To the Very End
A Case for Berlin and Vienna
Published by Diogenes as Bis zur Neige
Original Title: Bis zur Neige
Inspector Thomas Bernhardt and Chief Inspector Anna Habel join forces for another investigation: They argue, tease and flirt like mad – but purely on a professional level, of course. Freddy Bachmüller, vintner in the Austrian wine region, produces first class wine – but now he is dead. Shortly afterwards, a local bar owner, Ronald Otter, is shot in Berlin – and he had Bachmüller's wines on his wine list. One thing is for sure, this case is ideal for the Berlin and Vienna investigator duo. Inspector Bernhardt knew the Berlin victim: they studied together in the seventies. Catchwords from back then come into his mind: the duty to disobey, to fight the system... And yet the conclusions which Bernhardt draws do not correspond in the slightest with Anna Habel's initial suspicions. She suspects that female jealousy lies beneath the case of the dead vintner. So are the two crimes not connected after all?
Crime Fiction, Contemporary Literature
480 pages
2012

978-3-257-30008-6
Claus-Ulrich
Bielefeld
Claus-Ulrich Bielefeld, born in 1947 in Bad Schwalbach, studied German, sociology and philosophy. He works as editor for literature for Berlin-Brandenburg radio, as well as a literary critic for numerous newspapers. He lives in Berlin.
Photo: © Bastian Schweitzer / Diogenes Verlag
Petra
Hartlieb
Petra Hartlieb, born in Munich in 1967, grew up in Upper Austria. She studied psychology and history in Vienna and later worked in public relations and as a literary critic in Vienna and Hamburg. Since 2004 she has also been run a bookshop in Vienna with her husband.
Photo: © Ulrik Hölzel

Quotes

Nordkurier, Neubrandenburg
»These oh-so-cool characters give the Vienna-Berlin cases that special something – next episode please.«
Ruhr Nachrichten, Dortmund
»The two authors have ironic fun with the idiosyncrasies of the two big cities and their inhabitants.«
Wiener Zeitung
»A stylish thriller, credible characters, entertaining and well-constructed.«