Crime

translated by Carol Brown Janeway

Crime is a collection of stories told by one of Germany’s most prominent defence lawyers. Some of the cases are strange, some bewildering and others heartbreaking, but all are told with genuine concern for those who have slipped through the protective nets of society.

• What would make a polite, well-liked doctor cut up his wife with an axe?
• Why would a boy slaughter the sheep in his village?
• Who is the silent man that coolly murdered two neo-Nazis on a suburban train platform?
• What connection does a German bank robber have to an Ethiopian village?
• Why would a museum drop all charges against someone who deliberately smashed one of their statues?

However heinous the crime, the author shows readers the human at the core. Crime is an incredibly moving look at the legal system and the people it serves, from an expert of criminal law and a powerful new voice in writing.

Read one of von Schirach’s amazing stories here

Praise for Crime:

A wonderful storytelling voice, dry, clear, restrained; but beneath the unshockable surface, a current of indignation and compassion.

Helen Garner

An impeccable translation of what will be a minor classic in crime-reading circles.

Courier Mail

Mr. von Schirach knows how to win us over, to tempt us with the specter of a mysterious world dominated by accidents and contingency—to make us believe that a murderer is not actually a murderer if a court can be persuaded to say so.

Wall Street Journal

I’m no fan of crime stories. The gore of TV crime, the whodunnit of detective mysteries and the depravity of gangland felonies never have held great appeal. After reading Crime by Ferdinand von Schirach. I am now a convert. It is jampacked with raw, bloody brutality, seedy urban underbellies and murderous mystery, all written in a way that makes it unputdownable.

Weekly Times

‘Borrowing from von Schirach’s life as one of Germany’s leading prosecutors, Crime is a fascinating, fictionalised look at why people commit the crimes they do. If you’ve ever wanted to know how the law sides with someone who cut their victim up and buried them in a garden, prepare to be floored – and sympathetic – when you read these tales.’

Readings Best Crime Fiction of 2011