Dark Nights Contemporary German Crime Fiction - Frankfurter Buchmesse
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Dark Nights
Contemporary German Crime Fiction
Dark Nights
Neue Kriminalromane aus Deutschland
This selection of German titles is show-cased at book fairs all
over the world on the German collective stands organized by the
Frankfurter Buchmesse in 2018.
Authors A-B
____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________
Killing Happiness. Finsterwalde The Supplier
A Case for Jakob Franck Finsterwalde Die Lieferantin
Ermordung des Glücks.
MAX ANNAS ZOË BECK
Ein Fall für Jakob Franck
2018, HC, 256 pages 2017, SC, 324 pages
FRIEDRICH ANI € 20.- € 14.95
2017, HC, 317 pages Rowohlt Verlag, 978-3-498-07401-2 Suhrkamp Verlag, 978-3-518-46775-6
€ 20.- Rights available Rights available
Suhrkamp Verlag, 978-3-518-42755-2
A right-wing nationalist govern- Great Britain in the not too distant
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ment is in power in Germany. future. After Brexit, the next big thing
The murder of an 11-year-old boy Dissidents are being persecuted, is “Druxit”: drug use is to be compre-
shatters the happiness of all the and daily life is subject to compre- hensively criminalised. A start-up
people who knew him. The hero of hensive surveillance. People with finds new sales channels; drug
Ani’s crime series, ex-police detective darker skin colour are being locked delivery by drone: effective, cheap
Jakob Franck, applies his unique away in heavily guarded camps, and high quality. The old-hands
intuition to the case, while the special one of which is located in Finster- in the drugs business see their
task force makes no progress with walde in Brandenburg. One group livelihoods threatened, and they
its conventional approach. It’s a of internees breaks out so they can declare war on “the Supplier” –
method that provides clarity, if rescue children left behind in Berlin. who, on top everything, also has
nothing else, even if that clarity is In a life-and-death fight, they have an unpleasant political agenda.
unbearable. Narrated in Ani’s inimitable to make their way through hostile Things get ugly on the streets of
voice – the crime novel as elegy, as territory. A robust action thriller and London, prowled by racist mobs.
a genre of melancholy. incisive dystopian novel. A cool and elegant political thriller.
1Authors B-C
____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________
Dungeon Child The Right to Punish Death in the Quiet
Kerkerkind Das Recht zu strafen Corners of Life
Der Tod in den stillen
KATJA BOHNET INGO BOTT
Winkeln des Lebens
2018, SC, 336 pages 2017, SC, 444 pages
€ 20.- € 13.- OLIVER BOTTINI
Knaur Taschenbuch, 978-3-426-52093-2 Grafit Verlag, 978-3-89425-495-7 2017, HC, 414 pages
Rights available Rights available € 22.-
DuMont Verlag, 978-3-8321-9776-6
It begins with the charred corpse A brilliant defence lawyer from Berlin,
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of a woman. Then the body-count a public prosecutor on the fast track
starts to mount in the heat of sum- to the top, and a mean, revenge- The Romanian town of Temeswar
mer in Berlin: decapitated men, driven murderer: these are the three lies on the quiet side of life. Police
strangely displayed. The detective corners of the triangle of forces that inspector Ioan Cozma should have
duo Rosa Lopez and Viktor Saizew form Ingo Bott’s debut thriller. What been happy with this. But the mur-
each have their own hindrances to may they do, what can they do and der of a German woman forces
deal with, but crime make no allo- what should they do – and what him into action. He has to leave his
wances for that. A hot lead points not – each in their respective roles? recluse and follow a trail that takes
toward them toward Denmark. Sai- A refined, fast-paced novel with an him to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in
zew sets off in pursuit – and disap- intelligent plot that addresses the Germany, where he’s confronted by
pears. A race against time begins. moral and ethical implications of our the conditio humana in a big way:
Tempo, dynamism, drive, and a legal system, as well as the role and hate, greed, violence and humanity.
dash of madness are what make influence of mass media. A delicious A crime novel with a philosophical
this novel so great. dose of irony, too. Bott is an exciting lining.
newcomer.
____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________
The St. Pauli Murders Beton Rouge Satan’s Playground
Die Morde von St. Pauli Beton Rouge Satans Spielfeld
ROBERT BRACK SIMONE BUCHHOLZ UTE COHEN
2017, SC, 432 pages 2017, SC, 227 pages 2017, HC, 216 pages
€ 9.99 € 14.95 € 21.90
Ullstein Taschenbuch, 978-3-548-28873-4 Suhrkamp Taschenbuch, Septime Verlag, 978-3-902711-61-8
Rights available 978-3-518-46785-5 Rights available
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Hamburg 1927, when social change The underage Marie falls into the
is becoming more and more obvious Public prosecutor Chastity Riley and hands of a rich businessman in the
during the Roaring Twenties, is her sidekick, inspector Stepanovic of wealthy, self-absorbed provincial
rocked by a series of murders. the Hamburg criminal police, are up Franconia of the 1970s. He sedu-
The victims’ corpses are displayed against pure madness. Someone is ces her, rapes her and prostitu-
in prominent places. Is this a gang abusing managers from the publi- tes her. But nobody wants to see
war? A message to the populace? shing world, locking them up naked the scandal; no one wants to help.
But how does the murder of an in cages, in public view. Hamburg’s Marie attempts to defend herself,
upper-class shipping magnate fit elite are annoyed and scared. With but on Satan’s Playground she’s
into that picture? The second part plenty of pace and humour, Simone hopelessly out-manoeuvred and
of the historical trilogy featuring the Buchholz coolly sweeps through the the plot races towards catastrophe.
criminal investigator Alfred Weber. milieu of opinion leaders and puppet A subtle psychological thriller and
A critically accurate criminal masters. She has a sharp eye for the linguistically original counterpoint
chronicle of the Weimar Republic. absurd, sad and strange details of to Nabokov’s Lolita. A biting, provo-
daily life. cative debut novel.
2Authors C-F
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Cambridge 5 – Poison Flood A Slap in the Face
Time of Traitors Giftflut Ein Schlag ins Gesicht
Cambridge 5.
CHRISTIAN VON DITFURTH FRANZ DOBLER
Zeit der Verräter
2017, SC, 480 pages 2016, HC, 368 pages
HANNAH COLER € 15.- € 19.95
2017, HC, 416 pages Carl‘s Books, 978-3-570-58565-8 Klett-Cotta/Tropen, 978-3-608-50216-9
€ 19.99 Rights available Rights available
Limes Verlag, 978-3-8090-2682-2
Intelligent super-gangsters are Ex-cop Robert Fallner takes a job
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undermining the stability of Europe. with his brother’s security firm, whe-
A classic spy novel by a German They launch destructive attacks on re he’s given the task of stopping an
historian writing under a pseudo- important transport routes and the insidious stalker who’s started fol-
nym. Just as the Soviet Union re- centres of power, and even threa- lowing a cult ex-actress. A nostal-
cruited its spies among the British ten the water supply of large cities. gic, poetical and funny trip through
elite in Cambridge University in the For all their technological ad- the West German pop scene of the
1930s, so today, various secret servi- vancement, the security forces are 1960s and 70s, and an adoring ho-
ces are trying to spy on the leading powerless. Only Eugen de Bodt, the mage to the classics of hard-bitten
IT researchers there. “Sleepers” and wholly unconventional detective crime fiction, from Jim Thompson to
“moles” placed early on now seem with the Berlin police, and his weird Elmore Leonard. Great dialogues,
at risk, after the emergence of new team have any chance of halting strange characters and off-beat
evidence surrounding Kim Philby and the wave of terror. Grimm comedy, locations; and not least, a fabulous
the original Cambridge Five. A clever unrestrained action and a very novel about Munich.
game of chess across different times. crafty plot.
