Ameise1 (Barbara)'s 50+ in 2024

A new year and hopefully lots of great, exciting books.

January
# 1 The Invisible Man From Salem by Christoffer Carlsson (4 stars)
# 2 Closed For Winter by Jørn Lier Horst (4½ stars)
# 3 The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher (5 stars)
# 4 Schach mit dem Tod by Steffen Jacobsen (4 stars)
# 5 The Golem by Isaak Bashevis Singer (4 stars)
# 6 Mordsand by Romy Fölck (4 stars) 🎧
# 7 Leichenschilf by Anna Jansson (3½ stars)
# 8 The Hunting Dog by Jørn Lier Horst (4½ stars)
# 9 Mitten im August by Luca Ventura (4 stars)
#10 You Will Never Be Found by Tove Alsterdal (4½ stars)

February
#11 Das Leuchten über dem Gipfel by Lenz Koppelstätter (4½ stars)
#12 Aquitania by Eva García Sáenz (5 stars)
#13 Murder At Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (4½ stars)
#14 Whiteout by Ragnar Jonasson (4 stars)
#15 The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (3½ stars) 🎧
#16 Number 11 by Jonathan Coe (3½ stars)
#17 Todesmelodie by Andreas Franz, Daniel Holbe (4 stars)
#18 The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths (4½ stars)
#19 Dunkelkinder by Nora Luttmer (4 stars)

March
#20 I Am Your Judge by Nele Neuhaus (4½ stars)
#21 Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (4½ stars)
#22 Die Hornisse by Marc Raabe (4½ stars) 🎧
#23 Zorn – Tod und Regen by Stephan Ludwig (4 stars)
#24 Die rote Mütze by Daniel de Roulet (4½ stars)
#25 The Bone Readers by Jacob Ross (4½ stars)
#26 Die Spur der Aale by Florian Wacker (4½ stars)
#27 Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati (4 stars)

April
#28 Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford (4 stars) 🎧
#29 Eine Formalie in Kiew by Dmitrij Kapitelman (4½ stars)
#30 The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (4½ stars)
#31 Zorn - Vom Lieben und Sterben by Stephan Ludwig (4½ stars)
#32 Bittersüsse Zitronen by Luca Ventura (4 stars)
#33 Farewell Ghosts by Nadia Terranova (4½ stars)
#34 Die Kunst des Sterbens by Anna Grue (4 stars) 🎧
#35 The Bastards of Pizzofalcone by Maurizio de Giovanni (4½ stars)
#36 Death in Summer by Lina Areklew (4½ stars)

May
#37 Rachewinter by Andreas Gruber (4½ stars)
#38 Deadline in Athens by Pétros Márkaris (4 stars)
#39 Die Infantin trägt den Scheitel links by Helena Adler (5 stars)
#40 Eine Frau aus Tirana by Helena Kadare (4 stars)
#41 Der rote Judas by Thomas Ziebula (4 stars)
#42 Congo Requiem by Jean-Christophe Grangé (4½ stars) 🎧
#43 A Grave for Two by Anne Holt (4 stars)
#44 Teufelsfrucht by Tom Hillenbrand (4 stars)
#45 Rotes Gold by Tom Hillenbrand (4 stars)
#46 Die Schatten von Paris by Ulrich Wickert (4 stars)
#47 Die letzte Ernte by Tom Hillenbrand (4 stars)
#48 Vollmond Über der Cote d'Azur by Christine Cazon (4 stars) 🎧

June
#49 Im Kopf des Mörders - Toter Schrei by Arno Strobel (3½ stars)
#50 Achtsam morden am Rande der Welt by Karsten Dusse (4 stars) 🎧
#51 Died in the Wool by Melinda Mullet (4 stars)
#52 Die Wüstenkönigin by Ulrich Wickert (4 stars)
#53 Mutterliebe by Rebecca Russ (4 stars)

July
#54 So dunkel der Wald by Michaela Kastel (4 stars)
#55 Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens (4 stars)
#56 Die Totentänzerin by Max Bentow (3½ stars) 🎧

August
#57 Red Roulette by Desmond Shum (4 stars)
#58 Inspektor Takeda und die Toten von Altona by Henrik Siebold (4 stars)
#59 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (4½ stars)
#60 Loch of the Dead by Oscar de Muriel (4 stars)
#61 Terra di Sicilia by Mario Giordano (4 stars)
#62 In einer stillen Bucht by Luca Ventura (4½ stars)
#63 The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (4 stars)
#64 Inspektor Takeda und der leise Tod by Henrik Siebold (4stars)
#65 Das letzte Sakrament by Thomas Kowa (4 stars)
#66 Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (4½ stars)
#67 Karwoche by Andreas Föhr (4 stars) 🎧
#68 Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson (4½ stars)
#69 Bitterkalter Tod by Ilaria Tuti (4½ stars)

September
#70 Three Burials by Anders Lustgarten (3½ stars)
#71 Die Frau, die verschwand by Trude Teige (4½ stars)
#72 Schwarzlicht by Horst Eckert (4½ stars)
#73 The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza (4½ stars)
#74 Falscher Glanz by Eva Ehley (4 stars)
#75 Tödlicher Tramontane by Yann Sola (4 stars)
#76 Der Junge der Rache schwor by Trude Teige (4½ stars)
#77 Paradeplatz by Andreas Russenberger (4 stars)
#78 Italienische Intrige by Carlo Lucarelli (4 stars)
#79 The Way of all Flesh by Ambrose Parry (4 stars)

October
#80 All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (4stars)
#81 Hinterland by Nora Luttmer (4½ stars)
#82 Body Language by A. K. Turner (4 stars) 🎧
#83 Mitternachtsmädchen by Jonas Moström (4½ stars)
#84 Mordlichter by Madita Winter (4 stars)
#85 Ask No Mercy by Martin Österdahl (4½ stars)
#86 Madame le Commissaire und der verschwundene Engländer by Pierre Martin (4 stars)
#87 Billards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Böll (3½ stars) 🎧

November
#88 Tabak und Schokolade by Martin R. Dean (4 stars)
#89 Accabadora by Michela Murgia (4 stars)
#90 The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai (3 Stars)
#91 Lockvogel by Theresa Prammer (4 stars)
#92 Retribution by Jilliane Hoffman (4½ stars)
#93 Splitter im Auge by Norbert Horst (4 stars)
#94 The Awkward Squad by Sophie Hénaff (4 stars) 🎧
#95 The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (4 stars)
#96 Bahnhofstrasse by Andreas Russenberger (4 stars)
#97 Heidelberger Requiem by Wolfgang Burger (3 stars)

December
#98 Oxen. Das erste Opfer by Jens Henrik Jensen (4½ stars)
#99 Der Schrei der Kröte by Inger Gammelgard Madsen (3½ stars) 🎧
#100 Star of Babylon by Barbara Wood (3 stars)
#101 Madame le Commissaire und der Tod des Polizeichefs by Pierre Martin (4½ stars)
#102 Kaiserhofstrasse 12 by Valentin Senger (4½ stars)
#103 The Woman with the Cure by Lynn Cullen (5 stars) 🎧

book 1 Read in German

 The Invisible Man From Salem

I was recommended Christoffer Carlsson by some platform. My local library has the Leo Junker series, so I started with the first book in it.

The story is very exciting and multi-layered. It jumps from now to then, which irritated me at the beginning because I didn't immediately see the connection with the loose threads. Over time, however, it was great fun to make this leap in time and my thoughts began to see the connections better and better.
Leo Junker is a suspended policeman in whose block of flats a murder took place. He couldn't resist and rushed to the flat to investigate himself. He discovered a necklace that looked familiar to him and so began the time jump in this crime thriller.
We get to know Grim and Julia, who are closely linked to Junker's fate.
Despite Junker's suspension, he is inwardly driven to investigate himself and puts himself and those following him in great danger.

Written in a very exciting and varied way. I will certainly read the other books as well.

book 2 Read in German

 Closed For Winter

I discovered this series last autumn and it's addictive.

Chief Inspector William Wisting once again has to deal with many loose ends that he believes somehow belong together. But he still has to convince others of this, which is sometimes difficult as other police departments are involved in solving a drug case with some of his suspects. To make matters worse, his daughter Line is also dragged into the whole mess and, as a father, he fears the worst.
Several summer houses by the sea have been broken into and all the electronic equipment has been stolen. A dead body was found by a neighbour. Instead of being taken to the coroner's office, the body mysteriously disappears. Soon two more dead bodies are found.
Line moves into one of the summer houses because she wants her boyfriend to leave her flat and find something of his own. But this boyfriend is also a business partner of a well-known drug dealer.
Wisting's investigation shuttles between Norway and Lithuania. Every time he senses a breakthrough, a different loose end begins to give him a headache.
The story is written in a very exciting way and only at the very end are all the loose ends tied up.

book 3 Read in German

 The Paris Bookseller

I saw this book on Thomas' thread. Thank you so much for recommending this book.

It's the story of Sylvia Beach, a women's rights activist, a bookseller, the woman who was the first to produce Ulysses when no male publisher cared and nearly perished in the process.
In 1919 Sylvia opened her bookshop 'Shakespeare and Company'. She did this with the support of her friend and later partner Adrienne Monnier, who already had a French bookshop where French authors and intellectuals came and went. This encouraged Sylvia to open an English-language bookshop. Not only did the French authors support her, but she soon counted American and English authors among her friends. On the one hand, she ran the bookshop as a kind of lending library and on the other, she also sold the books.
Everything was going well until James Joyce came to her, who was looking to get his book Ulysses published somehow. In America, the first chapters were already among the 'forbidden books'. There was no chance that his work would ever be published. Joyce was a very unpleasant contemporary. Many of Sylvia's friends called him the false Jesus. He took the worst possible advantage of his fellow human beings and disappeared when he had to pay his debts.
Sylvia, however, felt that she had to support him and threw herself into an adventure as a publisher, but also into debt and hopelessness until her health suffered.

I was very impressed by this story. I also didn't realise that at the beginning of the 20th century, same-sex love and cohabitation were not a problem in France.
I can warmly recommend this book.

book 4 Read in German

 Schach mit dem Tod

I love Steffen Jacobsen's books (I've also read the whole Michael Sander and Lene Jensen series). As always, his thrillers are based on historical fact, in this case about Los Alamos in 1945 and the development of the atomic bomb. The characters he uses are mostly people who actually worked on the development of the bomb. Oppenheimer also plays a major role in this book.
David Adler is a Danish electrical engineer who worked for years in Murmansk. In January 1945, he is recruited by Russia as a spy to take part in the Manhattan Project. As a relative of Niels Bohr, he quickly gains the great scientist's trust and becomes his personal assistant. As a result, he is constantly around Oppenheimer and the other researchers.
David watches the development of the atomic bomb with horror. He also realises that other Russian spies are involved. Who can he trust and who must he eliminate?
It is excitingly written.

Last summer I bought J. Rober Oppenheimer - The Biography. It's quite a tome, but I'll be taking it with me to Davos when we go on our skiing holiday to Davos on 17 February.

book 5 Read in German

 The Golem

A member of the Jewish community in old Prague is accused of ritual murder, the judges are on the side of the denouncers and a pogrom threatens. The wise Rabbi Löw, not only a Talmudic scholar but also a friend of magic and mysticism, has a vision during the midnight intercession: he will mould a giant golem out of clay that can save the Jews from mortal danger.
After fulfilling the golem's mission, the rabbi is unable to destroy the golem again. The golem increasingly developed human traits, which led to certain situations becoming absurd.
I like legends and this one also had its charm and humour, even if the subject is very serious.

