Black Ice
by Hans Werner Kettenbach

Cover Design: Killian Strong

Paperback Original

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[reviews]

[read extract]

Erika, an attractive local heiress, is married to Wallmann, a man with expensive tastes. When she falls to her death near their lakeside villa, the police conclude it was a tragic accident. Scholten, a long time employee of Erika’s, isn’t so sure. He knows a thing or two about the true state of her marriage and suspects an almost perfect crime. Scholten’s maverick investigation into the odd, inexplicable details of the death scene soon buys him a ticket for a most dangerous ride.

This beautifully crafted thriller set in a European world of small-town hypocrisy was made into a film in 1998. It is written by an essayist, script writer and best-selling novelist whose work is now available in English for the first time.

Author Information
Kettenbach is 78 and still writing. He was a somewhat late bloomer: A football journalist at 28, he earned a history and philosophy degree at 36 and published his first novel at 50.

The Translator
Anthea Bell's recent translations include E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr', W.G. Sebald's 'Austerlitz', and Sigmund Freud's 'The Psychopathology of Everyday Life'.

Praise for Black Ice
''A dark thriller writer in the Patricia Highsmith tradition. The slow build up to the cruel and bitter ending displays Kettenbach's skill and confirms his reputation as one of Germany's leading crime writers.'' Sunday Telegraph

''A devilish dive into an obsessed mind by a prolific German crime writer. Despite, or because of, his many humorous quirks, Scholten is also a convincing Everyman.'' Kirkus

Internet links
Kettenbach bibliography
www.krimilexikon.de/kettenba.htm

Kettenbach in French
www.christianbourgois-editeur.fr/ auteurs/ fiche-auteur.asp?num=387