A retired Swiss police commissioner, Matthäi, promises a mother that he will find the man who murdered her young daughter in a forest. When the police close the case after a suspect hangs himself, Matthäi refuses to accept it. He devises a plan to catch the real killer, using a young girl as bait. Dürrenmatt's novel is subtitled "Requiem for the detective novel," and it undermines the genre by making chance, rather than detective skill, decide the outcome.
The book was the basis for the film It Happened in Broad Daylight. It suits readers of crime fiction who like a plot that questions the conventions of the form and a short, tense story that ends in an unexpected way.
Deep and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2001
- Publisher
- DTV
- ISBN
- 9783423013901
- Language
- DE