The master story is dedicated to "the persecuted and oppressed in the world, in the hope against all hope that the time of false accusations will one day end".

book 6 🎧 Read in German

 Mordsand

Mordsand is the fourth crime thriller in the series centred around Frida Paulsen and Bjarne Haverkorn. Once again, Romy Fölck takes us to the Elbe marshes, where a skeleton is found in the mud, bound hand and foot. A short time later, a controversial building contractor is found dead on a neighbouring island, also tied up. Frida, Bjarne and their team from the Itzeho police investigate. Dr Torben Kielmann also plays a key role - not only in identifying the skeleton, but also in Frida's life. This case pushes both of them to their health limits.
A big plus point in the crime novels in this series has always been the skilful depiction of the landscape along the Elbe. Fölck has always been able to depict the atmosphere by the river, in the orchards and in the flat marshland so vividly that it is easy to transport yourself there while listening. This time, too, she manages to vividly convey autumn in this region: The damp cold, the rain showers, the musty smell at the water's edge and the loneliness of the Elbe islands create a great atmosphere.

book 7 Read in German

 Leichenschilf

Leichenschilf is the first volume in the Kristoffer Bark series. It took me a moment to 'warm up' to this crime thriller. I was particularly disturbed by the fate of Inspector Bark, which was more than obsessive and took up a lot of space, which made me feel at first how the protagonists and the course of the plot were interlinked.
Five years ago, his daughter Vera disappeared without a trace at Lake Hjälmar on her hen night. Her body was never found. Since then, Bark has been constantly searching for her or her trail, driving everyone around him mad. Vera's girlfriend also disappeared at the same time, but was found dead. Now a corpse appears on the lake shore. Who is she? What does she have to do with Vera's disappearance?
Even after all these years, Vera's fiancé is not making a good trap. Could he have something to do with Vera's disappearance or the body that was found?
Questions upon questions that kept me guessing what had happened in the last five years.

book 8 Read in German

 The Hunting Dogs

This is now the 3rd volume in the William Wisting series that I've read and I'm enjoying it more and more. The protagonists are so familiar to me that I actually sympathise with them.
In this book, Wisting is suspended, but not because he messed something up years ago, but because he was the person in charge of the case. It was the newspaper, where his daughter Line works, that made this public. Cecilia Linde disappeared 17 years ago. A perpetrator was found, but after his release he claims that he was imprisoned on false pretences, that evidence had been tampered with. After Wisting's suspension, he sets about going through the old files. He receives support from his friend, the former forensic scientist, and from his daughter. The latter was at a crime scene for a report where a man was beaten to death. Over time, it becomes increasingly clear that this death is connected to Wisting's case. It also became clear that the falsified evidence was made by a police officer. Then another young woman disappears. It's a race against time.
It is written in an incredibly exciting way and kept me guessing until the very end who the culprit was.

book 9 Read in German

 Mitten im August

As they say, I stumbled across this book on a visit to the library and have not regretted it. It's the first volume in the Capri-Krimi series.
Island policeman Enrico Rizzi usually only has to deal with minor offences on Capri. He also helps his father with the farming. They grow vegetables, which they also sell to the restaurants, as well as various types of fruit and wine.
One morning, a dead man is found in a rowing boat in a bay. As it turned out, he was a student of oceanology and the scion of an industrialist family from the north. His girlfriend, also an oceanology student, had gone into hiding. While Rizzi and his mysterious new colleague Antonia Cirillo try to solve the murder, you also learn a lot about the marine pollution around the Gulf of Naples, as an obscure professor also plays his part.
It is a cosy mystery that brings you closer to the way of life in southern Italy. I will enjoy reading the other volumes.

book 10 Read in German

 You Will Never Be Found

I read the first volume of this trilogy last October. The second volume also gripped me from the start.
The young policewoman Eira Sjödin again has her hands full. Her mother, who suffers from dementia, is admitted to a nursing home, which she really likes. But what to keep and what to take away is a challenge for Eira. She packs together with her mother, but she unpacks everything behind her back. When everything has been moved, Eira wants to clear out the house, but as her brother Marius is in prison (innocent), she is left with everything. On top of everything else, a murder case takes up all her time.
A male corpse is found in the cellar of an abandoned house in the woods. It looks like he was locked up and died of starvation and thirst. She rejoins the investigation team. She soon realises that this murder victim is not the only one and it even looks like it is a serial murder. The worst thing for her is that someone close to her disappears and time is running out to find him alive.
It was exciting from the first to the last page and I'm already looking forward to the next volume.

book 11 Read in German

 Das Leuchten über dem Gipfel

The fifth volume in the Commissario Grauner series was also a hit. I like this series because Grauner, an older South Tyrolean inspector who prefers to be a farmer and above all loves Mahler, investigates together with the young Neapolitan inspector Saltapepe, who has been transferred. The two could not be more different and yet they cannot do without each other.
It is high summer and Grauner believes that Saltapepe is on holiday in his beloved Naples. But this is not the case, because the die-hard football fan Saltapepe is visiting the training camp of his favourite football team, SSC Naples, in the Pusta Valley (South Tyrol). A player disappears and Saltapepe asks Grauner for help. He is not enthusiastic at first, as he finds football boring, but the Mahler Festival is taking place in Toblach at the same time and so he agrees. But what they both don't know is that it's not just about this missing player, but about large-scale betting fraud in football. During the investigation, more and more corpses pave the way for the two of them and they and their loved ones also find themselves in great danger.
A great, cosy mystery set in beautiful South Tyrol, excitingly written and often a source of smiles.

book 12 Read in German

 Aquitania

This is the fourth book I've read by Eva García Sáenz and once again I was absolutely thrilled. She writes in her concluding remarks:
The life of Eleanor of Aquitaine provides material not only for a novel, but for an entire encyclopaedia. She lived an unusually long life for her time and died at the age of 82 in her beloved Fontevrault Abbey, where she had retired.
When I began to look into her life, I realised that I would only be able to follow her for a few years in a novel, her life was so eventful. I decided to focus on the early years, from her father's death to her return from the Holy Land.

Sáenz has an excellent ability to describe the Middle Ages with all its quarrels. It is an exciting story from the first to the last page. It begins in 1137 and lasts until 1149. Eleonora becomes the ruler of Aquitaine after the death of her father and, for tactical reasons, decides to marry the weak son of the king of France and later King Louis VII. She believed that this would also enable her to gain power over the Carpathians. However, she did not realise from the outset that many intrigues and power games would prevent her from doing so for a long time.
It is a historical novel that I can recommend to everyone.

book 13 Read in German

 Murder At Mallowan Hall

It was a great, cosy mystery.
The story is set in Agatha Christie's estate. She appears from time to time, but the main role is played by her housekeeper Phyllida Bright, a mysterious woman who has known Agatha Christie since wartime and seems to be very familiar with her.
Guests are invited to stay at Mallowan Hall for three days. An unknown guest arrives shortly before dinner and asks for accommodation. It seems that nobody knows him. The next morning, when Phyllida opens the curtains in the library, she finds the unknown guest stabbed to death with a fountain pen.
Naturally, she calls the police, but is convinced that they will surely be incompetent.
This mystery is written with many twists and turns. There is a lot to smile about and the characters are excellently described.

book 14 Read in German

 Whiteout

The fourth volume of the Dark Iceland series was also exciting.
A young woman returns to the place where she spent the first years of her life. During this time, her mother and sister died tragically. These deaths were never solved. Now the same fate befalls her, but investigators Tómas and Ari Pór don't believe it was suicide. Both investigators delve into a dark secret involving all the protagonists, which leads to another death.
As always, it is very excitingly written and keeps you guessing until the end how everything fits together.

book 15 🎧 Read in German

 The Seventh Cross

Seven prisoners have escaped from the Westhofen concentration camp, but only one reaches the saving shore. On his escape route, Georg Heisler meets men and women who have to choose between betrayal and loyalty, selfish renunciation and humanity, denunciation and solidarity.
Despite the oppressive subject matter, the tone of the novel is upbeat.
The seven days of the escape correspond to seven chapters. Simultaneous events are depicted in short, consecutive scenes.
The Christian motif of crucifixion is reversed: redemption lies in the fact that Georg Heisler's cross remains free.
I was partly fascinated by the different human ways of thinking, but sometimes also repelled and even bored after a while. It is certainly an important book that shows a time window of National Socialism, but often a little long-winded.

book 16 Read in German

 Number 11

Somehow this book only partially captivated me. I found it exciting how the different social classes were described from the perspective of people who are not so favoured but who have great values and dreams. Various topics are touched on, such as the decadent lives of the super-rich who don't care how the rest of the population is doing. Obsession that can lead to death. The food bank and how the people who need it are ashamed that they have to go there to survive. How the participants in the jungle camp are treated. Honestly, I watched this programme once and found it very repulsive. Well, I can't do anything with so-called celebrities anyway. On the other hand, I found it interesting how a simple policeman tries to solve a case and even surprises Scotland Yard in the process. Then there was something paranormal at the beginning and end, which didn't interest me much. And then there was the friendship between Alison and Rachel, who grow closer and separate again and again in the course of the story.
Sometimes it was written very humorously, which made the whole thing worth reading.

book 17 Read in German

 Todesmelodie

For me, this is the first volume in the Julia Durant series, even though it is the 12th volume in the series. The good thing about it is that this is the first volume that Daniel Holbe completed from manuscripts started by the late Andreas Franz, so it's like a kind of 'reboot' of the series.
Julia Durant, chief inspector in Frankfurt, returns to her department after a year's 'recuperation break'. At first she is transferred to the back office, which doesn't suit her at all, so she always has the feeling that she only gets half of the case.
A dead, abused young student is found in a shared student flat. Who has done this to her? Four students are arrested, but the reader soon realises that these four did not kill the victim. However, they are convicted because they abused the victim and offered no help. Another student is acquitted for lack of evidence. Of course, the reader immediately has the feeling that he must be the perpetrator.
Two years later, more women are brutally murdered, following the same pattern. They are filmed and these films are sold on the Darnet. In addition to the women's bodies, a male corpse is also found, equally abused and killed. How does he fit into this scheme? The man who brutally killed the women is also found abused and dead himself.
There are many unanswered questions that Julia Durant and her team have to solve.
It is very excitingly written and I read it in one go.

book 18 Read in German

 The Woman in Blue

This Griffiths was also a pageturner as always.
Even though Ruth Galloway is not in demand as an archaeologist this time, she can't stop investigating, even if she finds it hard to hold back.
Cathbad looks after a friend's house in the pilgrimage town of Walsingham. In the middle of the night, he sees a young woman dressed in a blue cloak in the graveyard. Shortly afterwards she is found dead in a ditch. She was a patient in a nearby private rehab clinic. Who has a reason to kill the young woman and why? At the same time, a former fellow student of Ruth's gets in touch with her. She has been receiving threatening letters for some time because she is now a priestess. In Walsingham, she takes part in a seminar for prospective female bishops. Soon afterwards, a member of this group is also found murdered and DCI Nelson's wife, who looks strikingly similar to the two dead women, is also attacked.
Events come thick and fast, both privately and in the investigation.

