The death of a travelling salesman in the forest of Gerzenstein appears to be an open and shut case. Sergeant Studer is confronted with an obvious suspect and a confession to the murder. But nothing is what it seems. Envy, hatred, sexual abuse and the corrosive power of money lie just beneath the surface. Studer's investigation soon splinters the glassy façade of Switzerland's tidy villages, manicured forests and seemingly placid citizens.

Thumbprint, a European crime classic, was first published in 1936. It has been translated into six languages and is the subject of a much-acclaimed film. This is its first publication in English.