____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________
Police Stories Brand Deadly Path
Polizeigeschichten Brand Totenweg
ERNST DRONKE ULRICH EFFENHAUSER ROMY FÖLCK
2018, HC, 192 pages 2016 HC, 144 pages 2018, HC, 380 pages
€ 18,- € 17.80 € 20.-
Walde+Graf Verlagsagentur und Verlag, Transit Buchverlag, 978-3-88747-338-9 Bastei Lübbe Verlag, 978-3-7857-2622-8
978-3-946896-22-7 Rights available Rights available
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In the wake of the NSA scandal, an Frieda is a policewoman rising
With his Police Stories, Ernst Dron- old case of espionage resurfaces. quickly up the ranks. When her fa-
ke (1822–1891), who was well known At the time, there are questions sur- ther is beaten up and badly inju-
for his social reportage and colla- rounding a Soviet hydrogen bomb red she returns to her hometown.
boration with Karl Marx, laid the and Chernobyl, and about plots Investigating her father’s case is a
foundation for true crime books far hatched by the former KGB – plots colleague who, decades before,
removed from the big sensational that remain dangerous, even af- had also been involved in the un-
cases. His stories are an impressive ter the fall of the Soviet Union. The solved murder of a young girl whom
illustration of the social causes of events culminate in Mexico in 1985, Frieda had known well. The cold
crime and justice in the age of rapid but history never just stops, it tou- case gets hot again, as the earlier
industrialisation. An important and ches us in the present in significant crime is connected to the attack
exciting rediscovery of this classic of ways. An intriguing novel that oss- on Frieda’s father. A first-rate main-
German crime literature, and a vital cilates between the historical and stream crime story with a clever
milestone in its development. the present day; a political thriller plot, carefully crafted and densely
as an act of self-reflection for Ger- atmospheric.
man history.
3Authors G-J
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All so Bright Up There Tuscan Confession Bist Du glücklich?
Alles so hell da vorne Toskanische Beichte Are you happy?
MONIKA GEIER UTA-MARIA HEIM KAI HENSEL
2017, SC, 352 pages 2017, SC, 352 pages 2016, HC, 336 pages
€ 13.- € 15.- € 20.-
Argument Verlag, 978-3-86754-223-4 Gmeiner-Verlag, 978-3-8392-2125-9 Hoffmann und Campe Verlag,
Rights available Rights available 978-3-455-40588-0
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The trail leads from Lake Constance
Monika Geier’s heroine, inspector
to Tuscany. That‘s where a priest “Are You Happy?” is a hot new ga-
Bettina Boll from Pfalz, is confronted
sets out, forgetting his mobile pho- ming app that targets people’s
with a bizarre case, when one of her
ne, after an unknown man confes- yearning for happiness, and which
colleagues is shot dead in an es-
ses to a murder. Once in Italy, the to achieve it will transgress all
tablishment for forced prostitution.
curious priest gets caught up in a boundaries and break all taboos.
The plot starts to get thicker when a
terrible intrigue within the Catholic Its inventor, Patrick, would be
political aspect emerges at the level
Church, which turns out to be qui- willing to enter a pact with the me-
of secret police. Meanwhile, Boll her-
te a deadly institution. Uta-Maria taphorical devil, but a secretive
self inherits an apparently haunted
Heim is well known for her highly woman stalker disrupts the ultimate
house, which doesn‘t make her situ-
literate and original crime stories. deal. Things become very bloody.
ation any easier. While solidly rooted
She writes intricate and virtuoso The game turns deadly serious,
in its region, this is far from being just
novels that skirt the edge of the radically driving all involved to ex-
a local crime novel. Cutting edge
genre’s conventions, without fully tremes of behaviour. Satirical, in-
crime fiction.
abandoning them. sightful and with no illusions about
Homo sapiens.