book 19 Read in German ROOT 1

 Dunkelkinder

What fascinates me about Nora Luttmer's books is that she is very knowledgeable about the life and culture of Vietnam. In addition to being an author, she is also a journalist, studied Southeast Asian Studies with a focus on Vietnam and regularly spent long periods of time in Hanoi in the 1990s.
This story is set in Hamburg, but the protagonists are Vietnamese. Inspector Mia Paulsen comes across a dead 'ghost child' in a cold case where nobody knows where it came from or who it was. Shortly after she takes on the case, two fresh corpses are found at the same location. The coroner's office establishes that these bodies are from Vietnam. Mia sees a connection to her cold case and wonders whether the dead child might also have come from Vietnam. The deeper she digs, the more complicated the whole thing becomes.
This story is also about the Vietnamese drug cartel in Germany. The story is told from different points of view: Mia, Luka (son of a murdered policeman), Sam (a 'ghost child', very much alive) and Aunt Lien (interpreter for the police, but deeply involved with the Vietnamese drug cartel).
It is written in a very exciting and varied way.

book 20 Read in German ROOT 2

 I Am Your Judge

Detective Inspector Pia Kirchhoff is actually on her way to her honeymoon, but a mysterious murder case makes her stay at home. An elderly lady is shot in the head at long range while walking her dog. What at first seems like a big mystery soon turns out to be a serial killer who has an agenda as an 'avenger'. Kirchhoff and her colleague von Bodenstein are always one step behind the murderer during their investigations. The underlying theme is organ donation and how some doctors deal with it.
Another very exciting crime thriller by Nele Neuhaus, which I can highly recommend.

book 21 Read in German ROOT 3

 Small Mercies

This was another Lehane that made me think a lot. Please don't get me wrong, I am against any form of racism, but the way the solutions were implemented in Boston to bring about mixing was doomed to failure in my eyes. How is this supposed to work when children are bussed across the city to attend a school where there are mixed races? The question that should have been asked is how to mix neighbourhoods so that different ethnicities can live together and the school would also be mixed. This is hardly possible in America because rich parents send their children to private schools and the public schools (as it seems here in Switzerland) do not have the best reputation.
The second focus is drug dealing and consumption. How easy it is as an Irish population that is against the mixing of the races, but big in the drugs business, to blame all misdeeds on the weak population. They are often supported/covered up by the 'white' police.
Sometimes I felt really sick while reading, with so much injustice. And I ask myself, when I look at today's American politics from a distance, why after so many years the USA has somehow still not come up with a solution to racism.

book 22 Read in German 🎧

 Die Hornisse

The third part of the Tom Babylon series was also very exciting.
It seems that Tom's partner is involved in a murder. Not only does this 'construction site' hit Tom hard, no, he also has to deal with his parents' past during the GDR era.
A singer is found brutally murdered. All the clues lead to Tom's partner and so he is excluded from the investigation, but that doesn't stop Tom from investigating himself. In doing so, he puts not only himself but also his son, his stepmother and his partner in great danger.
Nothing seems as it should be. He realises that Phil is not his biological son, that the murdered singer's agent also has a secret and that his mother was a spy in the GDR.
It gripped me from the first to the last minute and I am very much looking forward to the sequel.

book 23 Read in German

 Zorn – Tod und Regen

Sigh, I once again stumbled upon a series that was new to me and was hooked on the first page of it, so I'm going to read the rest of the books too.
Inspector Claudius Zorn doesn't particularly love his job. In the department he is also described as lazy and grumpy. His love life is flighty and relatively 'unhealthy' for these women. His partner, Inspector Schröder, who is obese and yet in better health than Zorn, is a meticulous investigator who knows the overview and the details very well.
One day a woman's bled-out body is found on the river bank. She was brutally murdered. Why? Who is behind it? During the investigation, more and more dead people appear. Including the public prosecutor, who appears to be blocking the investigation. While the two inspectors soon have the feeling that they are on the trail of the culprit, they are soon proven wrong in a brutal way.

book 24 Read in German

 Die rote Mütze

I couldn't put this historical novel down. De Roulet writes about Swiss mercenaries in French service during the French Revolution. He describes the upheaval during this period (which lasted decades), when the people wanted equal rights and the brutal way in which the authorities acted against the common people. In his book, he accompanies seven men from the Geneva region (who actually existed) and uses historical facts to tell the story of what happened to them over five years.
At the end of the book, de Roulet writes:

How to tell of their misery?
How to talk about the cruelty of their officers, whose names can be found on street signs and engraved on monuments?
while the insurgent soldiers
only had a claim
to a shameful entry
in the big book of the prison?

I have memorised the names of seven mercenaries
and that of the martyred Andé Soret.
I made figures out of these names.

The powerful crush you
with their success.
Their slaves,
the less fortunate,
are only granted by literature
the word

I think de Roulet has done a marvellous job of giving the seven mercenaries a voice.

book 25 Read in German

 The Bone Readers

This is the first volume of the Camaho Quartet and I was immediately captivated by it.
Michael 'Digger' Digson is recruited by Detective Superintendent Chilman for a newly formed police force. Digger has his own agenda, however, as he wants to find out what happened to his mother. He is an illegitimate child and his biological father is the chief of police of the Caribbean island of Camaho.
It soon becomes clear that the women and girls on the island are oppressed and abused and that only a few of them fight back, but have to pay for it with their lives. The men always get away scot-free. Digger wants to take action against this, but it's not that easy. With the help of Chilman's daughter Miss Stanislaus, a secretary at the police station and DS Chilman's backing, he manages to solve the cases.
Very excitingly written with lots of insight knowledge about a world that is foreign to me.

book 26 Read in German

 Die Spur der Aale

An exciting start to a new crime series centred around public prosecutor Greta Vogelsang.
Vogelsang is primarily responsible for ecological matters, which is why she had to quickly hand over the case of the murdered customs officer Mathissen, as this does not fall within her remit. She was only on site because she was on call.
Mathissen's death leaves her no peace, however, as he sent her an email shortly before his death asking for an urgent meeting. Vogelsang now begins to investigate on her own, which does not go down well with the public prosecutor. In the process, she puts some people in danger.
The story is that the eels in the Rhine-Main river are almost extinct and Mathissen was on the trail of a smuggling ring from Hong Kong.
Very excitingly written with a lot of knowledge about eels and smuggling.

book 27 Read in German

 Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop

This is a highly recommended book and unfortunately I have no idea which thread I saw it on.
It is the biography of Alba Donati when she decided to open a bookshop in her 170 soul village in the Tuscan mountains in 1999. She tackled this project with great enthusiasm and love for the place and its people. With fundrising and the support of her craftsmen, she succeeded. She was soon able to open the tiny little bookshop. She also has a website where you can not only see the wonderful garden to linger in, but also her book recommendations. These are quite something, she always writes at the end of a diary entry which books she has sent. On the one hand, this is very interesting, on the other hand, this recommendation has given me dozens of books that have now ended up on my library list and that I will gradually borrow.
There were also setbacks, such as the pandemic, which was particularly bad in Italy, and her first bookshop burning down shortly after opening. But none of this could stop them and it seems that their project is a great success for everyone.

book 28 Read in German 🎧

 Mrs. Quinn's Rise To Fame

This is a take on the BBC's 'Bake Off' told in a very entertaining way.
Mrs Quinn's passion is baking, the many family recipes are among her most treasured memories, and she loves to treat friends and family to her delicacies. But shortly before her big wedding day with Bernard, everything suddenly changes. All of a sudden, she was more than aware of the urgency of her dwindling existence. She feels that she must take a chance before it is too late. She secretly applies for a popular TV baking show and not only fulfils a big dream, but also puts everything at risk. Because what nobody suspects is that there is a dark secret in Mrs Quinn's life that she thought she had kept well for decades and which she must now finally face up to.

book 29 Read in German

 Eine Formalie in Kiew

This is a touching declaration of love for home and family

Dmitrij Kapitelman can speak Saxon better than the official from whom he applied for a German passport. After 25 years as a countryman, most of his life. But no formality is too small for the bureaucracy when it comes to immigrants. Ms. Kunze requests an apostille from Kiev. So he travels to his hometown, with which he has nothing but childhood memories. These memories are beautiful, as loving, infallible parents wait in them. And difficult, because the family is currently divided.
Before he leaves, he is instructed by his family that the only way to get the documents he wants is to bribe them. He tried to do it without bribery and succeeded. But he realized that bribery was still common in Kiev when his father, who had traveled there, needed intensive medical care. ›A formality in Kiev‹ is the story of a family that once moved abroad full of hope and in the end is left without a home. Told with the bittersweet humor of a son who stoically tries to become German.

book 30 Read in German

 The Honjin Murders

This is a real 'locked-room murder mystery' that young private detective Kosuke Kindaichi is determined to solve.
During the wedding night, the head of the Ichiyanagis and his bride are brutally killed. When they were found in the morning, no traces were found in the fresh snow around the building, all the shutters were closed and the door was locked from the inside. How could the murderer have escaped? What happened? This mystery is written with many twists and turns. On the one hand, the reader thinks he is on the trail of the murderer, but soon realises that he is looking in the wrong direction.
It was a very exciting and amusing read.

book 31 Read in German

 Zorn - Vom Lieben und Sterben

Zorn and Schröder's second case also captivated me. While you learnt a lot about Zorn's character in the first volume, a lot of Schröder's life and character comes to light in this volume, making him even more likeable and you now also understand his quirks.
A 'decapitated' teenager is found dead. He rides his mountain bike into a tightrope. Why was this tightrope strung? Why did this young man from a good family have to die? Zorn and Schröder have a lot of dirt to dig up and, to make matters worse, more young people die in brutal ways. The investigators soon realise that it has something to do with paedophilia. But who is the culprit?

book 32 Read in German

 Bittersüsse Zitronen

The second volume of the Capri crime series was also an amusing read.
The main themes are the famous southern Italian lemons, limoncello, crowdfarming, love affairs and family feuds.
Elisa Constantini dies in a car accident. Rizzi does not believe that it was a tragic accident but claims that the three-wheeled Ape has been tampered with and that it is therefore a murder. He tries to solve the case with his colleague Cirillo, who, as usual, he only feeds with 'half-infos'.
The good thing about this crime thriller is that the reader is often misled. If you think you know who the murderer is, you'll be disabused shortly afterwards. It remains exciting from the first to the last page.

book 33 Read in German

 Farewell Ghosts

This was a recommendation from the book Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop and I was not disappointed for a moment.
The author writes in the first person and you almost get the feeling that everything described happened to her personally.
Ida receives a phone call from her mother asking her to come home because she wants to sell the flat and Ida should sort out the things she wants to keep. Ida fled to Rome years earlier to escape her nightmares and now lives with her husband in a flat in Rome.
Going home to Messina in Sicily is not easy for Ida because she has to come to terms with her past. This also means letting go of her father figure, who suddenly disappeared one morning when Ida was thirteen years old. His body was never found, so even twenty years later Ida still can't believe that he could be dead. She still sees him in front of her and he not only appears in her sleep but also in various places in Messina.
The book is very impressive and lovingly written. It shows how people can repress, but also how they cannot let go.
I can warmly recommend this book.

