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A case for Louise Boni - the first of the Black Forest Investigations

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Louise Boni, chief inspector with the Black Forest crime squad, is struggling with her demons. Divorced at forty-two, she is haunted by the shadows of the past.

Dreading yet another a dreary winter weekend alone, she receives a call from the departmental chief which signals the strangest assignment of her career - to trail a Japanese monk wandering through the snowy wasteland to the east of Freiburg, dressed only in sandals and a cowl. She sets off reluctantly, and by the time she catches up with him, she discovers that he is injured, and fearfully fleeing some unknown evil. Her investigations uncover a hideous ring of child traffickers, and the repercussions of their crimes will change the course of her own life.

Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

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An exceptional crime novel. Kolja Mensing TAZ

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Bottini, Oliver
Oliver Bottini was born in 1965. Four of his novels, including ZEN AND THE ART OF MURDER and A SUMMER OF MURDER of the Black Forest Investigations have been awarded the Deutscher Krimipreis, Germany´s most prestigious award for crime writing. In addition his novels have been awarded the Stuttgarter Krimipreis and the Berliner Krimipreis. He lives in Berlin. www.bottini.de.

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