____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________
Cold Land Lazare and the Dead Man DiveStation
Kaltes Land on the Beach (btb, 2017) TauchStation
Lazare und der tote Mann
NORBERT HORST JÖRG JURETZKA
am Strand
2017, SC, 400 pages 2017, HC, 272 pages
€ 9.99 ROBERT HÜLTNER € 18.95
Goldmann Verlag, 978-3-442-48617-5 2017 HC, 384 pages Rotbuch Verlag, 978-3-86789-207-0
Rights available € 20.- Rights available
btb Verlag, 978-3-442-75660-5
Somebody always profits. There’s Juretzka’s protagonist, Kristof Krys-
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lots of money to be earned in Ger- zinski, has long been a cult figure
many with drugs, weapons and hu- A dark French-German story from in German crime fiction. In this, his
man beings. Desperate illegal immi- Sète in the south of France, where 13th adventure, he has been de-
grants are there in abundance, who Inspector Lazare goes about his job. clared dead and established a
can be exploited without taking any The plot takes in the Front National, new identity for himself in Bottrop,
risks. Obdurately overcoming all the the German secret service, racism, while working for Europol, but he is
reluctance around him, Inspector exploitation and industrial interests. soon found out. His arch enemies,
Steiger attempts to track down one Last but not least, it‘s also about a Mafia clan from Marseille, are on
of those profiteers – one who ope- the period of German occupation his tail again. He has to overcome
rates as a mysterious background in France. Robert Hültner avoids this problem once and for all, so he
figure, and whose victims don’t even touristic clichés. His crime novel recruits his old gang the “Stormfu-
exist officially. A policeman himself, attains the level of a cross-border ckers”, and gets started. This is an
Norbert Horst has injected a large dialogue, transplanting some excuse for any amount of situatio-
dose of realism into German detec- collective European problems into an nal comedy, cracking dialogue and
tive fiction. exciting crime plot. thrilling action.
4Authors K-P
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Kolbe Moabit On The Other Side
Kolbe Moabit Jenseits
ANDREAS KOLLENDER VOLKER KUTSCHER & KAT MENSCHIK YASSIN MUSHARBASH
2015, SC, 448 pages 2017, HC, 88 pages 2017, SC, 320 pages
€ 16.99 € 18.- € 14.99
Pendragon Verlag, 978-3-86532-489-4 Galiani Verlag, 978-3-86971-155-3 Kiepenheuer & Witsch Verlag,
Rights available Rights available 978-3-462-05046-2, Rights available
A novel that pays homage to Fritz Berlin, Moabit 1927. A delightful,
A medical student from Rostock has
Kolbe, who smuggled important ma- short episode from Volker Kutscher’s
joined IS in Syria. After some time,
terial from the German foreign office world of Gereon Rath. In a contem-
his parents receive a SMS. He wants
into Switzerland, from 1943 onward, porary milieu consisting of burglars
out. This sparks the interest of a so-
thereby becoming the Americans‘ and the famous “Berolina” wrest-
cial worker specialised in organising
most important German spy during ling club, we follow the early story
the return of such people, as well as
the Second World War. Written as an of Charlotte Ritter, daughter of a
a journalist and the German secret
exciting political thriller with a cons- prison warden, who, after working
service – all with their own particu-
tant atmosphere of oppression, this her way up in life, later becomes
lar motivations. But should his wish
is an endless knife-edge ride, with Gereon Rath’s assistant Charly. The
be taken seriously, anyway? What
lives at stake. A song of praise to one fabulous, detailed illustrations by
else might lie behind it? A highly
of the quiet heroes of the resistance Kat Menschik lend this chapter of
contemporary political thriller that
against the Nazi regime, one whose Berlin-Babylon the decisive extra
draws links to Berlin truck-terrorist
impact is only just being understood nuance.
Anis Amri, in a cleverly constructed
and honoured in our own century.
plot and commentary on our time.
