Crime: Stories

From Ferdinand von Schirach, one of Germanys most prominent defense attorneys, comes a jolting debut collection of short stories that daringly brings to light the motivations stirring within the criminal mind. By turns witty and sorrowful, unflinchingly brutal and heartbreaking, the deeply affecting, quietly unnerving cases presented in Crime urge a closer examination of guilt and innocence.

In Fhner, a small-town physician and avid gardener betrays little emotion when he takes an ax to his wifes head, an act that shocks the locals but provides a
long-awaited reprieve for the good doctor. Abbas, a Palestinian refugee who is cornered into a life of crime, finds true love and seemingly a saving grace with a beautiful student named Stefanie in Summertime. But when she is viciously murdered in a hotel room after having been paid to sleep with one of the countrys wealthiest men, is Abbas to blame or is it the man who seems to have it all? And in the startling story Love, a young mans infatuation with his girlfriend takes a grisly turn as he comes to grips with his unconventionaland uncontrollableimpulses to truly know a woman.

Guilt, writes von Schirach, always presents a bit of a problem. In this beautifully nuanced and telling collection, guilt is indeed never as clear-cut as the crime, and justice is more nebulous still.