If there is one series that I wholeheartedly recommend reading if you are a fan of crime novels is it this one. I simply adore the Bodenstein & Kirchhoff books. So far, have I read 3 books, and all of them are 5-star books. This is the second book I read. The only sad thing is that not all the books are translated into English (nor Swedish). However, Lucky me have one more unread book to read, THE ICE QUEEN!

What I loved about the first book I read, SNOW WHITE MUST DIE, was that there was so much going on. Both when it comes to the case as Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein private lives. The same thing can I say about BAD WOLF. I'm always intrigued by stories that take a while before you started to see a pattern. Like a puzzle, you slowly start to put the pieces together and as the story progresses you start to realize the truth. In this case, you have quite early one a feeling of dread.

BAD WOLF is a fantastic crime novel. Nele Neuhaus has such a fabulous ability to write that I get so engrossed in what is going on that I just devour her books. I found this book to be a bit hard to read, not because of the writing, but because of the subject.

It's not the monster under the bed that is frightening, it's the one walking in plain sight out in the sun. It's the bad wolf that is hiding in plain sight that we should be wary of... ( )

When a dead girl is found floating in a river, detective Pia ends up on a case with far-reaching consequences. And multiple cases that match up, including a popular tv celebrity who has taken on a new topic for her sometimes-controversial show, but it’s not a topic she is sharing with anyone until she gets everything lined up. Unfortunately for her, someone knows what she’s looking into and she is in danger, as well.

Another really good book in this series. I do wish all the books were translated into English and it would have been nice to read them in order. But, that’s not the case. They are pretty much standalones, with the police the connecting thread between the books, including their personal lives. Previous cases are mentioned, but really just in passing. The book is divided into days and there are snippets from different characters’ points of view during each day, so there are a lot of characters to follow, which can get a bit confusing, but overall, it wasn’t too bad for following and the story was certainly enough for me to really enjoy it. ( )

[Bad Wolf] by Nele Neuhaus
4★'s

From The Book:
She looked at herself in the mirror, touched her fingertips to the little red hood on her head, and laughed. The dress was a real dirndl, with a short skirt and apron. Papa had plaited her hair into two braids, and she really looked exactly like Little Red Riding Hood in her fairy-tale book.
He always brought presents―it was a secret that she and Papa shared, because he never brought anything for the others. Only for her. She was his favorite.
The door opened, and she uttered a frightened cry when she saw the wolf. But then she had to laugh. It wasn't a real wolf after all; it was only Papa, who had put on a costume. How lovely it was that she was the only one to share this secret with Papa. Too bad she could never remember anything afterward.

On a hot June day, the body of a sixteen-year-old girl washes up on a riverbank outside of Frankfurt. She has been brutally murdered and shows signs of long-term abuse, but no one comes forward with any information as to her identity. Even weeks later, the local police have not been able to find out who she is. Then a new case comes in: A popular television host is attacked, raped, and locked in the trunk of her own car. She survives, barely, and is able to supply only vague hints to the police, having to do with her recent investigations into an organization whose members are from the highest echelons of society, and the potential uncovering of a shocking history they'd prefer to keep from the public eye. As the two cases collide, Inspectors Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein dig deep into the past and underneath the veneer of bourgeois society to come up against a terrible secret that is about to impact their personal lives as well. It is almost too late for a person very close to Pia before she and Oliver finally track down the big bad wolf.

My Thoughts:
A word of warning: This book deals with one of the most disgusting of crimes, child molestation, and how frequently it occurs.

The book has a slow beginning but it's not too far into it that it really picks up speed and you find that you just can't put it down. Combining police procedural and a favorite Grimm’s fairy tale is a winning combination. It begins with the discovery of a girl's body on a river bank in Frankfurt and evolves from there into a masterfully told tale of crime and evil.

Much of the first few chapters was devoted to setting up the situation...but from there it was non-stop action once the story was in place. Be prepared for false clues and betrayals, along with genuine leads. The novel leads to a satisfactory but not necessarily believable conclusion I think the author's main purpose of this novel was to show how child abuse can affect everyone...victims...families and many, many others. ( )

This is one of the best I've read in Nele Neuhaus' police procedural series featuring detectives Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein. Characterization is the strong point in the series, and this novel excels. It is the sixth novel in the series (though not the sixth to appear in English), so the central characters have had time to fill out and to develop nuanced relationships with each other, and with subsidiary characters. Several of the other characters in the novel are also strongly developed: this is a well-populated thriller, but there is never any risk of confusing characters. The plot is compelling, if a bit over the top -- as so often in crime fiction, one must suspend the will to disbelieve. But the novel is a compelling read, and leaves me waiting for another to appear in English. ( )

When a young woman’s body washes up in a river, Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are tasked with finding out who she is and the identity of her killer. Meanwhile, a local talk show host is pursuing a story that could put her back on the map when she’s attacked. There is also a young mother who has concerns about her daughter’s change in behavior while dealing with her husband’s infidelity and the impending arrival of her second child. When it turns out that the three cases are connected, the heat is on to find the responsible parties. The deeper Kirchhoff and von Bodenstein dig, the more disturbing the information they start to reveal, and for Pia, the implications strike close to home.

The story is told from multiple third-person viewpoints, with some first-person accounts from a young girl recalling games her father used to play with her. The multiple viewpoints work well, throwing information at the reader that can easily lead them down the wrong track. The story suffers a little in the middle, with more emphasis on background building than moving the story forward. The last half of the book flies, though, with the loose ends neatly tied up. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the author managed to surprise me. Rarely explicit, I found some elements of the story emotionally distressing. Though the framework of this novel is fiction, it explores the horrifying reality of sexual violence against children.

I thought this was a great book and if you enjoyed Snow White Must Die and Ice Princess I'm certain you will enjoy Bad Wolf as well. My only complaint is that certain events in the personal lives of Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein, addressed here, have taken place in the fifth book of the series which has not yet been translated. I don't mind reading out of order if the gaps are addressed in later books in a way that gives you some sort of understanding. I hope we can get a translation of Those Who Sow the Wind (Book 5) soon. I did see that the seventh book, I Am Your Judge, will be out in January.
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