Hans Werner Kettenbach (1928 - 2018) studied many things over the years in four universities; he has worked as an advertising salesman, a shorthand secretary for the football magazine ›Kicker‹, a radio editor and finally as the editor of a newspaper. He wrote his first novel at the age of fifty. He has written a total of fourteen, five of which have been filmed. Critics have compared them to the works of Sjöwall/Wahlöö (›Plärrer‹), Simenon and Patricia Highsmith (›FAZ‹). In 2009 Kettenbach was awarded the ›Ehrenglauser‹ prize for crime writing for his life's work.