____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________
Cirrostratus Treacherous Naples Never
Schleierwolken Trügerisches Neapel Niemals
REGINA NÖSSLER FABIO PARETTA ANDREAS PFLÜGER
2017, SC, 320 pages 2018 SC, 384 pages 2017, HC, 475 pages
€ 12.- € 10.- € 20.-
konkursbuch Verlag Claudia Gehrke, Penguin Verlag, 978-3-328-10087-4 Suhrkamp Verlag, 978-3-518-42756-9
978-3-88769-563-7, Rights available Rights available Rights available
Between the metropolis and the pro- Fabio Paretta is the pseudo- Andreas Pflüger’s action heroi-
vince, commuting back and forth nym of a German author, but that ne, the blind police officer Jenny
between Berlin and Wattenscheid, doesn‘t undermine the quality of Aaron, is back. She’s more than able
Elisabeth, a lesbian, feels she’s being his Naples-based crime novels. to make up for her handicap, as her
stalked. She also feels that her care- His protagonist, Commissario de heightened other senses make her
needy mother doesn’t accept her. Santis, is a plausible figure, as is the a deadly weapon on the side of the
At the same time, long-suppressed story about a murdered schoolboy, police. Actually, she just wants to
events from her childhood are coming who might have been nothing more come to rest, but her worst enemy
back to haunt her. A person’s imme- than collateral damage. Paretta of- forces her back into action. He’s
diate social circle can be a dange- fers us no idyllic Italy here. Of course waiting for a final duel with her in
rous place. Regina Nössler succeeds the Camorra are also active, but Marrakesh. Pflüger is a master of the
in igniting seemingly unspectacular the day-to-day crime in the city high art of the action, and has de-
things to create nightmarish litera- near Vesuvius is more complicated veloped the perfect language for
ture, not unlike Patricia Highsmith. than just that. Delightfully clever, this kind of high-speed thriller.
Wilful, original and lots of suspense. top quality old-school crime fiction.
5Authors R-S
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Omnipotence The Job A Village in Fear
Allmacht Das Ding drehen Ein Dorf in Angst
MARCUS RICHMANN HANS SCHEFCZYK WOLFGANG SCHWEIGER
2017, SC, 407 pages 2017, HC, 192 pages 2016, SC, 280 pages
€ 16.- € 10.- € 12.99
Gmeiner-Verlag, 978-3-8392-2043-6 Transit Buchverlag, 978-3-88747-342-6 Pendragon Verlag, 978-3-86532-523-5
Rights available Rights available Rights available
A Russian oligarch is discovered Even ex-terrorists can run out of On his way into a small village in
dead in a luxurious villa on Lake Zu- money. The age of the militant cells the Bavarian region of Chiemgau, a
rich. A good thing that the detective, is over and life underground gets contract killer dies of a heart attack.
Maxim Charkow, has Russian origins frustrating. So they decide once No one knows who his intended
as this lets him pursue his investiga- and for all to sort some security for victim was, but it’s clear a replace-
tions in Russia too. He’s drawn into a their old age. They’ll do one last big ment killer is on the way. The police
weird story that first started in 1959 job. After all, they still know the right investigate feverishly, the press wind
in the Ural mountains in the Soviet routine for that kind of thing. But the up the pressure, and panic breaks
Union and which, even today, still enemy is already in their midst, be- out in the village. Schweiger mixes
causes ructions in the new Russia. cause the authorities never forget. up elements of gangster novels and
An international setting, internatio- A high-paced thriller about pure police fiction, along with a classic
nal feel, and a basis in historical fact. madness, played out between Bar- village tale. Thus the local scene-
A political crime novel about power celona, Toulouse, Paris and Colo- ry gains an added dimension that
and money, and about strange me- gne. Concise, clever and politically denies the book the simple label of
thods of manipulation. insightful. “regional” crime novel.
____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________
Frontlines After us the Penguins. The Golden Glove
Fronten A Crime story at the End of Der goldene Handschuh
the World
LEONHARD F. SEIDL HEINZ STRUNK
Nach uns die Pinguine.
2017, SC, 160 pages 2016, HC, 256 pages
Ein Weltuntergangskrimi
€ 16.- € 19.95
Edition Nautilus, 978-3-96054-051-9, HANNES STEIN Rowohlt Verlag, 978-3-498-06436-5
Rights available 2017 HC, 208 pages Rights available
€ 19.-
Upper Bavaria: racism and xeno- The Golden Glove is the name of a
Galiani Verlag, 978-3-86971-156-0
phobia have a long tradition here. local pub in Hamburg which gained
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The situation threatens to boil a questionable fame in 1976, when
over when a Bosnian man shoots A special kind of “locked room” mys- it was the hunting ground for real-
three police officers and an armed tery: the governor of the Falkland life serial killer Fritz Honka. Strunk’s
“Reichsbürger” storms a mosque for Islands is found murdered inside a novel centres on the women who
revenge. This report from provincial locked room. This is doubly troub- were his victims, and on the regulars
Germany is based on a true sto- ling, in view of the fact that human- at the pub. It examines drunken-
ry. Oppressive and uncomfortab- kind has almost entirely died out. ness and exclusion, sex and death,
le, it nevertheless has its moments Only on this small group of islands violence and crime, rich and
of hope. Politically engaged, and does anything resembling civilised poor, perpetrators and victims.
