Splintered Justice by Kim Hays is the first Linder and Donatelli Mystery that I have read, but it wasn't difficult to pick up on the two Bern (Switzerland) homicide detectives' backstories and jump into their fascinating new cases.

Renzo Donatelli is investigating his first solo case. A glassworker at the historic Bern cathedral is injured in a fall when a teenager shakes the scaffold on which he is working. He doesn't want to press charges because he was friends with the young man's sister many years ago. The issue of "why" is ultimately solved with a sad story of family dynamics that had led to a suspicious death 15 years earlier--was it suicide, accident, or homicide? At the same time, Giuliana Linder is working on the case of a wife who helped her terminally ill husband die. I learned that Switzerland has one of the most liberal laws on assisted suicide, but the couple hadn't signed up with one of the approved services, and the husband had declined into dementia.

I enjoyed learning about the Croatian community in Bern and their often-brutal reasons for emigrating to Switzerland, and I became aware of Renzo and Giuliana's prior and current relationship. The descriptions of the medieval city of Bern enhanced my immersion in the story, and the characters are all distinctly portrayed, including the supporting ones. I am happy to see that three prior entries in this entertaining series are available.

My thanks to Seventh Street Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.