<b>Mesmerizing . . . 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</b>
- Olen Steinhauer, New York Times
Praise for Ferdinand von Schirach
-
<b>Addictive . . . fascinating</b>
The Spectator
<b>Ice-cool, effortlessly classy prose</b>
Observer
<b>Tantalising and disturbing in equal measure</b>
- Laura Wilson, Guardian
<b>An exceptional prose stylist</b>
New York Times
<b>A magnificent storyteller</b>
Der Spiegel
<b>Psychologically raw . . . delivered in a crisp translation by Katharina Hall, his unfussy prose is icily effective </b>. . . 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
<b>The stories are cool, meticulously crafted, pithy and mordantly amusing . . . this is an unsettling, affecting, extremely powerful book. Highly recommended</b>
- Declan Hughes, Irish Times
<b>An impressive page-turner with substance and bite</b>
Bookmunch
<b>Thrilling and edgy, often carrying a twist in the tale</b>
- To the Ends of the Word blog,
'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.