in public.

Hart, a police profiler, is called when a body is discovered. But the case throws up memories of her sister’s rape, possibly by the very people she’s investigating.

Orford’s book satisfies on all levels. She knows what she’s writing about and writes well. The twist in her tale is shocking. Welcome to SA, Dr Clare Hart, we hope to see you again, soon.

Margie Orford catches the bad guys ...(Like Clockwork)

Source: Sister Namibia
Publication Date: 01 July 06
Author: Erica Gebhardt

Prolific journalist, published author, photographer, filmmaker, wife and mother of three - now Margie Orford has yet another success to add to her credit. She recently published her first novel for adults, a thriller, called Like Clockwork.

Margie has had an interesting and eventful life and her twinkling, playful eyes bear testimony to her great sense of humour and adventure. Born in London to South African parents, she moved to Namibia when she was six, where her family became involved in researching lions at Etosha National Park. They also travelled extensively throughout Namibia and neighbouring countries. Margie grew up in Windhoek and studied in South Africa. She was arrested and jailed whilst in her final year doing a BA at the University of Cape Town, at the height of South Africa's apartheid era, for her involvement in the often-banned student publication Varsity, of which she was the arts editor for a year. Her final Philosophy and English Literature papers were swotted for and written from the maximum security prison she was held in at the time. After her release she proceeded to go and see the world - and hitch-hiked from the Turkish border of Iran to Amsterdam by herself! Her thirst for knowledge unquenched, she returned to South Africa to do an honours degree, and had the privilege of studying under J M Coetzee, who recently became a Nobel Laureate for literature. After two years in England and the birth of her first daughter, Margie returned to a newly independent Namibia. "I worked as a publisher and became involved in training and teaching through the African Publishers network. I taught English and publishing at the University of Namibia, and my first book was published in 1996," Margie reports. In 1999 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and went to New York for two years, where she continued to work on a major academic book, Women Writing Africa: the Southern Volume, retrieving the earliest written texts and oral testimony by women in Namibia from archives and other sources. Like Clockwork, her first adult novel, has been described as 'scary and 'a riveting read' by some of her fans. The story follows the investigation of Dr Clare Hart, a journalist and part-time police profiler who is drawn into the web of a brutal serial killer. "I have investigated the trafficking of women and children in Cape Town as a journalist, and I have spent time with and interviewed the police. I also live in Cape Town - so the story is made up out of elements of what I know," Margie elaborates. Her investigations into the trafficking of women and children in Cape Town won her a Mondi Finalist Award for Marie Claire, a premier South African award for magazine journalism. "Like Clockwork is a work of fiction - and being a thriller there are certain things you have to do: solve the murders, catch the bad guys, your main character has to have a difficult love life - which she does," she smiles. She is already working on the next Clare Hart thriller, which will be called Tidal Pull and is set in Walvis Bay. "This is also a place I know well ... that should be out and on the shelves in April next year!" Margie is adamant that her life did not just fall into place but that she had to fight and work very hard to achieve the contentment and fulfillment she experiences today. "I am married to a very tolerant man - he has provided me with the space to fly and become what I wanted to become. I have three daughters - all of whom write. To me, being your own person is very important. "I believe that women must aim for what they want to achieve. It is important for me, as a woman, to have ambition and to have the confidence in my own ability ... to have confidence in my right to be the best at what I do. I am a feminist so it is important to me that the laws that govern our society guarantee equality - and that women claim their rights and make them real for themselves and their daughters."

Prolific journalist, published author, photographer, filmmaker, wife and mother of three - now Margie Orford has yet another success to add to her credit. She recently published her first novel for adults, a thriller, called Like Clockwork.