Andreas Franz (1) (1954–2011)

For me, this is the first volume in the Julia Durant series, even though it is the 12th volume in the series. The good thing about it is that this is the first volume that Daniel Holbe completed from manuscripts started by the late Andreas Franz, so it's like a kind of 'reboot' of the series.
Julia Durant, chief inspector in Frankfurt, returns to her department after a year's 'recuperation break'. At first she is transferred to the back office, which doesn't suit her at all, so she always has the feeling that she only gets half of the case.
A dead, abused young student is found in a shared student flat. Who has done this to her? Four students are arrested, but the reader soon realises that these four did not kill the victim. However, they are convicted because they abused the victim and offered no help. Another student is acquitted for lack of evidence. Of course, the reader immediately has the feeling that he must be the perpetrator.
Two years later, more women are brutally murdered, following the same pattern. They are filmed and these films are sold on the Darnet. In addition to the women's bodies, a male corpse is also found, equally abused and killed. How does he fit into this scheme? The man who brutally killed the women is also found abused and dead himself.
There are many unanswered questions that Julia Durant and her team have to solve.
It is very excitingly written and I read it in one go.… (mais)

Schon lange habe ich nichts aktuelles mehr aus der Julia Durant-Reihe gelesen. So wusste ich gar nicht, dass Andreas Franz verstorben ist und die Reihe nun von einem anderen Autor weitergeführt wird. Julia ist mittlerweile 53 und betrauert ihren nun verstorbenen Vater. Sie hat eine Beziehung mit einem Kollegen und scheint zufrieden zu sein. Der Mord, um den es hier geht, sieht zunächst nach Suizid aus. Meiner Meinung nach entpuppt sich sich der Fall sehr langsam. Man kommt lang nicht so richtig hinein. Ich fand den Fall auch sehr konventionell. Mit den üblichen Klischees spart er auch nicht, zum Beispiel bezogen auf Migranten. Peter Brandt aus Offenbach hat auch einen Auftritt, was dem Buch eher gut tut. Man kann das Buch lesen, aber man kann’s auch lassen.… (mais)

This was a good read, I liked the book. A new to me author, but based on this book I mightr try another one from this series or by his hand. It was no problem that I read this book first, being the 6th in the series. That's nice.

As I said, I liked the book, but there are a few minor things. Nearing the end, I got a little fed up with yet another murder, yet more secrets, yet another twist. It was enough already. It felt a bit like the author had a minimum number of pages to fill and that was his way to do that. What I found a bit strange was, that despite they asked a profiler to help them out, they did not wait till the official profile was ready and somehow got to the same conclusions. It was like the all knowing author forgot that psychiatrists & policemen are not the same. And somehow, the motives/arguments of the killer coincided with the laymen's ideas of the police and with the not-ready profile of the psychiatrist. For me that was too beautiful, too constructed.
Hence the slight lesser amount of stars, for the story in itself was a nice one.… (mais)