I don't like short stories, which might have something to do with the fact that I can't write them. 

However, when I learned that South African author Sifiso Mzobe's long-awaited second book was going to be a collection of short stories I had no hesitation in ordering it as an ebook (it's available in print in South Africa, but to the best of my knowledge, only in ebook in the rest of the world).

Mzobe is such a brilliant writer, I would read his shopping list if he let me.

I met Sifiso at the Franschhoek Literary Festival 10 years ago when we were both speaking on a panel about crime writing. He had read my new book at the time, The Delta, and told me he liked it; to my shame I had not read his first book, Young Blood.

I read Young Blood a short time later and it changed, forever, the way I looked at my adopted 'other home', South Africa, its people, and its often-recounted troubles, especially with crime.  The book won a swag of richly-deserved awards, and set Sifiso a very high bar to clear with his next work.

Confronting, yet beautifully written, Young Blood looked at how and why people turn to crime (and a whole host of other themes I won't go into here).

Searching for Simphiwe, is similar, but different.

If there is a theme or common thread in this collection of stories, set mostly in Umlazi township, south west of Durban, it is probably just 'life'.

There are tales of love (a beautifully-written old-age Romeo and Juliet that also touches on racism); loss (a wealthy man who, on his deathbed, just wants his children to like each other); courage (a young man fighting incredible adversity to stay away from crime and just get a job); and hope (the title story is about a man searching for his brother, who is lost to drugs).

Tying the whole collection together (and keeping me turning the pages) is the serialised hunt by Detective Zandile 'Z' Cele for a number of girls who have gone missing from the township. Through Z, Mzobe shows his mastery of characterisation.

Right from the start (no real spoiler) we learn Z is corrupt, taking money to keep a low level drug dealer out of jail, but Mzobe quickly (these are short stories) and adeptly reveals more and more of Z's life and circumstances and shows us her true character.  

Searching for Simphiwe should be required reading for any author (like me) who tries to create flawed heroes/heroines and any reader who loves them. It's also a beautiful, at times heart-wrenching look at a country and community Mzobe clearly loves, where despair and inspiration live side by side on the same streets every day. 

As a writer, Sifiso Mzobe has done that most difficult of things - to surpass a critically acclaimed first novel (and make me like short stories).

Absolute five out of five.

Tony Park