Cora Bender killed a man on a sunny summer afternoon by the lake and in full view of her family and friends. Why? What could have caused this quiet, lovable young mother to stab a stranger in the throat, again and again, until she was pulled off his body? For the local police it was an open-and-shut case. Cora confessed; there was no shortage of witnesses. But Police Commissioner Rudolf Grovian refused to close the file and started his own maverick investigation. So begins the slow unravelling of Cora’s past, a harrowing descent into a woman’s private hell.
Hailed as Germany’s Patricia Highsmith for her bittersweet thrillers where the innocence of childhood collides with horrors enacted by adults, Petra Hammesfahr has written a dark, spellbinding novel which stayed at the top of the nation's bestseller list for fifteen months.
Author Information
Petra Hammesfahr, born in 1951, has not had an easy life. The inspiration for her bittersweet family crime novels where the sweetness of childhood and the horror of adults meet.
The Translator
John Brownjohn has translated more than fifty novels including 'The Night of the Generals' and 'The Wolves' by H.Kirst. His screenplay credits include 'Das Boot', 'The Name of the Rose' and the recent Polanski film, 'The Pianist'.
Praise for The Sinner
'This hauntingly insightful and sensitive German bestseller goes straight to the heart of the greatest mystery of writing about crime: the why.' Guardian
'The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr is the best psychological suspense novel I have read all year.' Sunday Telegraph
