132,585
edits
Changes
The Execution of Justice by Friedrich Durrenmatt and John E Woods (translator) (view source)
Revision as of 10:15, 4 September 2020
, 10:15, 4 September 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=The Execution of Justice
|sort=Execution of Justice
|date=January 2018
|isbn=9781782273875
|websitecover=Durrenmatt_Justice|videoaznuk=1782273875|amazonukaznus=<amazonuk>1782273875</amazonuk>
}}
It's 1957, and we're somewhere in Switzerland, and there's just one case on everyone's lips – the simple fact that a politician has gone into the crowded room of one of those 'the place to go' restaurants, and point -blank shot a professor everyone there must have known, and ferried a British companion to the airport in his chauffeur-driven Rolls before handing himself in to face the murder rap. Of course , he's found guilty, even if the gun involved has managed to disappear. He's certainly of much interest, not only to our narrator, a young lawyer called Spaet – even if he rarely gets to frequent such establishments with such people, he is eager to know more, especially once he is actually tasked by the man in hand to look into things a second time. But what's this, where he opens his testimony about the affair with the conclusion, that he himself will need to turn killer to redress the balance?
This is an intriguing case for the crime fan – the complete opposite to the locked room mystery. Everyone can see it was definitely a case of murder, a police commandant was present at the time, for crying out loud – and doubt is nowhere to be seen. No, no motive is known, but then none is needed, beyond the sanity of the criminal and the legality of imprisoning him. Once in prison, he declares there's no need for an appeal case to be tried, as everything was above board first time, and anyway, he seems to be deeming life behind bars some kind of boon. So what on earth can there be for our narrator Spaet to do?
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
Crime books are a different beast these days - [[The Chalk Man by C J Tudor]] being one of the better, darker ones. You might also enjoy [[Into Dust by Jonathan Lewis]].
{{amazontext|amazon=1782273875}}