The second of the Black Forest Investigations - Its plot bristles with invention Guardian

It has been a long dry summer in the Black Forest idyll of Kirchzarten. When

the local fire brigade is called to a burning farm shed, a volunteer is

killed as a weapons cache beneath it explodes. The small community is

shocked to the core. Louise Boni, back with Freiburg Kripo after a period

of withdrawal, is assigned to the task force dealing with the case.

The meagre

evidence they gather points to a possible connection with German neo-Nazis

or illegal arms dealers from the former Yugoslavia, but the appearance of

secret service agents marking out the forest suggests more is at

stake. Acting as her partner in the case is Thomas Ilic, whose allegiances are as conflicted as Boni’s. Who is in fact working

for whom? In the most challenging case of her career - and one that puts

her in mortal danger - Boni must to overcome the ghosts of her past that continue

to haunt her.

Oliver Bottini is a fresh and exciting voice in the world of crime fiction;

the Rhine borderlands of the Black Forest are a perfect setting for his

beautifully crafted mysteries.

Praise for ZEN AND THE ART OF MURDER - now shortlisted for the CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER:

Surprising and genuinely shocking Joan Smith, Sunday Times

Gripping Sebastian Shakespeare, Tatler

An atmospheric, original story that will keep you hooked to the final heart-rending revelations Crime Review

Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch