Hunkeler's Secret by Hansjorg Schneider

 Hunkeler's Secret

 by Hansjorg Schneider

Hunkeler's Secret by Hansjorg Schneider, translated by Astrid Freuler was published on 20th March 2025 by Bitter Lemon Press.

My thanks to the publishers for sending me a copy to review  and to Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour.

Synopsis

Hunkeler is a legendary figure in German language crime fiction, often compared to Simenon, gruff, intuitive, endowed with a deep sense of psychology and a horror of social injustice. The city of Basel and neighbouring Alsace are evoked with great love by Schneider, who in real life lives on the same street and frequents the same bars and restaurants as Inspector Hunkeler. Hunkeler, now a retired inspector of the Basel police force, is hospitalized and sharing a room with Stephan Fankhauser, an old acquaintance terminally ill with cancer. One night, a groggy Hunkeler wakes up to see a young nurse with a ruby ring on her hand administering an injection to his friend. The following day Fankhauser is found dead. Was the injection just a dream? Does the night nurse not usually wear a small diamond ring? There was no autopsy and a quick cremation. Hunkeler resolves to get to the bottom of the matter despite the objections of his ex-colleagues, who want the retired inspector to stay well clear of the investigation.  

My Review

This is the second book I have read by Hansjorg Schneider, the first being The Murder of Anton Livious, and I have enjoyed both of them immensely. Nothing is lost in Astrid's translation and the telling of the story is very clear and precise in all aspects . Very much in the style of Maigret, of which I am also a huge fan. 

Hunkeler is now retired, though this doesn't detract from what you may already know about him, instead it develops his character further and for me , turns him into a more rounded character. The plot is clever and at the same time chilling  and even though it is not a long novel, under two hundred pages, it certainly packs a punch within .

One aspect of Schneider's writing that I really like is that he doesn't appear to use words to make up a set length of story. Each word that is used appears to be carefully thought about as to it's use and need which I really appreciate.

If you haven't read any of Schneider's books I really recommend you do and I , for one, would also like to see these books transcribed for television as they would have the same followers as Wallander, though I don't suppose we could have Kenneth Branagh as both detectives.

About the Author

Hansjörg Schneider lives in Basel and began his professional career as a journalist and essayist. He is the author of a number of highly acclaimed plays and of the bestselling Hunkeler crime series, now with ten titles published. 

 Astrid Freuler lives in Lidney, Gloucestershire. She has published translations of non-fiction and fiction, including the crime thriller A Shadow Falls by Andreas Pflüger.