Nele Neuhaus is a German writer and new to me. I found the book (original title: Schneewittchen muss sterben) while using my Christmas gift card. I was intrigued by the story on the back cover, and when I found the front cover with a snowy landscape, I knew I had to take this one. I needed a snowy motive for the
Calendar of Crime 2019 challenge hosted by Bev at
My Reader's Block. The criteria for January was themes connected to this month or the season. A snowy landscape was therefore perfect. And what a hit this crime novel was.
I have to admit that I started the book in the afternoon, could not put it down and finished it at 3 a.m.! Yep. One of those 'unputdownable' crime stories, where you just need to know 'whodunnit'.
Tobias is coming out of prison after a ten years sentence for killing two teenage girls. The bodies were never found, so the verdict was based on circumstantial evidence only. Coming back to the small village where he grew up and where the murders took place, he finds the family restaurang closed and his father living in a poor condition. The neighbours are not happy to see Tobias home again and try to force him away. At the same time a skeleton of a girl is found and the police starts an investigation. Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein are the two policemen put on the case.
It is a crime story, and I would not like to reveal too much of the story if you intend to read it. If you are a crime fan, you just have to! It is very well written. Pia and Oliver are well characterised and we follow them both privately and professionally. The police work is very well described and seems realistic. What makes this story so fantastic is the psychological effects on a small village, where everybody know each other, and where a local 'important' person makes sure that everyone is dependent on him, so he can pull the strings in all aspects of village life. And, so it seems, most of the village people have a secret to hide.
The intrigue is so well composed that it keeps up the excitement all through the book. It is impossible to guess who the culprit is until the very end. The village characters, who are very diverse, are well built up and you think you know them all. It is a nerv racking book, and as I said, impossible to put down until you know the end.
Nele Neuhaus has written nine books about Kirchhoff and Bodenstein, of which this is number four. I am happy to see that there are more books where this came from.
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