book 34 🎧 Read in German

 Die Kunst zu sterben

There are people who nobody likes and so nobody is surprised when they are one day from this world to the hereafter. But there are also people who nobody actually likes, but who are nevertheless uninteresting and irrelevant, so that everyone is surprised when they one day become victims of murder.
The artist Kamille Schwerin can confidently be categorised in the second group. She has gained a certain international reputation with her installations - but no one really knows why, she is a member of various important committees - but likes to shamelessly exploit her position in favour of personal antipathies and is a real pain in the neck to those around her because of real or imagined allergies. In short - the woman is annoying. Nevertheless, Justitia is also blind as to whether a murdered person was one of the most sympathetic or not, which is why the Swedish police and the detective Dan Sommerdahl, already famous from two previous volumes, naturally also investigate this case.
An amusing and entertaining investigation that is ideal as an audio book.

book 35 Read in German

 The Bastards of Pizzofalcone

I'm a big fan of Maurizio de Giovanni's crime novels and the second volume of the Giuseppe Lojacono series also gripped me from the first to the last page.
The Pizzofalcone police station is in danger of being disbanded. The most 'hated' officers from various police stations in Naples are transferred to this police station. What nobody thinks is possible is that this conspiratorial squad can get together and solve unsolvable cases.
The wife of a notary is found dead in her flat. All the evidence points to the notary and his mistress. Only Inspector Lojacono doubts it. But finding the real murderer seems to be a sisifus job. At the same time, an old woman reports the new occupant of the neighbouring house. Is she being held captive there? This case also seems to be tricky, but the two new ruffians at the police station have a good feeling and are able to solve this mystery too. There are also various 'suicides' that the station's oldest policeman refuses to believe in. And last but not least, there is Lojacono's love and family life, where things don't seem to be moving forward either.

book 36 Read in German

 Death in Summer

This is the first volume in the Sofia Hjortén series, set in the archipelago of Sweden. Written in a very exciting and varied way, with lots of details about the different characters. I will definitely continue reading this series.
Sofia Hjortén has turned her back on her career as a detective in Stockholm and is devoting herself to the unagitated police service in the coastal region of Ulvön. But then, on Midsummer, a man is found horribly beaten to death on the jetty. Not only Sofia's current love life, but also that of the past, interfere with her solving the case. What's more, nobody realises for a long time that this murder and the subsequent ones have something to do with a midsummer forty years ago. Who is taking revenge after such a long time?

book 37 Read in German

 Rachewinter

The third volume of the Walter Pulaski series was also captivating.
People are being murdered by a mysterious woman in a red dress in and around Leibzig and Vienna. While Pulaski is convinced that the dead man in the motel, who was the father of his daughter's best friend, did not die of natural causes, the dead man in Vienna was brutally murdered. Evelyn Meyers is supposed to represent the guilty party in court, but soon realises that the accused is probably not the culprit, but someone else who bears a striking resemblance to him. What is behind this?
In Leibzig, Pulaski is mainly concerned with preventing his daughter and her friend from investigating on their own.
Very slowly, with enormous suspense, the reader is drawn into the machinations of a family drama. Whereas in previous cases Pulaski and Meyers investigated very quickly, in this case it takes a long time for their paths to cross.

book 38 Read in German ROOT 4

 Deadline in Athenes

This is the first volume in the Inspector Kostas Charitos series. He is the head of the homicide squad in Athens and is supervised by Nikolaos Gikas. They are not always on the same page, as Charitos is a gut man and his boss only works with facts. Despite many misunderstandings, Gikas has Charitos' back. Charitos is married, and even though he loves his wife, they often have arguments.
Charitos investigates together with Sotiris and Thanassis. They are called to a house where two Albanians have been found dead. Despite questioning the neighbours, they make no progress. If it wasn't for the ambitious journalist Jana Karajorgi, who spreads the word that there must be another child. The TV journalist stops at nothing and keeps spreading new stories until she is found murdered shortly before the midnight programme. Now Charitos and his team get a new lead and wonder why the journalist had to die. Her successor is also found dead shortly afterwards. Charitos also realises that there is a mole inside the police department. Who is it?
The case escalates into child trafficking and power games. It is written in such an exciting and varied way that the reader only realises who the culprit is on the last page.

book 39 Read in German

 Die Infantin trägt den Scheitel links

The first thing to say: Powerful language - unambiguous-ambiguous. The author has such powerful language that it is a real pleasure to read this book.
She, the youngest daughter, the tender child, burns down her parents' farm. It is not an accident, but also self-defence. An act of self-assertion against the imposition of growing up under the regime of her parents, a sanctimonious, bigoted mother and a father with a fatal penchant for alcohol, pyrotechnics and esotericism. Not to mention the older twin sisters, two ice princesses who have sprung from an evil fairy tale and play tricks on her, the infanta in stable boots, wherever they can. And, of course, the huntsmen, priest, relatives and mayor are not absent from this idyllic home, which is painted in the most beautiful colours of hell and where things are so tangible and hearty. It tells of things as if they were beyond belief. Shrill, coarse, unadorned, snotty and tough as country life can be.
I had a great time, even if certain things make you think.

book 40 Read in German

 Eine Frau aus Tirana

I can't remember who recommended this book to me, but it was definitely worth reading.
The story is told by a young woman who works in the state book publishing house in Albania, which was still closed at the time under the leadership of Enver Hoxha. 'The Big Boss', as he is known in the publishing industry, dominates the events of this book.
On the one hand, it is forbidden to make references to great authors from earlier times because, despite their great renown, they do not fit in politically with the times. It is as if they are trying to erase the history of Albania. This is almost unbearable for many employees in the publishing industry. They live in constant fear of being punished and the punishments were terrible.
On the other hand, the protagonist talks about the role of women in the closed Albania, which nobody would accept from today's perspective of the Western world.
This story gives a deep insight into life at that time, how people tried to cope with everyday life and how 'rebellious spirits' tried to create small freedoms for themselves.
It is a book that I can warmly recommend.

book 41 Read in German

 Der rote Judas

A new series for me centred around Inspector Paul Stainer, set in Leibzig around 1920.
Inspector Paul Stainer is one of the first soldiers to return home from being a prisoner of war in France. He is back on his birthday of all days and wants to fall into the arms of his beloved wife Edith. But some of the letters he received from her during the war do not bode well. The marriage had not been perfect before, too often his job took precedence. Then Edith thought he was dead and has been in a relationship with Eugen Brand for some time, who, to Paul's annoyance, is around twenty years older. But while things are in crisis in his private life, an unexpected professional opportunity arises, as the Chief of Police, Dr Kubitz, is expecting him back on duty. Not only that, but he is also promoted to detective inspector and thus head of the criminal investigation department. However, there is not much time for reflection as events suddenly come thick and fast. A secondary school teacher is murdered, a tax official from Berlin allegedly commits suicide by hanging and there is a wild shoot-out in a villa belonging to Weingarten, a well-known factory owner, in which three people are killed. Stainer and trainee detective Siegfried Junghans are soon on the trail of a perfidious network, as the deaths are connected and affect Stainer more personally than he could have imagined.
A very vivid portrayal of the post-war period with a gripping plot that frequently switches between the police and the perpetrators. The characters are superbly designed, there is plenty of action and political background knowledge. This makes history fun.

book 42 Read in German 🎧

 Congo Requiem

A hellish ride into the heart of African darkness.
No one keeps his dark secrets as well hidden as Grégoire Morvan: family tyrant, unscrupulous businessman and grey eminence of the French Ministry of the Interior. In the 1970s, Morvan brought down a bestial killer in the Congo. Following a cruel ritual, the "nail man" left his victims riddled with nails and shards of mirror.
And now he seems to have a mysterious successor who is threatening Morvan's entire family! Morvan's son Erwan, an inspector with the Paris police, travels to the Congo on his own to find out his father's true story. Little does he realise that he is opening the gates to hell.
What impressed me was that Grangé is able to describe the political events in the Congo and the catastrophic life for the population there so accurately. The tragic thing is that not much has changed to this day.
It was exciting from the very beginning and keeps you guessing until the very end how things will turn out.

book 43 Read in German

 A Grave for Two

This is the first volume in the Selma Falck series and it grabbed me straight away.
Selma is a lawyer, but because she has done some crooked things and relieved clients, in particular Jan Morell, of money, she is now faced with nothing and fights to prevent charges being brought against her. Jan Morell gives her a chance, but in return she has to find out why Jan's daughter, a gifted cross-country skier, gave a positive doping test. Selma soon realises that things are going wrong in the Norwegian cross-country skiing association. What's more, well-known personalities (athletes, but also members of the association) are being found dead. Who is behind it all? Selma gets support from a sports journalist. While Morell was more of a hindrance at the beginning, he proves to be a help towards the end.
Grippingly written, with many twists and turns. I will definitely continue with this series.

book 44 Read in German - ROOT 5

 Teufelsfrucht

This is the first volume in the culinary crime series about Xavier Kieffer, a chef from Luxembourg who trained with a French Michelin-starred chef and then went on to have a stellar career in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris. But now he is back in Luxembourg, wants nothing more to do with stars and cooks excellent Luxembourg cuisine.
A test eater from the Guide Gabin drops dead in Xavier's restaurant.
Xavier is immediately suspected of having something to do with the death. Of course, he can't let that sit on his head, so he starts to investigate on his own initiative. In the process, we get to know his comrades-in-arms. Firstly, there is his friend Pekka, who works for the EU, Valérie, the boss of Guide Gabin, and Esteban, with whom Xavier did his cookery apprenticeship.
Xavier soon realises that investigating on his own initiative not only puts him in danger, but also others, and there are more deaths.
The main theme in this cosy crime thriller is glutomatous. It is a competition between companies that use Glutomat to turn poor quality products into fine food and bring these products to the masses. They don't care that they are risking people's health in the process.
As I make everything myself from fresh produce, I am fortunately not dependent on Glutomat. Even more so after reading this book.
What I particularly liked is that you can immerse yourself in the delicious Luxembourg cuisine with Xavier.

book 45 Read in German - ROOT 6

 Rotes Gold

I also really enjoyed the second volume about Xavier Kieffer. This time the main theme was overfishing of the oceans, in particular the ‘extermination’ of tuna and dangerous experiments with fish farming.
Together with his girlfriend Valérie, Xavier is invited by the mayor of Paris to an exquisite fish dinner organised by a Japanese celebrity chef. The chef prepares the food at the table and suddenly drops dead. If the mayor had not been a good friend of Valérie's, Xavier would probably not have had to start investigating again, but . . .
Xavier soon realises that dubious fishmongers based in Luxenbourg are involved in the murder. The greed for quick money is enormous among these dealers and so they literally walk over dead bodies. The trail leads Xavier from tranquil Luxenbourg to Sicily, where he can even call on the Mafia for support and help.
Another exciting adventure that makes you think about what fishing and the fish trade can do.

