Tag Archives: books in translation

Quick Review: I am Your Judge by Nele Neuhaus (read by Robert Fass)

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Back again with another Bodenstein and Kirchoff mystery. Like the previous books, this one also involved multiple murders and a race against time. But unlike the previous books, there were secondary and new characters that I thought were really well written and compelling. At least compelling enough to mention that they were good in my review.

This story follows an sniper as he picks off people in what starts off as appearing completely random. But, as the bodies pile up, a pattern emerges that points to a really devastating motive. Kirchoff and Bodenstein investigate with the help of the daughter of one of the early murder victims. As they uncover a pattern, she uncovers some really sketchy behavior that implicates her father and others in a vast conspiracy.

I am Your Judge really made me sad. Not only were the deaths themselves absolute bummers, but the underlying motivation for the murder spree was horrifying. I think this is the best of the four, but it was also incredibly heartbreaking. It was a tale of vengeance served cold. Of the four of the novels in this series, this is probably the one I’d be the most likely to recommend, but only if you were looking for a detective story that was a serious downer.

Quick Review: Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus (Read by Robert Fass)

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Oof. So, if the previous two Bodenstein and Kirchoff mysteries were dark, this is right in line with them. A body of a young woman washes up on the shore of a river and a suspect, a disgraced former district attorney, is implicated in the crimes by the current district attorney. But, as Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein dig deeper into the murder, they find other, more sinister connections.

Content warning and spoiler alert: this novel is about a child molestation ring. It was sad. It was intense. It was scary in places. And it was dark. I recommend these, as long as you know going into them that they are not light and even if “the good guys” win, you might not feel great about it.

Quick Review: The Ice Queen by Nele Neuhaus

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This one was a bit of a wild ride. So, our detective friends are called to a crime scene where a man, a longstanding pillar of the community and a Jewish Holocaust survivor, is found executed in his own home. Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein find out during the autopsy that the murder victim was not what he appeared. For one, he may not have been Jewish. They are left to ravel this mystery as more murders pile up.

What I liked about this one was that not only was the main narrative full of twists, but there were a number of interesting subplots that wove themselves around the main narrative. I was interested in the bigger picture question but also the interpersonal matters that arose in the narrative. However, the one thing that is stuck in my craw a bit is that these books don’t appear to be in their original order. This is listed as book 2 on audible and Snow White Must Die is listed as book 1. The narratives are mostly self-contained, but some of the character development and relationships are out of order. It was an annoyance, but overall it didn’t too badly impact my enjoyment of the story.

If you like detective stories and you are interested in tales about (fictional) international scandals, this was pretty good.

Review: Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus (Read by Robert Fass)

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I picked this up because there is a K-drama called Black Out on Hulu that is based on it and I was wondering how much of the insane misogyny in the story was part of the original narrative and how much of was just natural consequences of the changes they made to the story plus the change of setting it in Korea. (This is not to say that Korean culture is insanely misogynistic. But it is a patriarchy and that does entail some misogyny.)

Anyway, our detectives Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are called to the scene of an accident where a woman fell from a pedestrian bridge. In the course of investigating, they discover that not only was it not an accident, it is related to a controversial case from a decade prior where a teenage boy, Tobias Sartorius, was convicted of killing two girls. There are some things about the the old case that don’t add up, like where are their bodies? And when another girl goes missing, they find themselves in a race against time to solve both the closed case and the new one.

So, how much of the insane misogyny is in the original narrative? Oh, a bunch. But, because of the differences in narrative choices, you are confronted with it in the K-drama in ways that just absolutely made my blood boil that weren’t in the original text. In both, there are discussions and depictions of rape and a bunch of abelism directed towards an autistic character. So, if those things are triggering for you, be aware.

I obviously kept reading the series, so there were things here that I liked, but I’m not sure I’d necessarily recommend this. This story had a good ending, but overall it was very dark. The end of the year was very busy and difficult, so I wanted something that felt comfortable, and detective stories and mysteries are a go-to for me. So, if you’re into dark tales and whodunits, these aren’t a bad choice, but if you absolutely can’t deal with depictions of rape or ableism, then give it a pass.