An interesting procedural set in Germany. Peter Bohm and his team find that no one in the small village of Merkel will talk to them about the elderly farmer who is found murdered in a field. This crime is linked to one 30 years before and no one wants to talk about that either. Bohm is a classic tortured detective with an unhappy home life but he's a dogged investigator. It's a fast read (it's short) and quite entertaining.

I think this book had great potential, but it faltered in places and I could not tell whether it was because of the translation. I thought the characters were interesting, but the plot needed to be fleshed out. I would try another book by this author, but I hope that the next book is more fully realized and well translated.

Very slow moving mystery. The main character is mentioned at the very beginning and then barely at all until about 40% through. Not very enjoyable.

Cannot give an honest review because I could not get through it. Did not enjoy

This is a clever murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. Set in Germany near the Dutch border we go back to 1967 and then jump to the 2000's with small chapters taken from unknown points of view that lead to an introduction to families in a village long known to each other, but with no love lost between them.

It takes several chapters before the initial murder of an older man is committed and the police officers are finally introduced. Peter Bohm is the lead investigator with his team of Van Oss and Steeg and together they work to try and solve the murder of one man when three days later another murder is brutally executed. It seems the good towns folk know more than they are admitting to and its difficult to put the pieces together. Then it becomes a race against time before the killer strikes again. Against this great mystery we have the chance to look into Bohm's private life as he tries to work out if his wife Brigitte has left him for another man.

All this makes for a really engaging thriller that has many twists and turns. Borrmann is a German author who has written several crime novels to date, more of which will be translated into English I hope. The characters, although sparingly written are engaging and believable. The detectives are not so jaded with their work that they have become blasé about the murder of another person. The chapters from the perpetrators point of view are chilling. It is a crime spree with its trail leading back to a crime from thirty years ago, one in which to town folk are reluctant to talk about.

This was a really enjoyable read.

Captures perfectly the inward-looking, self-protecting, narrow-mindedness of a rural community still ruled by patriarchal beliefs and customs. Domestic violence and turning a blind eye on it - still very powerful topic, but especially effective when it is set in the 1960s. The vengeance wrought is pretty grisly, though. The investigating team and the interplay between them is nicely done, without ever becoming overpowering, while Bohm has to face the difficulties in his own marriage, adding just enough counterpoint and drama to the investigation.

I received this ARC from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Homicide inspector Peter Böhm faces the daunting task of unraveling a mystery with deep and twisted roots—in a town where doors stay closed, people stay silent, and death may have the final word. Faced with his own haunting personal problems, his child's death and marriage on the rocks, he must dig deeper into the past to solve the murders.

3 stars