book 46 Read in German

 Die Schatten von Paris

Until now, I only knew Ulrich Wickert as an excellent news presenter, whom I greatly appreciated. So I was somewhat surprised that he is also the author of countless books, including the Jacques Ricou series, of which this book is already volume seven. But I had no trouble immersing myself in the story, even if I hadn't known all of the protagonists before.
Jacques Ricou gets caught up in a swamp of betrayal and political intrigue. Near Lake Geneva, a man is executed with five targeted shots. A short time later, Jacques' friend, a fellow investigating judge, is murdered in the same way. Together with Commissioner Jean and Jacques' life partner, the journalist Margeaux, he tries to get to the bottom of the matter.
At the same time, you learn about the machinations of the secret service but also what AI can do.
Very excitingly written and I hope that I can read other books by Wickert.

book 47 Read in German

 Letzte Ernte

The third volume of the Xavier Kieffer series was also exciting.
A glass of wine, Riesling pie and then a piece of Quetschetaart with cream - at the Luxembourg summer fair, the former star chef Xavier Kieffer and his girlfriend, the food critic Valerie Gabin, are having a really good time. But in a beer tent, a stranger suddenly hands him a magnetic card and disappears. The next morning, the man is found dead under the Red Bridge. Why did he give Kieffer this card? What's the deal with the computer codes on it? And why are so many people suddenly after him? The Luxembourg chef suddenly finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and realizes that his girlfriend is in great danger.
"Tom Hillenbrand lets fame-hungry TV chefs, food hunters, food industrialists, laid-back gourmets appear. Exciting, entertaining and, we fear, not all that unrealistic."

book 48 Read in German 🎧

 Vollmond Über der Cote d'Azur

It is April in Cannes. The weather is changeable. Duval is expecting family visitors over the upcoming Easter holidays, and his girlfriend Annie is heavily pregnant. That would be enough of a challenge, but then a woman dies in a bistro in Cannes under initially unclear circumstances. Her companion disappears when the emergency doctor arrives. Apparently the murdered woman was a patient at a psychiatric clinic in Mougins, where she had been admitted after an accident that caused her to lose her memory.
Duval takes over the investigation. In this case, the inspector is confronted with art and artists, with drugs, prostitution and bizarre figures who practice yoga under the full moon. And during a raid, the drug investigators also catch Duval's half-brother. Will the inspector succeed in unravelling all the threads in this complicated story and still do justice to his family and Annie?
This was another exciting case from the Duval series.

book 49 Read in German

 Im Kopf des Mörders - Toter Schrei

This was the third volume in the series and I wasn't entirely convinced.
Inspector Max Bischoff is afraid. For his sister Kirsten, who hasn't felt safe for weeks. A stranger is watching her, knows where she is and is sending her threatening messages. And then what Max has always feared happens. The stranger takes control of Kirsten and tries to force Max to sacrifice himself. If he doesn't, Kirsten will die. Max Bischoff finds himself in the worst hell imaginable. Should he save his own life or that of his sister?
Max soon realises that he can't trust his police colleagues, as the culprit must be one of them. Left to his own devices, he goes in search of the kidnapper and realises far too late that he is falling into a trap.

book 50 Read in German 🎧

 Achtsam morden am Rande der Welt

This was a great pleasure, as always.
Björn Diemel is back! After a celebration - or actually a planned "non-celebration" - of his 45th birthday has gone horribly wrong, it's time for another visit to his therapist Joschka Breitner. He then puts his finger on the wound and asks the crucial question: What does he actually want from his life? A question that has certainly puzzled many people. Nevertheless, Diemel is not (or no longer) a man who runs away from such existential problems and so, like legions of other seekers, he sets out on the path of knowledge - namely the Way of St James. Here he hopes to answer his questions in quiet contemplation and strenuous walking. Nevertheless, even Björn Diemel has to realise that the question of the meaning of life takes on a completely different dynamic when someone tries to take it away from someone else. Even in the pious guise of a pilgrim, not everyone seems to like lawyers, and certainly not this lawyer ...

book 51 Read in German

 Died in the Wool

The fourth volume in the Whisky Business Mysteries series was also a great read.
Abigail Logan, the owner of an award-winning distillery, attends a whisky seminar in Edinburgh. There she befriends Amanda, who runs a women's refuge. When one of the women is found dead shortly afterwards, Amanda asks Abigail for help. Then another woman disappears without a trace and a ransom demand reaches the women's refuge. While Abigail looks after the kidnapped woman's daughter, she begins to investigate on her own - because she has a terrible suspicion.
Abigail's love life also takes a pleasant turn.

book 52 Read in German

 Die Wüstenkönigin

Having recently read 'The Shadows of Paris' by Ulrich Wickert, I knew that I wanted to read the other books as well.
I was also captivated by this book right from the start. Bribery, corruption, betrayal in the highest circles - a new case for the judge from Paris. Investigating magistrate Jacques Ricou actually thought he knew what atrocities people are capable of. But when a trivial incident leads him to come across respected men who disregard all human values, he can no longer pretend that this is an everyday occurrence. Jacques Ricou is determined to uncover the links between arms dealers and oil tycoons, cynical politicians and unscrupulous secret service agents and their illegal dealings in Angola. But the closer he gets to the case, the more explosive the situation becomes for his adversaries, the more dangerous it becomes for him. Confronted with the deepest depths of human greed, he throws caution to the wind and flies to Luanda, even when Lyse, the woman he loves, knows more than is good for her. And thus to almost certain death.

book 53 Read in German

 Mutterliebe

A nightmare comes true for single nurse Nora Somweber when her six-year-old daughter Louisa disappears without a trace after a visit to her father Matthias and his girlfriend Ellis.
After an unsuccessful search, the young woman finally reports her daughter missing. However, she has to be very careful with her statements to the police, as she has been harbouring a secret since Louisa's birth that must never come to light.
With this gripping novel, the author has presented a very well constructed psychological thriller about misguided maternal love. The story shows how far some women will go when they are convinced that they only want the best for a child. They don't even realise that they are slipping into crime, as they are acting morally correct from their point of view.

book 54 Read in German

 Never Let You Go

This is a book that gave me a lot to think about and I didn't read through it so quickly. It's about a woman who fled with her daughter years ago from her alcoholic husband, who also brutally beat her up, in order to start a new life. The ex-husband also had to serve a prison sentence for driving a woman to death. You get to know the mother and daughter very well in this book. The daughter feels the desire to get in touch with her father, which her mother must not know under any circumstances. The mother, on the other hand, has the unspeakable talent of getting involved with the 'wrong men' time and time again and so fate takes its course.

book 55 Read in German 🎧

 Die Totentänzerin

Somehow I never really warmed to this story.
A man and a woman, undressed and united in a tight embrace, their bodies tied together with a cord. The bed on which they lie is soaked in blood, with the two victims' nightwear draped bizarrely in front of them. This gruesome sight presents itself to Nils Trojan and his team when they arrive at the flat where the horrific crime took place. What sick spirit has been raging here? How far does hatred go to tempt a person to commit such an act? Trojan is shocked when Theresa Landsberg, his boss's wife, of all people, ends up among the suspects. He doesn't want to believe that she is guilty, and yet he knows that he has to follow every lead. Because another pair of lovers have just been found dead.
The crux of the matter is that Detective Inspector Nils Trojan never knows who he can and cannot trust.

book 56 Read in German

 Red Roulette

That was a very interesting read. I've always been interested in what's happening in China.
My husband and I were in Beijing and the surrounding area in 1995. That was a time when much of the old Beijing was still there. There were still a few tower blocks and many hutongs were still there. The street markets were also mostly our 'shopping mile or restaurants'. English was not yet widely spoken, which meant speaking with hands and feet or looking into the cooking pots to order the right food. In any case, the trip was worthwhile for us, even though we realised that big changes were imminent.
This book describes how the political machinations work. It is a kind of autobigraphy by the author. It describes how offices, commissions etc. are awarded among the powerful or the up-and-comers. It also shows the fall of entire clans.
Some things were familiar to me and therefore not surprising, others confirmed my suspicions.
I can highly recommend this book.

book 57 Read in German

 Inspektor Takeda und die Toten von Altona

I can't remember where I was recommended this book, but it was definitely worth reading and I've already earmarked the second volume for my library.
The Japanese inspector Takede comes to Hamburg for two years on an exchange programme. There he is assigned to Chief Inspector Claudia Harms. She is not happy about this, but nevertheless endeavours to familiarise herself with Japanese culture so that she can give her new colleague a proper welcome. In Altona, a murdered couple is found in their bedroom. As the patrol officers have the feeling that it must be a suicide, Takeda and Harms are given the task of looking in. However, Takeda is convinced after the first inspection that it is a murder. Who is behind it? Harms is not always convinced by her new colleague's train of thought, but soon realises that he is right.
The search for clues leads the two of them from the political left to the ultra right. The construction industry doesn't come off well either.
The two also become closer in their private lives.

book 58 Read in German

 The Thursday Murder Club

After seeing on various threads that this book must be a 'hit', I borrowed it as an ebook from my library and was not disappointed.
This crime thriller will tease your diaphragm and get your heart racing - the very finest British entertainment! That's how you could summarise the whole thing.
You would think that a luxurious retirement home in the idyllic county of Kent would be a peaceful place. That's what almost eighty-year-old Joyce thought when she moved into Coopers Chase. Until she meets Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim or, to put it another way, a former secret agent, a former trade union leader and a former psychiatrist. She becomes part of their club, which meets every Thursday in the puzzle room to solve unsolved criminal cases. When a murder is committed right on their doorstep, the four seniors' investigative zeal is naturally awakened, and even the chief inspector of the local police station can only marvel at their ingenuity.
I have already borrowed the second volume of this series from my local library and am looking forward to it.

book 59 Read in German

 Loch of the Dead

The fourth volume of the Frey & McGray series was also great.
Diving into the Scotland of 1889 means lots of mystical things happening again and again.
This time, Frey and McGray are summoned to the far north. The person who has sent them is a maid. She became pregnant by a lord 16 years ago and had to give up her son. Now he is to return to the manor house, but she fears that he is in danger.
Frey travels with his uncle while McGray is sent to collect the boy and bring him safely back to the manor house. Then the first murder occurs and several more follow. Frey doesn't feel at all at home in the Kolomans' manor house. All the inhabitants are hiding a big secret that he can only gradually uncover.
It is wonderfully written, even if the ending is sad in places. I will definitely continue with this series.

book 60 Read in German

 Terra di Sicilia

This is a wonderful Sicilian family saga in which the grandfather Barnaba Carbonaro tells his life story. Barnaba was born in 1880. In his stories he jumps back and forth between the years 1890 and 1960.
He tells of his childhood, his teenage years and as a patriarch who never learnt to read but was a genius with numbers.
He talks about the hard years growing up without a father and how he learnt his trade on the citrus plantations, always knowing that he would one day become rich from these fruits. About love, whether it was fulfilled or unfulfilled. About mafia affairs that he tried to stay out of. About arrogance just because others were born into an upper class. About friendships that last a lifetime. How he and his family survived the two world wars and became rich in the process. And how, in the end, he lost all his fortune and became happy.
This book is written with great attention to detail and people. As a reader, I felt like I was right in the middle of it.