with a clear stance, it is a crime no- life continue, something the inha- The low pub represents the world
vel that aims to influence society. bitants ignore with stoical calm. But in a nutshell. Written with fury,
Literature with a purpose, in the a murder is shocking nonetheless, minutely observed, reconstructed
best sense of the word. and an investigation is called for. with historical accuracy.
A glorious delight. A dark novel from a dark place.
6Authors T-Z
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Soul-foe The Accident in the Rue Bisson Sakari Learns to Walk
Seelenfeindin Der Unfall in der Rue Bisson Through Walls
Sakari lernt, durch Wände
SABINE TRINKAUS MATTHIAS WITTEKINDT
zu gehen
2017, SC, 336 pages 2016, SC, 224 pages
€ 14.95 € 16.- JAN COSTIN WAGNER
Emons Verlag, 978-3-7408-0083-3 Edition Nautilus, 978-3-96054-018-2 2017, HC, 240 pages
Rights available Rights available € 20.-
Galiani Verlag, 978-3-86971-018-1
To psychiatrist Nadja Schönberg, A fatal car crash keeps Lieutenant
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Konstanze Friedrich just seems to be Ohayon busy. Was it perhaps a
a slightly different, but quite fasci- murder, in fact? At any rate, there’s In Turku, Finland, a man is found sit-
nating case in her daily work at the less harmony among the victim’s ting naked in a fountain. With a knife
clinic. But the more deeply she pro- friends than they pretend there is in his hand. Then suddenly he dies. This
bes into her patient’s world, the to the Lieutenant. This clique of is the mysterious opening to the
more the boundary between insani- aspiring young people in the small latest case for Wagner’s protagonist,
ty and reality seems to disintegrate. French town has its darker sec- the empathetic policeman Kimmo
Does he really exist, this man who’s rets. Quietly and without bravura, Joentaa. The affair leads to a family
threatening Konstanze and who said Wittekindt’s novel sets off in pursuit calamity, and ends in tragedy and
he’ll kill her? After all, except for a lost of the truth. But the truth resists, suffering. But also a brief moment
dog there’s no real evidence that remains deceptively vague. A sub- of Utopian happiness. A favourite of
she’s really in any danger. A trip to versive novel about the illusion of newspaper arts sections, poetically
the darkness of the soul’s abyss. “enlightenment”. sensitive descriptions of highly pro-
blematic people faced by extreme
situations. Noble and distinguished.
____________________________
Pommerenke.
A True Crime Novel
Pommerenke.
Ein True-Crime-Roman
MIRON ZOWNIR & NICO ANFUSO
2017, HC, 408 pages
€ 23.-
CulturBooks Verlag, 978-3-95988-023-7
Rights available ____________________________ ____________________________
Planning and With support from:
Journalist Billie is working on a
organisation: Federal Foreign Office
biography of the mass murderer
Frankfurter Buchmesse GmbH
Heinrich Pommerenke (1937 – 2008). ____________________________
Braubachstraße 16
The proximity to evil does not Contact
D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
leave her untouched. The closer she For questions, please contact
book-fair.com
gets to Pommerenke’s personality, Bärbel Becker,
buchmesse.de
the more she disintegrates herself, E-mail: becker@book-fair.com,
sliding into a world of madness. ____________________________ Phone: +49 (0) 69 2102 258
A dark, virtuoso novel about the Selection, title annotations: book-fair.com/german_collective_stands
apparent objectivity of true crime Thomas Wörtche, Berlin
____________________________
books, and about the poison of
____________________________ © Frankfurter Buchmesse GmbH,
violence and death which leave
Design, setting: Frankfurt am Main 2018
nobody untouched or undamaged.
weirauch-mediadesign.de No reproduction without prior
permission of the publisher.
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