Description
Book Synopsis'Mesmerising and utterly absorbing' New York Times
'A magnificent storyteller' Der Spiegel
A retired small-town doctor takes a garden axe to his cruel wife.
A woman laces her brother's food with barbiturates.
Two men steal a priceless Japanese tea bowl with brutal consequences.
What drives a person to commit a crime?
Our narrator knows that behind every misdeed is a story waiting to be told. In this collection of chilling cases, a nameless lawyer recounts the love, obsession, selfishness and despair that influenced his clients' irrevocable choices.
Drawn from Ferdinand von Schirach's eminent career as a criminal defence lawyer, Crime blends fiction with real life, each story a revealing, unsettling insight into what may compel a person to act beyond the law.
Trade ReviewMesmerizing . . . a slim, utterly absorbing collection of 11 stories plucked from [von Schirach's] legal career and told in a cool, patient voice that immediately draws the reader in -- Olen Steinhauer * New York Times *
Praise for Ferdinand von Schirach * - *
Addictive . . . fascinating * The Spectator *
Ice-cool, effortlessly classy prose * Observer *
Tantalising and disturbing in equal measure -- Laura Wilson * Guardian *
An exceptional prose stylist * New York Times *
A magnificent storyteller * Der Spiegel *
Psychologically raw . . . delivered in a crisp translation by Katharina Hall, his unfussy prose is icily effective . . . it suggests that all justice systems are flawed, that they are all just processes. And, with immense empathy, von Schirach's stories show what happens to people when they are processed. -- Christian House * Financial Times *
The stories are cool, meticulously crafted, pithy and mordantly amusing . . . this is an unsettling, affecting, extremely powerful book. Highly recommended -- Declan Hughes * Irish Times *
An impressive page-turner with substance and bite * Bookmunch *
Thrilling and edgy, often carrying a twist in the tale -- To the Ends of the Word blog