book 62 Read in German

 In einer stillen Bucht

The third volume with the Capri police officers Enrico Rizzi and Antonia Cirillo was also an amusing read.
A suitcase containing a female corpse is found on a rocky outcrop, difficult to access and only accessible by boat. It turns out to be a music director from the music conservatory in Naples. Why did she have to die? She didn't have many friends, was feared and sometimes hated. There are plenty of culprits, but who really did it?
Once again, it was a pleasure to immerse myself in the island life of Capri.

book 63 Read in German

 The Man Who Died Twice

The second volume in this series was also an enjoyable read. You get to know the protagonists better and learn a lot about their past lives, especially about Elizabeth.
As always, many things are intertwined, but the Thursday Murder Club and their helpers always find a solution.
The only question behind it all is who from MI5/MI6 can be trusted.

book 64 Read in German

 Inspektor Takeda und der leise Tod

The second book in this series was also an enjoyable read. Kenjiro Takeda, actually a homicide inspector in Tokyo, is still a little unfamiliar with the weather in Hamburg and German manners. When a celebrated star of the internet scene is found dead, they are faced with a particular challenge: Markus Sassnitz was not only run over, but also suffocated. He obviously had many enemies, but one person immediately becomes the focus of the manhunt: his wife. However, she has a special fascination for Takeda.

book 65 Read in German - ROOT 7

 Das letzte Sakrament

I bought this book at a reading a long time ago. A video that throws the world into turmoil and triggers a race against time ... The fast-paced Vatican thriller for fans of gripping suspense The body of an employee is found in a laboratory in Basel. He was recently involved in secret investigations into the Shroud of Turin on behalf of the Vatican. One thing is clear to Inspector Alex Pandera: the results of the investigations must have been highly explosive. His suspicions are reinforced by the fact that the Church is doing everything it can to keep these findings under wraps. Shortly afterwards, a reporter in St Peter's Square in Rome claims that a molecular biologist has cloned Jesus from the traces of blood on the Shroud of Turin. As proof, he shows the video of a two-year-old boy: the clone of Jesus Christ. A race against time begins, as some would rather see the boy dead than alive.

book 66 Read in German

 Mother-Daughter Murder Night

Thank you Thomas for this BB. It was great. It literally cries out for a sequel.High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has much to be proud of: her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she's built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, recuperating in a sleepy coastal town with her grown daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana Otter counts instead of square metres-and hopes boredom won't kill her before cancer does.Then Jack-Tiny in stature but fiercely independent-happens upon a dead body while kayaking near her bungalow. Jack quickly becomes a suspect in the murder investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She dons her wig, finds the real killer, protects her family, and proves she still has power.With Jack and Beth's help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur sleuthing moves into increasingly dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they've always resisted: depend on each other.

book 67 Read in German 🎧

 Karwoche

Police chief Kreuthner may be a Bavarian officer, but he's also a real hallodrique. And so he has a race with his mate Kilian Raubert on the Achenpass - illegally, of course. It almost comes to a collision, as his superior, Inspector Wallner, who is actually on his way on holiday, runs into him. In order to disguise one of his numerous misdemeanours, Kreuthner stages a traffic stop on the stubbornly refusing Raubert - and the police find the body of young Hannah Lohwerk in the haulier's van. Wallner stays in Miesbach for the time being to give his testimony, and of course can't resist getting involved in the investigation despite being on holiday. The enquiries lead the police to the illustrious Millruth family. The Millruth family of actors is a group of egotists and snobs that is as mysterious as it is well portrayed. The troupe cultivates a sophisticated lifestyle, presents itself as more than snobbish - and yet is full of psychological problems. The matriarch and her sometimes submissive followers put so-called family honour above all else. It seems to become clear relatively quickly who could be the murderer behind the Christmas crime. At least the group of people can be easily narrowed down, but this does not detract from the enormous suspense, as the second murder and the motive for the two murders are more than enough of a mystery.
As an audiobook, this was great, as the Bavarian dialect made me feel like I was right in the middle of it. I will definitely be listening to more books in this series.

book 68 Read in German 

 Unwanted

This is the first volume in the Fredrika Bergman series. You get to know many of the people she works with.
A little girl disappears from a train. Who has kidnapped her? What secret is her mother hiding? Investigators Alex Recht, Fredrika Bergman and Peder embark on a race against time. The three of them don't always agree on how to investigate, but they each make progress in their own way. First the child's father is suspected. He has a dark secret, but is he the kidnapper? When the girl is found dead and another child disappears soon afterwards, the investigators realise that they first have to find out what the children's mothers have in common.
A very exciting and fast-paced crime thriller. I will certainly read the other books as well.

book 69 Read in German 

 The Sleeping Nymph

Even though this is the second volume in the Teresa Battaglia series - I bought the first volume later - it captivated me right from the start.
Northern Italy, in narrow mountain valleys: Teresa Battaglia is a detective suffering from the onset of dementia, which nobody is allowed to know about. So she writes everything down in a notebook. Her colleague Inspector Massimo Marini also has a big secret that nobody is allowed to know. Both are fond of each other in their own way and try to solve a tricky case with the help of close colleagues.
A seventy-year-old painting turns up. It was painted with human blood. The painter is still alive, but hasn't spoken a word since he painted it. Teresa and her team try to unravel the mystery, which is not so easy because the locals are very secretive and only reveal what can be directly proven. As a result, more people have to die.
What I particularly liked is that the story jumps between time periods, that you get to know the mysticism and the cult of this secretive community better and that Teresa's care for her team is always paramount.
This book is very excitingly written. I'm really looking forward to the next books in the series.

book 70 Read in German 

 Three Burials

It is difficult for me to write a review. On the one hand, the story is well and coherently written, with a lot of dark humour, but on the other hand, the way the police behave made me angry, because unfortunately this is not just fiction, but also fact. That's why I didn't give it that many points.
African refugees try to cross the English Channel in a battered fishing boat. Omar is the leader, his goal is to find his girlfriend in London. A very brutal English policeman claims the right to find such boats in the water at night and drive the refugees back. When he and his cronies see Omar's boat, they board it and the policeman kicks and murders Omar. A young policeman films the whole thing.
The next morning, Cherry, a nurse, finds Omar's body on the beach and calls the police. The patalogue reveals that Omar was brutally murdered. Now a race against time begins. Cherry tries to bring his girlfriend's body to him, while the brutal policeman tries to prevent this.
This story shows how refugees are treated and how there are still a few ‘good’ people out there.

book 71 Read in German 

 Die Frau, die verschwand

This is already the fifth volume in the Kajsa Coren series, but it didn't bother me that I hadn't read the previous books, as it's a coherent story.
Kajsa is a journalist who has moved to an island near Oslo with her family. A man seeks her out to inform her of the fate of a woman who has disappeared. Kajsa remembers this case well, which happened years ago. The missing Julia was never found, dead or alive. Kajsa decides to reopen the case. In doing so, she comes across inglorious machinations within the psychiatric system. When the man who came to see her is pulled out of the sea murdered, Kajsa also asks her husband, who is an inspector, to get involved.
The story is multi-layered, on the one hand it is about the missing Julia, on the other about a psychiatric clinic and its former residents, employees and doctors.
It is very excitingly written. You also learn a lot about Kajsa's private life. I will read the other books in this series, starting with the first volume.

book 72 Read in German 

 Schwarzlicht

This is the first volume in the Vincent Veih series and it captivated me from the first page to the last.
Vincent Veih is 43 years old and chief inspector of KK11. His mother is an RAF terrorist who has already served a lengthy prison sentence and his late grandfather was not only a highly respected criminal investigator but also a former proud Nazi.
Walter Castrop, the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, is found drowned in a swimming pool six days before the elections. We soon learn that many high-ranking people in politics, but also in the state apparatus and the police, are not keen for the cause of death or the life that Castrop actually led to come to light. Everyone is anxious to protect their sinecures and privileges.
Vincent Veih doesn't care about any of this, he values the justice of solving this murder more highly. Fortunately, there are still a few people at police headquarters whose help and support he can count on.
Solving the case is already stressful enough, but he also has a number of private matters to deal with.
I can highly recommend this book and will be reading the other books in the series myself.

book 73 Read in German 

 The Girl in the Ice

This is the first volume in the Erika Foster series and I will definitely be reading the other books as well.
Andrea, a young woman from high society, is found brutally murdered. Her father, fiancé and siblings are constantly interfering in the police investigation. Chief Inspector Erika Foster is muzzled non-stop by the highest authorities and gags are thrown between her legs so that she can barely conduct the investigation. What's more, Erika herself has old demons to contend with. When another murder occurs and Erika and her team are able to prove that there are other cases of murdered women, Erika even puts herself in great danger. Fortunately, she has her closest team at her side.
An incredibly exciting and gripping crime thriller that I can warmly recommend.

book 74 Read in German 

 Falscher Glanz

I came across this book by chance. You could call it a cozy crime story set on Sylt.
The police officers and the public prosecutor have to solve this case, but they all have private problems or are involved in the murder cases.
The young and extremely attractive salesman Adnan Jashari is found dead in a jewelry store in Kampen. His throat has been cut, his eyes gouged out. Two expensive earrings are in his eye sockets, and there is a ring in the dead man's mouth.
Initial investigations reveal that the dead man comes from a criminally active Arab clan living in Berlin. Because large sums of money were moved through his account, it is suspected that this is a case of money laundering. However, when Winterberg, Kreuzer and Blanck find out about Jashari's relationship with his considerably older boss, jealousy also comes into question as a motive. But then the discovery of another body, also decorated with jewelry, brings all the theories to a halt.

book 75 Read in German 

 Tödlicher Tramontane

This is a funny, cozy crime story set in the south of France on the Spanish border. The Tramontane is a strong wind from the Pyrenees that drives everyone crazy if it blows for too long.
Perez is a bon vivant, petty criminal and amateur detective. He would like to run his restaurant and his flourishing black market in Spanish delicacies in peace and quiet. But then the new police chief from the north takes up his post in Banyuls and a stately yacht explodes near the beach. There is no sign of the crew. And when Perez's girlfriend Marianne, who had previously used unusual means to demonstrate against the planned expansion of the harbor, disappears without a trace, Perez suspects that something is not right on the Côte Vermeille.
Together with Marianne's daughter and his cook Haziem, he begins the investigation and learns all sorts of things about powerful corporations and corrupt puppet masters. When he himself is suspected of murder, Perez has finally had enough.

book 76 Read in German 

 Der Junge, der Rache schwor

This is the first volume in the Kajsa Coren series. I recently read the fourth volume and this book also gripped me.
This book is about child abuse in orphanages, how the government turns a blind eye to it and the victims never receive justice.
An old couple is brutally murdered in a forest house near Kajsa's home. Kajsa, who only does political reports because her husband works as a profiler for the police, soon realizes that her report on the abuse in the orphanages and the murder are closely intertwined. At first she cannot count on her husband's help. While the police are in the dark, Kajsa finds one piece of the puzzle after another and finds herself in great danger.
It is another exciting story that kept me guessing from the first to the last page.

book 77 Read in German 

 Paradeplatz

I received the fifth volume of the Phillip Humboldt series as a gift from my daughters in July, so I decided to start with the first book in the series. This book reminds me of the Achtsam morden series, which I really like.
Philipp has completed his law studies and applied for his first job at a large bank on Paradeplatz. He has two best friends who are always there to help and advise him. During his studies he fell in love with Sophie, a fellow student, and moved in with her when he started working.
The story jumps between 'then' and today, in the present day he tells a priest what he has done during various confession sessions.
To be successful in banking you need 'elbows' and a large portion of scruples. Philipp had to learn both, much to the chagrin of those he overran (both mentally and physically).
It is written very humorously and I am already looking forward to the other books.

book 78 Read in German 

 Italienische Intrige

Christmas 1953, in the middle of the Cold War. A murder takes place in ice-cold, snow-covered Bologna: the beautiful wife of a professor is drowned in the bathtub of her husband's city flat. Commissario De Luca, formerly ‘Italy's best policeman’, takes up the investigation after five years of involuntary leave. But nothing is as it seems. The enquiries and his passion for a young, dark-skinned jazz singer almost cost De Luca his life, and in the end he is faced with a difficult decision.
This was an interesting book. It transports me as a reader to another time. I learnt a lot about the political realities of Italy during and after WWII that I hadn't realised before. So much surveillance from different factions made this book very exciting.

book 79 Read in German ROOT 8

 The Way of All Flesh

This book had been on my Tolino for a long time and as I wanted to read another historical thriller, it came at just the right time.

1847: Edinburgh is shaken by a brutal series of murders of young women. All the victims have died in the same gruesome way. At the same time, medical student Will Raven takes up a position with the brilliant and renowned obstetrician Dr Simpson, in whose house ground-breaking experiments with newly discovered anaesthetics are regularly carried out. Here Will meets the inquisitive housemaid Sarah, who, however, gives him a wide berth and quickly realises that he is carrying a dark secret around with him. Both have very personal motives for wanting to solve the murders. Their investigation leads them into the darkest corners of Edinburgh's underworld and only if they manage to overcome their mutual dislike will they have a chance of making it out alive.

book 80 Read in German 

 All the Missing Girls

This book was very exciting. It rolls the story up from the end, which took some getting used to, but made sense.

15 days. 2 girlfriends. 1 murder.
It's been ten years since Nic left her hometown from one day to the next. But the memory of the night her best friend Corinne disappeared without a trace has never left her. Did someone in her circle of friends have something to do with it? One day she receives a mysterious message: ‘That girl. I've seen her.’ Nic knows that this can only mean one person: Corinne. She travels back to the small town surrounded by dark woods to find out what really happened. But that very evening, another girl disappears - the girl who had provided them all with an alibi.
Nic's role is very gripping and the longer the story goes on, the more you sympathise with her.

book 81 Read in German 

 Hinterland

First of all: you should never start a new series by a favourite author, because that means you want to continue reading all the books in the series. Fun aside, it was a great introduction to a new series and I highly recommend it.
Former detective inspector Bette Hansen, who suffers from narcolepsy, has retreated to her parents' house in the rural Hamburg neighbourhood of Ochsenwerder on the Elbe. Everyone there knows her and is very understanding when she suddenly falls asleep. They look after her. If only there wasn't a log in her garden, carved with a shell and a cross. It could only have been left by the shell murderer, her last case, which she was never able to solve due to illness.
Her successor doesn't take her seriously at all, even when more dead bodies turn up. Very quickly, Bette's favourite villagers and she herself find themselves in grave danger. So she decides to find the shell murderer herself.
Very excitingly written. I could hardly put the book down.

book 82 Read in German 🎧

 Body Language

This is the first book in the Cassie Raven series and I loved it.
25-year-old Cassie is a patology assistant. She prefers to surround herself with the dead rather than the living.
As a forensic medicine assistant, Londoner Cassie Raven is used to weird looks. Perhaps her gothic look with numerous piercings and tattoos is not entirely innocent - as is her conviction that the dead talk to us if we just listen carefully.
Cassie is just as convinced that without Mrs Edwards' help she would have ended up as a junkie under a bridge instead of as an assistant in forensic medicine. Her shock is all the greater when she opens a body bag and looks into the face of her beloved mentor.
Cassie is certain that Mrs Edwards has been murdered. But she can't prove it, because a costly forensic post-mortem has already been rejected. This makes the hypothermic DS Phyllida Flyte, of all people, who has Cassie on her tail because of a missing body, her only option.

book 83 Read in German 

 Mitternachtsmädchen

This is the third volume in the Nathalie Svensson series. This story is self-contained, but after reading it I bought the first two volumes so that I knew more about the protagonists.
At midnight, young female students are raped in Uppsala's historic neighbourhood, and one of them is even murdered. Nathalie Svensson is a senior psychiatrist and leading expert on psychopaths and is therefore taken on as a case analyst in the OFA team. Together with Detective Chief Inspector Johan Axberg, she forms a team. They get on ‘blind’ and don't always agree with their boss. It soon becomes apparent that he is connected to the victims and in some cases to the suspects.
Time is of the essence. Suspects are soon found, but are they really the culprits? And what is it about the victims' shoes that the perpetrator steals every time he strikes?
This book is very excitingly written. The lives of the protagonists also have some explosive aspects. I could hardly put the book down.

book 84 Read in German 

 Mordlichter

‘Mordlichter’ is Madita Winter's first book. The content has a lot to do with her life situation. It is set in Lapland, Sweden, where Anelie Anderson, a former homicide detective in Stockholm, has moved for love and now works as a police officer in a small police station. Madita Winter has also moved to the far north with her husband.
In the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, people live in ice and snow almost all year round. When a woman contacts Anelie because her seventeen-year-old son has disappeared, Anelie sets to work. The boy is soon found. He has been wrapped in furs and run over by a car. But he was obviously held captive somewhere beforehand. The more Anelie investigates, the more her experience and intuition tell her that there is more to it than just an accident. She discovers that several people have also disappeared without trace in recent years.
In faraway Lulea, people don't like the fact that she has discovered something and bites into it like a bloodhound, because they want to close Anelie's little police station for good.
This was a very gripping thriller. I'm already looking forward to the next book.

book 85 Read in German 

 Ask No Mercy

This book is probably one of the most exciting espionage thrillers I have read in a long time. At 575 pages, this book is one of the ‘heavyweights’, but it was so exciting that I couldn't put it down and almost read it through in one sitting.
Even though the story switches between 1996 and 1943/44, it couldn't be more topical.
Paschie, a young employee of the Swedish think tank Vektor, disappears without a trace in St Petersburg. At the same time, a hacker attack paralyses the mobile phone network in Stockholm, which could also threaten Sweden's security. Max Anger, Paschie's friend and colleague, travels to St Petersburg to look for her. In the process, the Russia expert and ex-soldier comes across evidence that Paschie has found information about a secret organisation that is doing everything it can to restore the old Stalinist order. This group of partly high-ranking Russians from politics and business is planning an attack on the West in order to achieve its goals.
Max also wants to find out where he comes from, unaware that the current events in Sankt Pertersburg are closely linked to his origins.

book 86 Read in German 

 Madame le Commissaire und der verschwundene Engländer

I read volumes two and four of this series a few years ago and have now decided to start from the beginning with this series.
This is the first volume of the Isabelle Bonnet series and gave me a lot of insight into the protagonists who will also play a role in the upcoming books. Isabelle has actually travelled to the south of France to recover from a bomb attack. She is actually the head of a secret special unit in Paris. But the peace and quiet soon comes to an end when a rich Englishman disappears from his villa and then a woman's body is found on the beach in Saint-Tropez. Isabelle Bonnet is persuaded to take on the case (demoted to inspector and equipped with a false CV) - which doesn't exactly spark enthusiasm among her local colleagues, as there are still a lot of prejudices in the Provence province. However, she is given an unexpectedly resourceful assistant in the form of a ditzy-looking police archivist. What was the mysterious Englishman doing in Provence? And the mysteries from Isabelle's own past, the accidental death of her parents, also urgently need to be solved.
It was an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to the next volumes.

book 87 Read in German 🎧

 Billards at Half-Past Nine

I listened to this book in honour of Anita (FAMeulstee). She read it as her sixth book this year and encouraged me to borrow it from my library as an audio book. Whatever spheres you are always whirling around in, dear Anita, you were always very present to me when I listened.
Three generations of a Rhenish family of architects will gather on 6 September 1958 to celebrate the eightieth birthday of their head. Heinrich Fähmel was commissioned to build St Anton's Abbey in 1907. His son Robert - who played billiards every day from half past nine to eleven in the Hotel Prinz Heinrich - destroyed the abbey in the last days of the war as a demolition expert for the Wehrmacht. His grandson Joseph was involved in the reconstruction. Robert's conversations with the bellboy, flashbacks and his father's memories link past and present, and the situations of the individual periods become clear.

book 88 Read in German 

 Tabak und Schokolade

I read this book for my RL book club. It is on the nominated list for this year's Swiss Book Prize.
It's a kind of biography, a journey of discovery by the author when he finds a photo album after the death of his mother. He remembers his mother's words, even if they were only said in passing, because his origins are hushed up in the Swiss Mittelland and especially in his ‘Swiss family’.
His mother was an au pair in London as a very young adult. That's when she met Dean's father and became pregnant. Dean was born in Switzerland and shortly afterwards travelled with his parents to Trinidad and Tobago, where his father was from. His father's roots are of Indian descent.
In the first part of the book, Dean talks about his first years in Trinidad. How his mother soon separated from his alcoholic father and how she found work on a sugar plantation. She flees back to Switzerland with her son, her ‘second’ husband in tow, who is also from Trinidad and a doctor. In the second part of the book, the story jumps between exploratory visits by Dean, as an adult, to Trinidad. How he gets to know his extended family and his home in Switzerland, where he lived mainly with his grandparents, who gave him support.
Dean also talks about life as a mixed-race man in Switzerland and keeps coming back to his Indian-Caribbean roots.
It is a very lovingly written book that gives an insight into the different cultures, including slavery over several decades.

book 89 Read in German 

 Accabadora

It was like diving into a world that was unknown to me. It's set in Sardinia and is a story about a mother and daughter like you've never heard before. A novel in which archaic and modern Italy collide.

Accabadora means: a woman who helps the dying to die in agony. Anthropologists disagree as to whether she actually existed or whether she is a mythological figure. According to some sources, the last Accabadora worked in Orgosolo in 1952. She is the subject of many Sardinian legends, in which she often also fulfils the role of midwife.
Meaning fillus de anima/fill'e anima: A form of adoption practised in Sardinia for a long time, which takes place with the consent of the parties involved - and without any official formalities. It is based solely on affection. A large family gives one of their children to a couple who have no children. However, the child remains in close contact with its original family. - Literally translated as ‘child of the soul’, as opposed to a biological child.

