Five modern fairy tales about people who live in their images of life rather than in life itself, who prefer familiar limitations to the unpredictable consequences of cognitive gain, and who would rather bang their heads against the wall than take a good look at themselves – people, in short, like you and me. Arjouni writes about such people, simply and amusingly, with intelligence and melancholy.

The series with the Frankfurt-based private detective Kemal Kayankaya has been established long ago as a classic amongst crime literature, thanks to deadpan humour, sparkling dialogues and pointed remarks. All five novels are now available in one volume: ›Happy Birthday, Turk!‹ ›More Beer‹ ›One Man, One Murder‹ ›Kismet‹ ›Brother Kemal‹

Pleading his own case: German teacher Joachim Linde is well aware that something is amiss in his life and in his family, in light of which the trouble he has recently been experiencing with his students appears almost secondary. And now he cannot avoid going into the embarrassing details of his private life in order to save his skin. But Linde is determined not to let the situation get on top of him. This is a story about the apportioning of blame, both private and historical. 'Homework' is the tale of a man's attempt to straighten things out with himself - and the tangled web of wishful thinking and half-truths that results.

Valerie de Chavannes, a financier's daughter, summons private investigator Kemal Kayankaya to her villa in Frankfurt's diplomats' quarter and commissions him to find her missing sixteen-year-old daughter Marieke. She is alleged to be with an older man who is posing as an artist. To Kayankaya, it seems like a simple case: an upper class girl with a thirst for adventure. Then another simple case turns up: The Maier Publishing House believes it needs to protect author Malik Rashid from attacks by religious fanatics at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Rashid has written a novel about, amongst other things, attitudes towards homosexuality in an Arabic country. Kayankaya is hired to be Rashid's bodyguard for three days. The two cases seem to be straightforward, but together they lead to murder, rape and abduction. And then Kayankaya comes under suspicion of being a contract killer for hire.

What a silly coincidence: Berlin's currently most hated man, fast food millionaire Horst König, trips right in front of Eddy's apartment door of all places. For the last thing that Eddy needs is the attention of the police. After all, he is a likeable trickster who finances his lifestyle by fleecing well- to-do people as well as a musician, complete with a bourgeois façade on Berlin's Kreuzberg with its leftist community. Although Eddy initially handles the situation well, the story soon gets out of control. The Horst König case develops into Berlin's major media event. Eddy is troubled by a bad conscience and tempted to explain all misunderstandings – especially to König's beautiful and eccentric daughter Romy.
›Holy Eddy‹ is a story about the disappearance of one of Berlin's big businessmen, about gossip journalists, a city going wild – and about the world's most wonderful scent.

The thousand-mark-notes fluttered in the sky like a flight of swallows circling towards the setting sun. When Fred whistled through his fingers they came and slipped back into the pocket of his trousers… Fred, Nickel and Annette are young, and the world – although not the one they live in – is their oyster. They dream a common dream, and it has a name: Canada. There they'll be able to live as they please, fishing and taking photographs, far away from boring, antiquated provincial Germany. But it's impossible to go straight from Dieburg to Vancouver on the Canadian west coast without a detour. For Fred this means going to prison and then to Berlin after the fall of the wall to pick up Nickel, Annette and his money. The three of them had planned to go to Canada together – but ›the times they are a-changin'‹… Jakob Arjouni writes about Germany and the times we live in – and about a man who tries his utmost not to be beaten either by his country or his friends. In a language that is unsentimental, apt and agile, he paints a picture of the German Republic. This is a novel in the mood of a road movie, an exciting story full of irony about private and political illusions, about Germany, Berlin and the provinces.

Eighteen-year-old Rick's wishes seem modest: an apprenticeship with a gardener, a nice girl, perhaps one of his comic strips being printed in a magazine – but in the provinces near Berlin, the chances of achieving these goals are as likely as hitting six numbers in the lottery. But suddenly, Rick really seems to have hit the jackpot: the longed-for apprenticeship (which is even in the big, wonderful Berlin to boot) and Marilyn, the beautiful greengrocer. Everything would be perfect, if it were not for the circumstances that led to it all: a dubious organisation and their henchmen, a gang of bedraggled youths, who pin Rick's happiness on one dreadful condition. When Rick finds himself on a rollercoaster ride between despair and hope, cowardice and bravery, he retreats into the world of his comics. Everything is simpler there: The hero, Cherryman, is hunting down the jelly- fish-man Mister White to finish him off once and for all. With Cherryman's help, Rick manages to get reality under his control. Initially at least. But ultimately, reality turns out to be stronger.

The world in the year 2064. Overpopulation? Famine? Religious wars? Dictatorships? On the contrary. At least, not in the Eurasian and North American regions. Securely fenced off from the rest of the world, life in these areas, with the exception of a handful of suicide bombings and regular border disputes, is constantly improving. Nowhere more so than at »Chez Max – German Cuisine«, a small, top-quality restaurant located in Paris' eleventh arrondissement. Its customers are, however, not only served fine food, but carefully monitored, their conversations overheard – because Max is not only the restaurant manager, but also an Ashcroft agent, a member of a secret government organisation whose mission is to promptly identify and weed out anything that may threaten the political status quo. Max leads a full and orderly life, oscillating between professional success and social commitment. The only spanner in the works is his Ashcroft partner, Chen Wu, a self-righteous loudmouth, who leaves no taboo unbroken, attacks every human weakness and takes liberties at will - all because of the spectacular successes he has achieved within the organisation. Until the day that Wu's own weakness is revealed and Max sees an opportunity to get rid off his partner once and for all.