The judge and his hangman

I read this book for a German literature class a couple of years ago. The book itself was fun to read and I'd definitely suggest it to anyone interested in German.

Nice, undemanding read, Dürrenmatt's first detective story is among the earliest examples I've come across of an anti hero detective, deeply human, cynical, and savvy scholar of all sorts of human foibles. Perhaps at places this is too exaggerated, with the "old man" Bärlach, as the main

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protagonist is often described, manipulating the less experienced (e.g. his subordinate Tschanz) or the too arrogant (his superior Lutz) to fight the real battle against his arch enemy (no, I wont' spoil it for you), among the few people rounded enough, perceptive enough, wise enough to be confronted as an equal (the other being "the writer").

But as the story develops over about 100 pages, these are minor blemishes (and after all I felt disappointed with just two passages) soon forgotten as the plot develops logically, until the last unexpected twist. I don't think I would have picked this book up, had it not been for the fact that I've inherited a large and very diverse library, but I am pretty sure it won't be too long before I move to the next Dürrenmatt novel.

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This short novella, by Swiss playwright and author, Friedrich Dürrenmatt features the ailing Inspector Barlach in this crime fiction that is not only entertaining but thought provoking. A police officer is found shot and dead in his car at the side of the road. There is an ancient wager between

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old friends. The nihilist and the moralist. It is a chess game to the end. I highly recommend this quick read of less than 100 pages if you like crime fiction.

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