Michael Theurillat

When Philipp Bettlach, an eminent local banker is shot dead on a golf course in Zurich, Inspector Eschenbach is called in to investigate the murder. Twelve years earlier, aged thirty-eight, he had been appointed as head CID, Zurich Police Department’s youngest ever chief so he is not an inexperienced investigator. However, he soon realises that, with no witnesses to the crime, and no obvious motive, his investigations are likely to prove difficult. When there is a second death in Basle, of show more a man who appears to have a link with the murder victim, the inspector hopes that this will help his investigations, but nothing is straightforward in uncovering the complex, dark and secretive life the banker had been living.
At the heart of this crime novel is a labyrinthine web of relationships family secrets which has enabled the family and friends of the murder victim to become complicit in covering up some dark and disturbing behaviour. As the inspector’s investigations slowly begin to uncover these, he becomes increasingly frustrated that the influence of some high-ranking people, determined that these secrets should not be revealed, are making his job more difficult.
This is not a fast-moving story, in fact there were moments during the first half of the book when I felt frustrated by what felt like a rather ponderous investigation which, at times, seemed to be missing out on exploring what, to me, felt like some obvious lines of enquiry. However, because I was finding the happily married, espresso-drinking, knobbly Brissago cigarillo-smoking inspector an interesting character, I decided to cut him some slack! I’m pleased that I did because the second half of the story became much more gripping and psychologically convincing, making it a four, rather than a three-star read.
Although I had guessed some of the intricacies of the resolution, there were some last-minute surprises in store which added considerably both to the tension, and to my enjoyment. Without going into detail of one of the central lines of enquiry (which would be a spoiler!), I thought that some of the darker elements of the investigation, and the effects of these on various members of the team, were very convincingly handled. The descriptions of Zurich gripped by an enervating heatwave were very evocative and did much to add to a sense of torpor about the pace of the investigation. It was as though all the energy had been drained from the people and the location and huge effort was needed just to keep going. Several references to life in Switzerland brought the country into focus, again providing an extra dynamic to the developing story.
The inspector’s relationships with Claudio Jagmetti, his inexperienced but keen junior officer, his delightful secretary of ten years Rosa Mazzoleni, who always knows the best places to eat and stay, and his boss, Elisabeth Kobler added an interesting dimension to the developing story and, knowing that this is the first book in the series to be translated into English, I feel keen to get to know them all better – so I hope it won’t be long before the second book is translated!
Although I enjoyed this as a personal read, I do think that reading groups would probably struggle to find enough topics for any stimulating discussion.

My thanks to Readers First and Manilla Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

‘Death in Summer’ first appeared in its original German in 2006 and it has taken some time for this successful Swiss author to make it into English translation. Which is a shame, for there is a lot to commend this first book in the series – although, because of the time lag, some of the references are a little dated (at some point one of the characters mentions playing guitar on a Phil Collins record!).

Inspector Eschenbach, head of Zurich CID, gets involved in the murder of a prominent show more Swiss banker shot dead on a golf course. A second death in Basle follows and seems connected. Given that this is a crime novel I won’t go too heavily into plot or suspects but suffice to say the book deals with some weighty issues that are not always comfortable to deal with, but they are generally handled well by Theurillat, and complicated family relationships become central to the plot. If you are looking for a fast-paced, high-octane thriller then this is not the book for you; instead it is quite slow paced as the investigation grinds along through the hot Zurich summer. At times I was a bit bemused as to how little the investigation revealed – on several occasions a character would mention a fact that the Inspector did not know but actually, given some basic police work, he should have (for example, some time well into the investigation, the narrative goes: ‘it occurred to Eschenbach that he knew nothing about the family’ of the victim; surely this is the first thing you investigate?).

But, I’m quibbling, because actually I did enjoy the book with its twists and turns. The location of Zurich is an interesting new addition (for me at least) to the crime novel setting and allowed the author to discuss aspects of Switzerland, and the Swiss, that gave an interesting perspective from those reading in the UK, for example. The central character of Eschenbach (do we ever get to know his first name? I can’t actually remember coming across it) is a likeable hero: an espresso-drinking, cigarillo-smoking, happily-married family man (thank God we don’t get another psychologically scarred, alcohol-dependent loner, oft the way in crime novels). Doing some research Theurillat seems to have written 4 books so I hope that we can look forward to more being translated and published soon, if this one is a success. Much in the style of, say, Camilleri’s Montalbano, this looks a promising series. show less

This is one amazing book. Not impressive by its size, but surely by the story and the pace the story takes! Read it in 2,5 hrs

Ganz unterhaltsam, besonders wenn man die Schweiz kennt.