Product Description

Sixty-eight years old; a smoker of Sweet Aftons, a dedicated drinker of Aviateur cocktails, and the owner of a charismatic cat named Turbo, Gerhard Self is an unconventional private detective. When Self is summoned by his long-time friend and rival Korten to investigate several incidents of computer-hacking at a chemicals company, he finds himself dealing with an unfamiliar kind of crime that throws up many challenges. But in his search for the hacker, Self stumbles upon something far more sinister. His investigation eventually unearths dark secrets that have been hidden for decades, and forces Self to confront his own demons.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41454 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

DAILY TELEGRAPH
"compelling"

Review
"This compelling tale - the first of three , written with Walter Popp, a fellow lawyer - offers a sharp critique of German postwar society, and its refusal to confront its war time past. The seriousness of this underlying message does not detract from the novel's more entertaining qualities however." (CHRISTINA KONING THE TIMES )

"compelling" (DAILY TELEGRAPH )

"A deserved reprint for a gutsy German detective thriller... This is an atmospheric, tautly plotted narrative with a satisfyingly complex protagonist, elevating an ostensibly pedestrian mystery." (THE HERALD )

"with a cover that is finest film noir... Like all the best fictional detectives he has plenty of curious quirks... Meets the Sam Spade Grade 3/5" (Lorne Jackson BIRMINGHAM SUNDAY MERCURY )

Harriet Waugh, SPECTATOR
"Gerhard Self is a find. He is likeable, eccentric and on the lookout for women... He is tough without any macho attitude and feels guilt when it is appropriate. He also, without any seeming angst, takes the law into his own hands. I look forward to his next appearance."

Customer Reviews

A likeable, German detective.
This is a great book and I would recommend it especially to lovers of Euro-crime novels. Bernhard Schlink has already achieved renown through his powerful study of the holocaust. I was surprised to learn that he is a writer of detective novels as well and, having read this one, surprised that we in the English speaking world did not get to know about him earlier. The story is written in the first person from the point of view of Gerhard Self, ex lawyer and now Private DEtective who is getting on in years. He reminnded me a little bit of Chandler and Mosley and other writers of that type. The story centres on goings on at a Chemical plant where someone seems to be messing about with the computer system, causing chaos and money losses. Self is called in by his old friend who is also the boss to try and sort things out. However, though he solves this problem he soon realises that he has only scratched the surface of the troubles and when someone is murdered he is led on an investigative trail that takes him right back to the second world war. Self is a lovely man with a good sense of humour and as usual with this type of fiction we learn about his personal life as well. One thing I particularly liked was the detail given to small things which made the whole book quite evocative. I liked to imagine his jouneys through Germany and Europe as well as America. The only thing I wasn't too sure about was the end. You might feel justice is done but what happens is certainly unusual in detective fiction. Of course I won't tell you what that is. You will just have to read it for yourself. Please do! It is a great book and I was sad to put it down.

A good guy with a Nazi past?
Self is an ex-Nazi prosecutor who ceased prosecuting in 1945 and has since then been a private investigator. His brother-in-law, the head of a huge chemical company has asked Self to investigate how the company's computer system has been hacked into. Self takes on the investigation while simultaneously working on another case for an insurance company into a claim by a dancer for a broken leg.

Self, rather apolitical now, is beginning to worry more about his nazi past and in particular his role in the war-time prosecution of some scientists working for the same company where his brother-in-law was also a scientist during the war.

The novel is well-plotted, and in it, as he does in The Reader, Schlink questions, this time with a light touch, the responsibility of an ordinary German for what happened during the Nazi period. Self comes to understand that as far as he is concerned maybe he does need to try to atone for the part he played, even though, like many Germans, he seems to have been to an extent an unthinking participant in the workings of the Nazi system.

The central characters have distinct identities and are well-fleshed out without unnecessary trivia, but with enough detail to give the reader a real insight into his life-style and environment. Self is a likeable enough protagonist. This is not an action-packed crime novel, but it is well-crafted.