This novel confirms that some cold case murder cases resolve themselves and persons who are in a position to claim rewards for crime stopper tips never come forward or do so when it is too late!

This is a book I have been looking to read for many years and randomly noticed that it had finally been republished by the quickly growing Pushkin Vertigo imprint. Many years ago now, I watched the Sean Penn directed adaptation of this novel starring Jack Nicholson in his (to-date) last leading role. It's an arresting and memorable film with an incredible narrative. The film perhaps has a bit more meat on the bone compared to this slim volume, but the best parts of the tale are straight from the book.

The story is told to an unnamed crime novelist by a former chief of police who recounts the tale of Inspector Matthai with an a wee meta opening on the state of crime fiction, which in some ways is still relevant today, 60 years later. Matthai is called to the scene of a murder of an eight year old girl, where the village and other officers feel they have an obvious suspect in a peddler of goods who is said to have discovered the body. Even in light of the peddler's confession, Matthai is adamant that he did not commit the crime and looks to discover the true culprit.

There is not much more I'd like to say regarding the plot given the surprises and delights in store and given that it's a short novel. It more than lived up to my expectation from the film and although it had been a good while since I watched it I could remember details of the plot, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment. I'd highly recommend that you check out either or both.

I noticed that Pushkin Vertigo are going to be publishing Durrenmatt's other novels in the near future and I will definitely look to get hold of these. Durrenmatt was primarily a playwright and only has four novels, but if they are close to the quality of this they will be worth reading.

Un meta-romanzo che smonta il meccanismo di genere e ci restituisce un racconto ossessivo e fantasioso: è un'operazione molto interessante, se non necessaria.

Great short novel, very suspenseful and dark. The framing narrative almost felt unnecessary, but it added a classic structure and formalism that I liked. It also made sense in terms of the psychological distance we feel from the main character (not the narrator, or the sub-narrator). The style and psychology felt totally modern, very much in the vein of existential and philosophical murder mysteries.