Like mother and daughter, Bonaria Urrai and six-year-old Marie live together. The old dressmaker has taken the girl in and is bringing her up, but Maria will look after her later. A secret shrouds this taciturn woman, who is always dressed in black, who sometimes receives visitors at night when Maria is supposed to be asleep and then leaves the house. It seems as if Bonaria lives in two worlds. The girl senses that she should not ask. Only later, painfully, does she discover the whole truth.
We accompany Maria through her childhood to young adulthood. The friendships she cultivates, the festivals - both happy and sad - that the village celebrates, the old archaic customs surrounding property and how inquisitive Maria is and therefore also a good pupil.
This story is written with a great deal of love for the protagonists. I can warmly recommend it.

book 90 Read in German 

 The Kamogawa Food Detectives

Unfortunately, I wasn't so convinced by this book. I like the idea of this hidden restaurant where people come because they want to try a long-forgotten dish and its flavour. You get to know something about these people, but how the chef is ultimately able to cook the dish perfectly remains somewhat vague. I would have liked to have seen more about how he searches for ingredients, spices etc.

book 91 Read in German 

 Lockvogel

That was an amusing and exciting read.
Toni is broke and running out of time
Toni has practically no euros left in her pocket. Not because the drama student can't get her arse up, but because her boyfriend Felix has made off with her savings. Money gone, boyfriend gone (Or ex-boyfriend? Cheater? What the hell is he now?), but the unpaid bills keep piling up. So she turns to private detective Edgar Brehm. He could track Felix down. But how is she supposed to pay him?
A case of #metoo? - Undercover as a decoy
Sybille Steiner also finds her way to Brehm's detective agency: The wife of a star director has received disturbing mail. According to an anonymous diary, her husband is said to have exploited his position of power over a young actress years ago. Are the allegations true? Who is the author? Does the death of a man at one of Steiner's high-society parties have anything to do with it? Brehm has to find out as quickly as possible before the press gets wind of it. How convenient that a drama student who can't pay him has just turned up at Brehm's house: Toni is hired as a decoy. What dangers await her in the film industry, which is notorious for power imbalances and intrigue?

book 92 Read in German 

 Retribution

That was a gripping thriller. I could hardly put the book down.
New York 1988:
Chloe is really looking forward to spending the evening with her boyfriend Michael. Although she's in the middle of her law exams, she's been persuaded to go out with him during the week. It's their anniversary and she's hoping he'll propose to her. The evening doesn't go quite as she had dreamed. He drops her off at home and she goes to her flat alone. Meanwhile, a man is lurking in the bushes under her window and has obviously been watching her for a long time. As she sleeps, he breaks into her flat and brutally rapes her. She is hospitalised the next morning with severe cuts to her chest after being found by her friend.
Miami 2000: Chloe becomes C.J.
Twelve years later, Chloe is a prosecutor in Miami and has changed her name. For the past year, the population has been shaken by the crimes of a serial killer who has been given the name Cupido: Eleven young blonde women have already disappeared and nine bodies have been found without hearts. Then something happens that nobody would have expected. During a traffic stop, a black Jaguar is pulled over, suspected of having drugs in the boot based on an anonymous tip, but the dead body of Anna Prado, Cupido's tenth victim, is found. C.J. is the prosecutor in the case, but at the arraignment she recognises William Rupert Bantling as the man who inflicted this great suffering on her 12 years ago. She is now in a predicament: she can't tell anyone about it and she can't actually hand over the case as she has been working on it for a year. But can she summon up the strength for the long process? And what would happen if her tormentor were to go free?

book 93 Read in German 

 Splitter im Auge

The hero Thomas Adam, known as ‘Steiger’, is a police officer who has failed in his career and whose private life is not all good either, a loner who collects disciplinary proceedings like stamps. He bites into a case that can be considered closed with the conviction of the perpetrator based on clear evidence. An African asylum seeker has raped and murdered a girl, the body covered all over with clear genetic traces, but he supposedly can't remember anything. By chance, Adam discovers that the crime cannot have happened the way it should have. Against the resistance of his superiors and colleagues, he follows this trail and comes across further inconsistencies and older murder cases that are astonishingly similar to the one under investigation.

The author leads us very skilfully through the story. On the one hand there are repeated flashbacks to ‘Steiger's’ childhood, on the other hand he does the same with the real perpetrator. His story also begins in his childhood. On the one hand, there is something apologetic about it, because you get to know the past, but on the other hand, it also becomes clear why deeds and actions happen.I will definitely try to get more volumes of this series.

book 94 Read in German 🎧

 Awkward Squad

This was a very amusing listen with a lot of love for all the ‘useless’ protagonists.
The Paris police headquarters at 36 Quai des Orfèvres has a new director. Their aim is to polish up the investigation rates and statistics and get rid of all the annoying, recalcitrant and unwilling employees. To this end, the management team creates a new brigade to bring together all the alcoholics, slackers, bullies, depressives and police officers who feel they have a different calling - such as Eva Rozière, who writes crime novels instead of investigating. She hands over the reins to Anne Capestan, a once promising young policewoman who was suspended from duty after making a fatal mistake. What is expected of her: to keep quiet. But Anne hates nothing more than simply obeying. That's why she leaves no stone unturned and, together with her troupe of outcasts, sets up a police department with unconventional methods in a shabby office with miserable technical equipment, no weapons and no flashing blue lights and - to the horror of the new bosses - solves old cases that don't show the new management team in a good light.

book 95 Read in German ROOT 9

 The Black Echo

I had read Harry Bosch books 10-14 years ago and then bought some earlier volumes, but hadn't read them yet. So now I've read the first volume in the series.
I was not disappointed. As always, it was an amusing read.
In this book we get to know Harry and his unorthodox methods. As always, he trusts no-one and makes life difficult for all his comrades-in-arms. We also learn a lot about Harry's past. He is a Vietnam veteran and this case has to do with his past.

book 96 Read in German 

 Bahnhofstrasse

Philipp Humboldt's second case was also amusing to read.
The former banker now works at the University of Zurich and is a popular lecturer. His aim is to get a full professorship and keep his past, which is paved with a few corpses, under wraps.
Only this time he has to face a corrupt and very dangerous private banker who will literally walk over dead bodies to pursue his goals. Humboldt is ‘employed’ by him to write the chronicle of the private bank; if he does this to his satisfaction, the university will receive a lot of money and he will be offered a full professorship. Humboldt soon realises that nothing is as it seems and that the private bank is anything but solid with blackmail and dark machinations. The past goes back to the WWll.

book 97 Read in German ROOT 10 

 Heidelberger Requiem

This is the first volume in a new series for me.
It begins with the induction ceremony for the new detective Alexander Gerlach in Heidelberg, at which his former colleagues from Karlsruhe have also turned up. He is a single father of pubescent twin girls. He is still looking for a new flat, so Gerlach travels to Heidelberg every day while his daughters go wild in Karlsruhe.
His new job actually consists more of desk work and coordination, but the new detective can't change his mind so quickly and heads to the crime scene himself with detectives Klara Vangelis and Sven Balke when the first murder is reported. The victim is chemistry student Patrick Grotheer. He was tied to the bed, then his wrists were slit and he bled to death. The officers soon discover that Grotheer was producing synthetic drugs and leading a luxurious life. He had long since fallen out with his father, the world-famous doctor and head of the surgical department at Heidelberg University Hospital. His mother had often feared that things would come to such an end with her son.
There are more deaths during the investigation. In addition to the fact that his private life is very turbulent, he also has to find his place in the new team.
I was only partially convinced by this crime thriller. However, as I still have a few volumes of this series on my Tolino, I will certainly read the other volumes too.

book 98 Read in German 

 Oxen. Das erste Opfer

This is the first volume in a new series for me. Super exciting and I will certainly continue with this series.
Oxen. Niels Oxen. The most decorated Danish elite soldier of all time. Numerous deployments abroad have left their mark. Severely traumatised, Oxen wants peace and quiet and makes himself at home in the largest forest in Denmark. The only people at his side are Mr White, a Samoyed Spitz, and the seven demons that give him nightmares. War memories of unimaginable atrocities. He wants to put an end to this in seclusion, but near his improvised sleeping quarters is Norlund Slot Castle, which Oxen has never seen before. And so he pays it a visit one night and is surprised by the strict security precautions; guards and cameras. Not for someone who doesn't want to attract attention. So he retreats, but comes across an unconscious security guard and a dog that has been hung up.
A few days later, the lord of the castle, the former top diplomat and ex-ambassador Corfitzen, is found dead. Unsurprisingly, the police need to talk to Oxen. As soon as they arrive at the police station in Aalborg, the local investigation is halted because the domestic intelligence service PET gets involved. Their boss Mossmann offers Oxen a deal; he is to work for the PET. Oxen is assigned the attractive agent Margarethe Franck as his contact person. However, the co-operation proves to be extremely difficult at first.

book 99 Read in German  🎧

 Der Schrei der Kröte

The body of a ten-year-old girl is found in a rubbish container in Aarhus. During his investigation, police detective Roland Benito comes across a newspaper article by reporter Anne Larsen, which provides the first clues. The girl had apparently taken revealing photos in chat rooms. The suspicions soon pile up. When another child disappears, Benito and Larsen begin a race against time.
This is the first of the Roland Benito crime novels and I wasn't entirely convinced. I also have the other volumes as audios and will listen to another one in due course.

book 100 Read in German 

 Star of Babylon

I was not convinced by this book. For me, it was very often confused and not written logically or coherently. The basic idea that old artefacts are hunted down in order to misuse them afterwards sounded very exciting, but unfortunately it didn't come across that way.

book 101 Read in German 

 Madame le Commissaire und der Tod des Polizeichefs

I also really enjoyed this volume. I love Isabelle and her protagonists.
Isabelle actually wants to recover from her traumatic experiences in Paris in the beautiful countryside on the Côte d'Azur, but her extraordinary expertise is once again in demand: she uncovers some inconsistencies in the alleged suicide of a senior police officer from the Côte d'Azur harbour town of Toulon. And then there are the unsolved cases that she has to solve with her quirky assistant Apollinaire: After some research, the deadly robbery of a jewellery shop in Cannes turns out to be a set-up and it doesn't take long for gangster bosses and organised crime on the Côte d'Azur to appear on the scene.

book 102 Read in German 

 Kaiserhofstrasse 12

‘In this book, a man who got away tells of a miracle without being surprised.’ Peter Härtling
It is the 1930s: Kaiserhofstrasse in Frankfurt am Main is home to actors, prostitutes, fraternity members - and the Senger family. As communists and Jews, they had to flee from Tsarist Russia and found a new home here - until Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933. Valentin Senger's mother Olga realises the seriousness of the situation early on: she conceals the traces of her origins with forged papers. From then on, however, the fear of being discovered accompanied the family on a daily basis. The young Valentin Senger goes his own way and experiences his first love. But how can he get to know a girl without jeopardising the survival of the whole family? His mother is worried sick. And yet, with the help of numerous friends, neighbours, courageous members of the authorities and a large portion of luck, the family survives this terrible time.

I read this book because we saw various videos of Valentin Senger's descendants in the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, which impressed me very much.

Duplicate deleted

book 103 Read in German  🎧

 The Woman with the Cure

I am very impressed by this scientist and heaven knows why this brilliant woman never won the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Vanderbilt Hospital, Nashville 1940: Dr Dorothy Millicent Horstmann stands out among the doctors at the clinic. She is 1.85 metres tall. And she is a woman - usually the only one in the room. Dorothy has big plans: She wants to conquer polio, which causes so much suffering throughout the country. She has seen too many patients struggling for air and dying in the Iron Lung. Dorothy has only one goal: to eradicate the polio virus, either through a cure or a vaccine. The famous researchers around her doubt her theory about the spread of the virus in the body, but she will prove them right - at any cost.
In the race against time, she becomes a pioneer who puts her personal happiness and her own life at risk.
Without Dr Dorothy Horstmann, there would never have been a polio vaccine, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart.